Primary care is usually the first port of call for people with mental health problems and plays an increasingly important role in developing and delivering mental health services. Indeed, 90 per cent of all patients with mental health problems (including 30-50 per cent of all those with serious mental illness) only use primary care services. How can practitioners in primary care best respond to psychiatric presentations? In this book, internationally respected authors provide a conceptual background and dispense practical advice for the clinician. They discuss ways of improving joint working between primary and secondary care, as well as issues affecting the professional development of all practitioners within primary care teams. The key features include: practical advice; focus on improving services; critical analysis of the emerging evidence; a user-centred approach, emphasising recovery; and educational strategies to develop knowledge and skills of the primary care team.