Research and publications
Please note: the resources and publications featured here are not considered an exhaustive list, so please contact us if there are other projects that should be added, or if you are conducting research into the PTMF and would like your details included.
Research
Potential research/evaluation ideas
The Power Threat Meaning Framework is a major Division of Clinical Psychology-funded project to outline a conceptual alternative to the diagnostic model of psychological and emotional distress.
The documents present a set of principles, and the DCP Power Threat Meaning Framework Subcommittee has been set up to collate examples of these principles being translated into practice.
The Committee also aims to support research and evaluation into all aspects of the Framework, so that they can feed back into its further development.
Potential research/evaluation ideas for students, trainees and researchers
Ongoing projects
Beth Stubbs: Canterbury University
In what ways do members of the public relate to the Power Threat Meaning Framework when creating personal narratives of a distressing life experience?
This project aims to explore how members of the public relate to elements from the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) as they tell their story of a distressing life experience, and their experience of doing so.
Participants will attend two 1:1 interviews with the lead researcher.
At the first interview, they will be invited to tell their story of a distressing life experience, and the lead researcher will explore how they might relate this to elements of the PTMF, such as power and threat.
At the second interview, participants will be invited to reflect upon and describe their experience of telling a personal story in this way. Stories will be analysed using narrative analysis.
Contact: [email protected]
Milly Attwood (Trainee Clinical Psychologist)
DClinPsy research project at Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology
Project titled "Service user narratives of the development of collaborative formulations in EMDR for psychosis".
The project is interested in understanding whether there is an imposition of narratives on service users when they are developing formulations with their EMDR therapist and is aligned with the Power Threat Meaning Framework.
Iryna Belcher
MSc Forensic psychology and mental health course student
Research project involving PTMF.
The study title: Exploring Forensic Psychology students' awareness about alternative perspectives on mental health diagnosis in working with offenders.
Contact: [email protected]
Emma Johnson
DClinPsy research
Emma Johnson is conducting her DClinPsy research on how the PTMF is being used in adult mental health settings using Grounded Theory.
Clinical Psychologist participants using the PTMF as part of their work in UK adult mental health services are invited to discuss their expereinces as part of the research.
Participation would involvce attending 90 minute interviews or focus group (in person or online) conducted by Emma.
Email: [email protected]
Stian Olsson
Psychosocial Health Practitioner (Lindesnes Kommune, Norway)
Professor Tore Dag Bøe and his colleague Odd Kenneth Hillesund have been leading a PTMF-group of practitioners in Agder (southern part of Norway), who are trying out the Framework.
They are supervising Stian who is undertaking a Masters thesis titled: "How does practitioners and clients experience conversations based on the Power Threat Meaning Framework?".
The thesis is phenomenological-hermeneutical using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke).
Practitoners and clients after 3 conversations will be interviewed.
Stian can be contacted at [email protected].
Expected completion June 2024.
Morgan, James & Dudley-Hick
University of Leicester
Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework to make sense of experiences parenting a child diagnosed with a learning disability: An exploration of fit and utility
- Research suggests that parents of children diagnosed with a learning disability (LD) experience higher levels of distress and are sometimes viewed by professionals as problematic or 'lacking resilience'.
- However, less attention has been paid to the distress parents experience as a result of the barriers they face from wider society and the way services are organised.
- The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) is a way of helping people create more self-compassionate ways of understanding their experiences of distress (or suffering).
- It was introduced as an alternative to psychiatric diagnoses and attempts to move away from asking "what is wrong with you?", to "What has happened to you?"
- The Framework has been useful for different groups of people, but had not previously been explored with parents of children diagnosed with an LD.
Read more about using the PTMF when parenting a child with a learning disability.
Dan Warrender
Royal Gordon University - Aberdeen
Dan's PhD topic is 'borderline personality disorder'.
The PTMF is being used in this thesis. Research articles use PTMF where the validity of the 'BPD' construct is challenged.
Dan can be contacted at [email protected].
Michelle Glascott
Northumbria University
Michelle Glascott (Northumbria University) and colleagues are looking to critically investigate a co-production approach to care organisation and provision (ReCoCo- Tyneside Recovery College; an entirely peer-led recovery college) alongside an evaluation of the efficacy of the PTMF as a means of understanding distress, as experienced by the students attending ReCoCo.
Michelle can be contacted at [email protected].
Nour Hadadj
University of Leicester
Nour Hadadj (University of Leicester) is using the PTMF in her research into the effects of trauma and adversity on women refugee's ability to self-organise.
Nour can be contacted on [email protected].
