Abstract

Responding to the growing number of psychologically-informed services for people experiencing social exclusion and, in particular, homelessness, this book gives professionals the information and understanding they need to be fully informed in their practice with this client group. It begins with theory, looking at the psychology of social exclusion and the processes that underlie it, and considers the relationship between trauma, complex needs, homelessness and social exclusion. Presenting practical interventions and case studies, the authors then reveal what makes an effective service in practice and a client perspective on social exclusion and recovery is provided.

This is essential reading for all those involved in developing services that meet the needs of socially excluded people with histories of complex trauma or presentations of complex needs, including those who are homeless, refugees and asylum seekers, Traveller and Roma communities and people involved with the criminal justice system.

Based on his many years' work with some of society's most excluded and alienated people, Cockersell has coined the term 'compound trauma' and produced a vivid account of how life goes wrong, and what we can do about it. By drawing on modern psychoanalytic thinking, developmental neurobiology and current ideas of therapeutic environments, he presents the most complex problems in an accessible and engaging way.
Rex Haigh, Consultant Psychiatrist in Medical Psychotherapy, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Professor of Therapeutic Environments and Relational Health, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Nottingham University
Becoming homeless is a traumatic experience, but very, very often it is just one more such experience in a life characterised by exclusion, neglect and abuse. A powerful and hopeful call for us to recognise how our common humanity makes us all 'interdependent', this new book will help colleagues right across the homeless sector (and beyond) reflect on the central importance of building and modelling good quality relationships. As they explore the many paradoxes that inhabit the world of homelessness - clients who reject care may need the most care, caring for others can help us care for ourselves - Peter Cockersell and colleagues challenge us to recognise multi-morbidity as a condition in its own right, and one that demands a long-term, psychologically informed, compassionate response. If you work in the homelessness sector you need to read this book.
Alex Bax, Chief Executive, Pathway
Peter Cockersell sets out a compelling and plausible narrative for how homelessness can follow successive experiences of trauma and abandonment rather than just being the result of "bad choices". His psychodynamic model of understanding social exclusion gives us a better way of understanding why some homeless people seem to reject help - and some real clues as to how we can change our practice to work more effectively for such people.
Dr Philip Timms FRCPsych, Honorary Senior Lecturer, King’s College London