Siobhan Beckwith
University of Huddersfield
Siobhan's doctoral research project is about mothers living apart from their children, exploring their mental health in the context of power, following removal of their children from their care by the state.
Drawing on the Power Threat Meaning Framework this study aims to locate participants' narratives within the social, cultural, and political contexts of their everyday lives.
Siobhan can be contacted at [email protected]
Rachael Stabler
University of Edinburgh
Doctorate of Clinical Psychology Thesis (expected Autumn 2023) - Power, Threat, Meaning and Repeated Self-Harm: A Qualitative Multi-Perspective Exploration of Service Responses.
Rachael can be contacted at: [email protected]
Dilara Omur
University of East London
How is the Power Threat Meaning Framework being used by Clinical Psychologists in Clinical Practice?
Qualitative study exploring the different ways in which qualified Clinical Psychologists are using or drawing on the PTMF in their clinical work, and the factors that might be facilitating or hindering the frameworks use.
The project is currently recruiting participants.
Interviews would take place online via MS Teams, you would not need to have an MS Teams account.
f you would be interested in discussing your experience, or would like more information, please contact Dilara at [email protected].
Lauren McGregor and Georgie Ramsay
University of Leicester
Lauren McGregor and Georgie Ramsay are exploring the utility and fit of the PTMF for making sense of climate distress amongst activists.
Completed papers
View a list of completed research papers
- Akande, I., & Bland, M. (2023). Power Threat Meaning Framework applied to staff support. Clinical Psychology Forum 370, Nov, pp. 32-38.
- Baker, S., Jackson, M., Jongsma, H., & Saville, C. (2021). The ethnic density effect in psychosis: A systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 219, 632-643. - This article reviews the evidence for the impact of ethnic density on psychosis, and cites the PTMF as a way of 'highlighting the importance of contextualising psychotic experiences in minority groups and considering to what extent these are understandable responses to chronic experiences of discrimination and social exclusion.
- Beckles, M., & Bush, A. (2022). Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework for a racialised individual labelled with Intellectual Disability, Schizophrenia and Autism: A case study. The Bulletin of the Faculty for People with Intellectual Disabilities, 20(3):30-38.
- Boyle, M., & Johnstone, L. (2020) A straight talking introduction to the Power Threat Meaning Framework: An alternative to psychiatric Diagnosis. PCCS
- Brett, A,. Bodfield, K,. Culshaw, A. and Johnson, B. (2024) Exploring LGBTQ+ teacher professional identity through the power threat meaning framework. British Educational Research Journal
This pilot study uses the Power Threat Meaning Framework with five LGBTQ+ teachers, in order to explore their experiences of power in their profession. - Brown, R. L. (2020) Experiences of Workplace Bullying from the Perspectives of Trainee Clinical Psychologists: A Qualitative Study
- Calverley, A. (2021). A New Approach for Researching Victims: The 'Strength-Growth-Resilience' Framework, British Journal of Criminology.
This article draws on the PTMF among other sources to understand the impact of crime on the victim. - Campolonghi, S., & Orrù, L. (2023, August 3). Psychiatry as a Medical Discipline: Epistemological and Theoretical Issues.
Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. Advance online publication.
Two philosophers cite the PTMF to support their argument that the psychiatric paradigm of care has failed. - Cantrell, E, February 2021 (unpublished DClin Thesis). Exploring the interface between Clinical Psychology and the benefits system. - This thesis considers and conceptualises the psychological outcomes of claiming benefits with the PTM Framework.
- Castillo, J. M., Smith, I., Morris, L. & Perez-Algorta, G. (2018). Violent incidents in a secure service for individuals with learning disabilities: Incident types, circumstances and staff responses. JARID, 31(6), 1164-1173. - This paper is a secondary analysis of incident reports for adults with intellectual disabilities in a secure hospital setting (NHS, UK). The authors draw upon the PTMF when describing how violence by people with intellectual disabilities and a history of trauma and adversity can be understood as a survival strategy.
- Chamberlain, C. et al (2021). Healing the past by nurturing the future: Aboriginal parents'views of what helps support recovery from complex trauma. Indigenous health and well-being: targeted primary health care across the life course. Primary Health Care Research & Development, 22, E47.
- Cogen, O. (2020). A grounded theory study of the psychological and social processes apparent in the lives of contemporary 16-18 year olds [Doctoral thesis, University of Cardiff]
- Collins, N. (2019) 'Super-Powered by Grace - An Integrative Theological Engagement with Trauma' - MA Dissertation Research Paper
- Cooke, A., Smythe, W. & Anscombe, P. (2019). Conflict, compromise and collusion: Dilemmas for psychosocially-orientated practitioners in the mental health system. Psychosis, 11(3), 199-211. - This paper reports the results of a study exploring the experiences of UK psychologists who self-identify as critical of the medical model, but who work in services in which the medical-model is the dominant framework. The PTMF is considered within clinical implications as a possible tool for opening up discussion within services about alternative ways of making sense of distress.
- Darcy, A., Armstrong, J., & Vaughan, S. (2022). Power and Meaning with patriarchal societies: Thinking within, against and beyond the system. Clinical Psychology Forum, 357 September 2022. Special Issue Part 1.
- Darcy, A. (2022). Allowing for multiple stories of threats, meaning and ethnicity in The North of Ireland. Clinical Psychology Forum, 357 September 2022. Special Issues part 2.
- Devenney, R. (2021a). Exploring perspectives of school refusal in second-level education in Ireland: Study 2 – Education professionals' views on school refusal. [Doctoral thesis, Maynooth University Ireland]. Maynooth University Research Archive Library.
- Devenney, R. (2021b). Exploring perspectives of school refusal in second-level education in Ireland: Study 3 – Parents perspectives of school refusal. [Doctoral thesis, Maynooth University Ireland]. Maynooth University Research Archive Library.
- Devenney, R. (2021c). Exploring perspectives of school refusal in second-level education in Ireland: Study 4 – Young people's' experiences of school refusal. [Doctoral thesis, Maynooth University Ireland]. Maynooth University Research Archive Library.
- Douglas, L. J., Aherne, C., Ryan, P., Fortune, D.G. (2024). Like walking with someone as opposed to trying to catch up to them-Dynamics at play when clinicians and young people formulate together. Psychology and Psychotherapy Theory Research and Practice. DOI: 10.1111/papt.12543
This study identified themes relating to the experience of formulating from the perspective of young people and their clinicians. The clinicians drew on a range of approaches, including the PTMF. - Dudley-Hicks, D., James, G., & Morgan, G. (2024). Parenting a child with an intellectual disability: mapping experiences onto the power threat meaning framework. Disability & Society, 1–25.
- Ekback, E., et al. (2024) The Power Threat Meaning Framework: a qualitative study of depression in adolescents and young adults. Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 15.
- Enlander, A, Simonds, L., & Hanna, P. (2021). Using the power threat meaning framework to explore birth parents' experiences of compulsory child removal. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. - Using the PTMF this paper provides a qualitative synthesis of literature exploring birth parents experiences who have had a child removed from their care by the state.
- Farrell, E., & Mahon, Aine., (2021). Understanding student mental health: Difficulty, deflection and darkness. Ethics and Education. - This paper reports on new ways of conceptualising mental health using the context of young people in higher education in Ireland. The PTMF is included in the discussion of ways in which the experience of distress is captured, described and responded to.
- Finlay, C., Patel, S. & Evans, J. Assessing Psychosocial Distress in Cystic Fibrosis: Validation of the 'Distress in Cystic Fibrosis Scale'. J Clin Psychol Med Settings (2021). - This study considers the distress related to different aspects of CF and the paradigm shift beyond medicalisation and diagnosis in mental health towards a multifactorial and contextual approach.
- Frankham, L J., Thorsteinsson, E.B., & Bartik, W. (2024). Factors Associated with Birth-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and the Subsequent Impact of Traumatic Birth on Mother–Infant Relationship Quality. Behavioral Sciences 14 (9): 808.
This article suggests that the PTMF may be a useful perspective for understanding distress experienced by women after childbirth - Gallagher, O. (2024) Managing Serious Violence in the Irish Prison Service: Exploring the Experiences of Prisoners and Prison Officers through the Lens of the Power Threat Meaning Framework. PhD thesis available online in the UCD Research Repository.
- Gallager, O. (2024). The Power Threat Meaning Framework 5 years on- A scoping review of the emergent empirical literature.
- Gallagher, O., Regan, E.E., & O'Reilly, G. (2023) 'I've lived and bred violence my whole life': understanding violence in the Irish Prison Service through the lens of the power threat meaning framework, Psychology, Crime & Law, DOI: 10.1080/1068316X.2023.222
- Gallagher, O., Regan, E., & O'Reilly, G (2024) 'Violence is all he knew, and it seemed to work': Using the power threat meaning framework to explore prison officers' understandings of violence in Irish prisons', Psychology, Crime & Law
- Jagasia, K., Saunders, P., & Roufeil, L. (2022). Now I can see things for what they are: The experiences of adult children of narcissists. Journal of Constructive Psychology.
- Leeming, D., Lucock, M., Shibazaki, K., Pilkington, N., & Scott, B, (2022). The impact of the Covid-10 pandemic on those supported in the community with long-term mental health problems: A qualitative analysis of power, threat, meaning and survival. Community Mental Health Journal. - Analysing the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on people with long term mental health problems, using a PTMF perspective.
- Leverington, M. (2023) Doctorial Thesis: "What has happened to you?": Re-humanising Services for People with Learning Disabilities.
- Llewellyn-Beardsley, J. et al. (2019). Characteristics of mental health recovery narratives: Systematic review and narrative synthesis. PLoS ONE, 14(3). - This systematic review reports the results of the authors' metasynthesis of published recovery narratives. The authors refer to the PTMF when considering gaps in the recovery literature, observing that published papers have tended to focus on individual narratives when survivor movements and the PTMF have pointed towards the importance of considering collective narratives. The authors cite the Framework as one that gives central place to stories.
- Long, E., et al (2024). "A Lightbulb Moment All The Way Through" – An exploration into participant experiences of a novel Group Formulation Programme. European Journal of Trauma and Dissociation.
The study evaluates a group formulation programme for adults with a range of difficulties. The results echoed many of the themes of the PTMF. - Lynch, J. J. (2018). Hell in Connaught: Surviving St Joseph's Industrial School, Letterfrack. Thesis submitted to Trinity College Dublin. - This thesis reports themes generated from adult survivors of childhood abuse perpetuated within a religious school in Ireland. The Author references the Framework as a useful non-diagnostic approach to making sense of the effects of abuse.
- Malott, K.M., Barraclough, S. & Yee, T. Towards Decolonizing Diagnosis: a Critical Review and Suggested Alternatives. Int J Adv Counselling 45, 1–17 (2023).
- Marshall, J. (2021). Toward a psychology of (un)certainty: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of young people's accounts of receiving a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Open University. - This doctoral thesis refers to the PTMF as one of the perspectives on how young people experience a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
- Milligan, Elaine (2022) Exploring Educational Psychologists' views and experiences of the Power Threat Meaning Framework. Doctoral thesis. - The PTMF was considered to enhance the empowerment and agency of clients and, for practitioners, to promote reflection about the nature and purpose of the EP role and the dilemmas present within it.
- Morris, M (2023) Discourses on Distress: Social Work and Madness in the UK. Could Trauma-Informed Practice and the Power Threat Meaning Framework help? - This MA dissertation discusses how the PTMF aligns with social work's values and has the potential for positive impact on practice.
- Moutsou, I, Georgaca, E & Morgan, G.(2023). The Power Threat Meaning Framework: A lens for the psychosocial support of unaccompanied minors. Metalogos Systemic Therapy.
The authors used the Power Threat Meaning Framework to structure a series of supportive sessions with unaccompanied minors (the article is behind a paywall but is accessible on Researchgate) - Newton, D., Lucock, M., Armitage, R., Monchuk, L., & Brown, P. (2022). Understanding the mental health impacts of poor quality private-rented housing during the UK's first COVID-19 lockdown, Health & Place, 78. ISSN 1353-8292 - This paper examines the mental health impacts of poor quality private-rented housing in the north of England during the UK's first COVID-19 lockdown. It uses the Power Threat Meaning Framework to highlight how substandard housing was a social and material vulnerability which, underpinned by powerlessness, resulted in threats that created and exacerbated the mental-ill health of precarious private renters.
- Nikopaschos, F., Burrell, G., Clark, J., & Salgueiro, A. (2023). Trauma-Informed Care on mental health wards: the impact of Power Threat Meaning Framework Team Formulation and Psychological Stabilisation on self-harm and restrictive interventions. Front. Psychol., 08 June 2023. Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings. Volume 14 - 2023
- Olsson, S. (2024) A qualitative exploration of The Power Threat Meaning Framework applied in mental health work. MASTER'S THESIS Psychosocial health.
This English translation of a Norwegian Masters qualitative study explored how practitioners and clients experience conversations based on the Power Threat Meaning framework, and how can such conversations be helpful to clients in Norway. - O'Toole, C. (2022). When trauma comes to school: Toward a socially just trauma-informed praxis. International Journal of School Social Work, 6(2). - This paper examines current terminology in relation to adversity, trauma, and trauma-informed practice. It shows how current approaches are entangled with a dominant medical model, which views emotional distress as symptoms of mental disorder, rather than as reasonable and intelligible strategies to ensure survival.
- Paradiso, J., & Quinlan, E. (2021). Mental Health Caregivers' Experiences from the Perspective of the PTMF. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. - A study into the experiences of caregivers in Australia, using the PTM Framework.
- Poxon, L. (2024). An Antidote to the Pathologizing of Grief: Applying the Power Threat Meaning Framework. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1891/EHPP-2023-0016
Article on positioning the PTMF as an antidote to the pathologisation observed since the DSM-V introduced Prolonged Grief disorder. - Rainey, P., Colbert, S., & McSherry, P. (2024). Exploring Subjective Experiences of Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) for Psychosis - a Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) Informed Narrative Inquiry. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 1–22. - The PTMF was used to explore what focusing on traumatic experiences in the context of psychosis might reveal about the link between adversity and psychosis and, furthermore, to explore what clients depict as important when engaging with EMDR for psychosis.
- Rajendra, K. (2019). Moving towards mental wellness by shifting cultural connectedness: A grounded theory study. Auckland University of Technology thesis. - This thesis was concerned with the process of 'recovery' for South Asian people access mental health services within New Zealand. The Framework was cited as fitting with participants' descriptions of difficult experiences, and 'how making meaning of the experience shaped people's feelings of shame, self-blame, isolation, fear, and guilt' (p.166). The Framework is also described within a review of literature relating to conceptualisations of 'recovery.'
- Raskin, J. D., Maynard, D., Gayle, M. C. (2021) Psychologist Attitudes Toward DSM-5 and Its Alternatives. Accepted for publication in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (June 27, 2022) - A survey of US psychologists' attitudes toward the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and its alternatives was conducted. While most were dissatisfied with the DSM, there was limited awareness of the various alternatives, which included the Power Threat Meaning Framework.
- Reis, M., Dinelli, S. & Elias, L. (2019). Surviving prison: Using the PTMF to explore the impact of long-term imprisonment. Clinical Psychology Forum, 313, 25-32. - This paper reports on the collaborative use of the PTMF in a UK prison setting. As well as reflecting on the experience of the group from the perspective of the participants and facilitators, the paper reports the threats, meanings and threat responses generated by the group of seven male prisoners.
- Richter, D. & Dixon, J. (2023). Models of mental health problems: A quasi-systematic review of theoretical approaches, Journal of Mental Health, 32:2, 396-406, DOI: 10.1080/09638237.2021.2022638 - The PTMF is discussed as one approach among a range of current models of mental health.
- Sabados, D. & Potash, J. S. (2023). Art to humanize mental illness for teaching diagnosis. Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
The PTMF offers a foundation for utilizing weekly art viewing and art making as a foundational element for teaching masters-level mental health practitioners how to consider mental health and diagnosis with a critical mindset. In particular, the one-canvas painting approach allows for metaphors in imagery and creative processes to inform students in their professional development - Sapsford, Hayley (2021) Designing and evaluating a psychological intervention for individuals with Multiple Complex Needs. DClinPsy thesis, University of Nottingham. - This thesis reports a brief PTMF-based intervention for a person with multiple complex needs.
- Siverns, K. & Morgan, G. (2019). Parenting in the context of historical childhood trauma: An interpretive meta-synthesis. Child Abuse & Neglect, 98 - This systematic literature review involved a metasynthesis of published research concerned with the parenting experiences of parents who had survived childhood abuse. The PTMF was referenced to contextualise a result and clinical implication: That survivor mothers' ambivalence to support from services should be viewed as understandable in the context of lived experience.
- Kate Siverns & Gareth Morgan (2021) 'If Only I Could Have Said, If Only Somebody Was Listening': Mothers' Experiences of Placing Their Child into Care, Adoption Quarterly, 24:3, 207-228 - IPA research exploring experiences of mothers with trauma histories who had made or agreed with the decision for their child to be placed in care.
- Sivers, S., Wendland, S., Baggley, L., Boyle, K., Popoola, M., Looney, E. (2020) Pupil views on their education in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: A joint report by Southend and Nottingham City Educational Psychology Services. Association of Educational Psychologists. - Nottingham City Educational Psychology Service (EPS) and Southend EPS have collaborated to explore the views of children and young people and how they have found the changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and their thoughts about education, returning to school and what has helped them during this time.
- Smith, A. (2018). Understanding the experiences of unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people as they turn eighteen whilst subject to UK immigration control. Leicester DClinPsy thesis. - This thesis reports the results of an analysis of interview data with young adults seeking asylum within the UK. All participants had come to the UK as 'unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan and the interviews and analysis focussed on their experiences and meaning-making of 'becoming an adult' whilst still experiencing various restrictions associated with an uncertain immigration status. The Author reported finding the PTMF to be a good fit with the results of her analysis and the Framework is drawn upon heavily to contextualise results within the Discussion.
- Toper, Dag Boe & Beate Larson (April 2022) The Lost Social Context of Recovery Psychiatrization of a Social Process. Frontiers of Sociology. - Article from Scandinavia which draws on the PTMF to argue against an individualised concept of recovery from mental distress.
- Travers, Z. (2022). A systematic review of burnout in trainee mental health professionals and a qualitative exploration of clinical psychologists' use of the power threat meaning framework: Study 2 – Clinical psychologists experiences of using the power threat meaning framework in UK mental health settings: A thematic analysis
[
Doctoral thesis, Cardiff University]. Online Research @ Cardiff. - Turri et al (2020). The Systemic Assessment Clinic, a Novel Method for Assessing Patients in General Adult Psychiatry: Presentation and Preliminary Service Evaluation - The traditional model of psychiatric assessment and diagnosis can be criticised as reductive. We developed an innovative model for psychiatric assessment of adult patients referred to our adult mental health team, the Systemic Assessment Clinic, incorporating the principles and techniques of systemic family therapy and dialogical practice into standard psychiatric assessment.
- Van Sambeek, N., Baart, A., Franssen, G., Van Geelen, S & Scheepers, F. (2021). Recovering context in psychiatry: What contextual analysis of service users narratives can teach about recovery support. Frontier Psychiatry. - This study from the Netherlands draws on the PTMF among other sources to argue for a narrative-based understanding of recovery.
- Whitaker, L., Smith, F., Brasier, C., et al. (2021). Engaging with transformative paradigms in mental health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthh, 18(18), 9504. - This article from Australia encourages social workers to engage with transformative, non-medical paradigms in MH, including the PTMF.
Articles
The January 2019 issue of Clinical Psychology Forum was a special edition, focusing on applied uses of the Power Threat Meaning Framework within human services and beyond.
It also includes an update from the project team one year on from publication of the original PTMF document. The reports on applied uses show that the framework can be highly effective and useful for many people, both in help-providing and help-seeking roles.
- Aherne, C., Moloney, O. & O'Brien, G. (2019). Youth mental health and the Power Threat Meaning Framework: Jigsaw's systems perspective. Clinical Psychology Forum, 313, 3-7.
This article discusses the authors' perceptions of the fit between the PTMF and the non-medicalised contextual ethos of Jigsaw, a charity providing support to young people experiencing mental health problems in Ireland. - Aherne, C., Moloney, O., O'Donoghue, K., & Horgan, L. (2020). Society's Anxiety. Clinical Psychology Today, 24 June 2020.
There has been a trend of increased levels of anxiety amongst young people in Ireland over the last decade. Reasons given for this trend are often over-simplistic in nature. This article aims to reflect deeper on the context of youth mental health in Ireland and to contribute to the theoretical understanding of this context. - Aherne, D. & Aherne, C. (2020) The Power Threat Meaning Framework and Covid-19. Clinical Psychology Today, 22 June 2020.
Covid-19 has forced many of us into introspection in attempts to figure out what is important to us individually and as a society. Here the authors have used the PTMF as a framework of reflection in an attempt to illuminate some understanding of Ireland's responses to the illness and some thoughts on how to approach things going forward. - Ahsan, S. (2021). If you're having mental health struggles, you're not the problem. March 4 2021. Refinery29.
- Albanese, A., Blane, D., Williamson, A. (2021). Mental health in context: Structural vulnerability and support in primary care. British Journal of General Practice, 71(713): 565-567
This article discusses how the PTMF and formulation-based approach can help GPs support those whose mental distress is rooted in structural inequalities. - Amari, N (2021) Social justice in counseling psychology practice: Actualizing the ethics of compassion. Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
This article draws on the PTMF and other sources to argue for counselling practice which supports social justice. - Amari, N. (2023). Self-formulation in counselling psychology: The Power Threat Meaning Framework. Journal of Humanistic Psychology
A self formulation by a counselling psychology trainee, using the PTMF. - Barnwell, G., Stroud, L., & Watson, M. (2020) Critical reflections from South Africa: Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework to place climate-related distress in its socio-political context. Clinical Psychology Forum, 332, August 2020
This paper applies the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) to a case study on climate-related distress in South Africa. In doing so, the paper critiques the current conceptualisation of climate anxieties for its potential medicalisation and dehistorisation, and illustrates the importance of asymmetrical power dynamics and climate-related distress. - Bodfield, k. s., & Culshaw, A. (2024). Applying the power threat meaning framework to the UK education system. Pastoral Care in Education
- Bostock. J., & Armstrong, N., (2019). Developing trauma-informed care and adapted pathways using the Power, Threat, Meaning framework (Part 1: Being heard and understood differently). Clinical Psychology Forum, 314, 25-30.
- Boyle, M. (2020) Power in the Power Threat Meaning Framework, Journal of Constructivist Psychology.
- Brinkmann, S (2023). Problems of diagnostic psychiatry—and the search for a way forward. Nordic Psychology.
DOI: 10.1080/19012276.2023.2258557.
The author discusses the PTMF as one of several ways forward for psychiatry. - The British Psychological Society (2020) Understanding Depression
This document is for everyone who has an interest in depression – those of us who experience it, our friends and family, and those of us who provide services to help. It is an up-to-date summary of what the research says, written in everyday language. - Colbert, S., Caswell, H., & Dunstan, R. (2022). Power, Threat, Meaning Framework informed audit: The ubiquitous experience of trauma in adults with psychosis. Special Issue: Trauma-informed care in Clinical Psychology. Edited by Allan Skelly. Clinical Psychology Forum 350 - February 2022. - In the context of the Power, Threat, Meaning Framework and trauma-informed care, this audit attempted to identify experiences of trauma and adversity for clients on the caseload of an NHS community psychosis team. Histories of trauma were found for every client. The number of trauma experiences ranged from 1–9, giving a mean of 2.7 per client. This confirms clients with psychosis as a highly traumatised group and supports the trauma model of psychosis.
- Colbert, S. (2024). Developing EMDR for psychosis from a Power, Threat, Meaning Framework perspective
Clinical Psychology Forum, 378; 16-21. - Colbert, S. (2024). Power, Threat, Meaning Framework informed EMDR for psychosis: Identifying and accessing trauma memories underlying psychotic experiences. Clinical Psychology Forum 378: 22-24.
- Collins, N. (2019). The 'Own my life' course: Building literacy with women about trauma through the Power Threat Meaning Framework. Clinical Psychology Forum, 313, 38-41.
The author reflects on the fit between the Framework and her own approach to 'depathologising' the responses of women subjected to abuse from male partners. - Collins. K., Goad, E., Redding., & Rushent, N. (2022). Championing trauma informed care through constructive critique. Special Issue: Trauma-informed care in Clinical Psychology. Edited by Allan Skelly. Clinical Psychology Forum 350 - February 2022.
- Cromby, J. (2020). Meaning in the Power Threat Meaning Framework. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 35, 1, 41-53.
This paper describes the concept of meaning within the Framework,identifies some of its influences, and discusses its relationship to other concepts of meaning and to other aspects of the Framework. - Cummins, E., (Feb 27, 2022). Ideas: The Future of Mental Health Diagnosis Goes Beyond the Manual The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the so-called "Bible of Psychiatry," is approaching its 70th year. It should be its last.
- da Silva, c., de Jong, j., Feddes, A. R., , Doosje, B., & Gruev-Vintila, A. (2022). Where Are You Really From? Understanding Misrecognition From the Experiences of French and Dutch Muslim Women Students. Journal of Social and Political Psychology. Vol.10(1), 201-217.
This study uses the PTMF core questions to explore experiences of misrecognition in Muslim women. - Daya, I. (2022). Russian dolls and epistemic crypts: A lived experience reflection on epistemic injustice and psychiatric confinement. Incarceration.
doi:10.1177/26326663221103445
Psychiatric survivor Indigo Daya describes her experiences of physical and epistemic incarceration, citing the PTMF as an example of much-needed new approaches. - Dorling, D., Rouf, K. (01 June 2018) To better tackle mental illness, look to the societies in which it occurs. Prospect Magazine.
This article looks at the role which society plays in shaping our attitudes and responses towards mental health. - Flynn, A. & Polak, N. (2019). Incorporating the Power Threat Meaning Framework into an autism and learning disability team. Clinical Psychology Forum, 313, 42-46.
The authors reflect on their experiences of drawing upon the Framework in their work with children, young people and their families in a NHS service for people diagnosed with autism or intellectual disability. - Fyson, R., Morley, K. & Murphy, A. (2019). Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework in social work education. Clinical Psychology Forum, 313, 33-37.
The authors discuss the fit between the Framework and the roles of social workers. The authors describe how the PTMF will be taught and inform other taught content within the English social work training programme they are involved with. - Griffiths, A. (2019). Reflections on using the Power Threat Meaning Framework in peer-led systems. Clinical Psychology Forum, 313, 9-14.
The author describes how a trauma-informed peer-led group adapted and utilised the PTMF within their group. The author provides reflections on the experience including thoughts about the adaptations she felt were necessary and ideas for future development. The author also shares the PTMF narrative she developed for herself during the process of utilising this within the group. - Griffiths, H. & Baty, F. (2019). Bringing the outside in: Clinical psychology training in socially aware assessment, formulation, intervention and service structure. Clinical Psychology Forum, 313, 20-24.
The authors describe how they incorporated a workshop on the PTMF into a module on critical psychology within a Scottish clinical psychology training programme. They reflect on the experience, fit with the ethos and hopes for clinical training, and the positive reception from the trainees. - Grice, N., & Camilleri, K., (2023). Coping as you drown: An IPA exploration of poverty, benefits and maternal mental health. Clinical Psychology Forum, 368, pp 54-64
- Harper, D. J. & Cromby, J. (2020) From 'What's Wrong with You?' to 'What's Happened to You?': an Introduction to the Special Issue on the Power Threat Meaning Framework, Journal of Constructivist Psychology.
- Harper, D. (2023). De-medicalising public mental health with the Power Threat Meaning Framework. Perspectives in Public Health.
- Harris, J., Clarke, I., & Riches, S. (2023). Developing 'Comprehend, Cope and Connect' training for acute and crisis mental health services: staff, patient and carer perspectives. Journal of Psychiatric Intensive Care, 19(1): 33–50. doi: 10.20299/jpi.2023.004
- Haslam, M. (2023). The erosion of mental health nursing: discussing the implications of the move towards genericism. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing 12(1).
This article draws on the PTMF among other sources to argue against a generic curriculum for mental health nurses. - Hill, P. (2020). Post-pandemic NHS staff wellbeing. Pain News vol.18(3); 155-157.
This article argues that the PTMF can help us take a holistic view of the factors relevant to long-term conditions such as chronic fatigue and chronic pain. - Huggett, C. (2020). What influences mental health professionals to stigmatise people with schizophrenia? The Mental Elf, 13 October 2020
This review established that 'schizophrenia' is one of the most stigmatised mental health problems by mental health professionals. Moreover, the general public and GPs hold more stigmatising beliefs of 'schizophrenia' than mental health professionals. - James, I., Morris, S., Johnston, A., & Glover, D. (2022). Treating mental stress in elite footballers using a stigma-free psychological approach: The Power Threat Meaning Framework. BJPsych Advances, 1-8. doi:10.1192/bja.2022.48
- Johnstone, L., Boyle, M., Cromby, J. et al. (2019). Reflections on responses to the Power Threat Meaning Framework one year on. Clinical Psychology Forum, 313, 47-54.
The authors of the Framework reflect on reactions to the launch of the Framework, clarify points that were commonly mis-reported, and suggest ideas for future development. - Johnstone, L. (2020) General Patterns in the Power Threat Meaning Framework – Principles and Practice, Journal of Constructivist Psychology.
- Johnstone, L (2021) 'Beyond the mental health paradign: The Power Threat Meaning Framework' IAI News, Issue 96, 5th May
- Kemp, R. (2022) Ethics of Power in Clinical Psychology. Clinical Psychology Forum, 360, 11-15. - This article describes issues and ethics around Power in Clinical Psychology and references the Power Threat Meaning Framework.
- Kinderman, P (2023) Clinical psychology and human rights: A call to action Clinical Psychology Forum 368, pp 12-18
- Kokorikou, D., et al., (2021). Testing hypotheses about the harm that capitalism causes to the mind and brain: a theoretical framework for neuroscience research.
This article cites the PTMF, among other sources, in arguing that neuroscience needs to account for and investigate the impact of capitalism on the mind and brain. - Lawrence, D., Bagshaw, R., Stubbings, D., & Watt, A. (2024): The Maintenance Model of Restrictive Practices: A Trauma-Informed, Integrated Model to Explain Repeated Use of Restrictive Practices in Mental Health Care Settings. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, DOI: 10.1080/01612840.2024.2369594
The authors draw upon the PTMF, among other sources, to develop a model explaining the use of restrictive practices in mental health settings and to suggest ways of reducing them. - Logan, C. & Sellers, R. (2020). Risk Assessment and management in violent extremism: A primer for mental health practitioners. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology.
- Malott, K.M., Barraclough, S. & Yee, T. (2023). Towards Decolonizing Diagnosis: A Critical Review and Suggested Alternatives. International Journal Advanced Counselling.
- Marianne Therese Smogeli Holter, Tore Dag Bøe & Bård Bertelsen (2024). An Alternative to Mental Illness Diagnoses: The Power–Threat–Meaning Framework. https://doi.org/10.52734/PTJO4792
This article outlines the principles of the PTMF for a Norwegian audience, and describes some of the PTMF-related projects that are underway. - McBain, S. (2022). Are you mentally ill, or very unhappy? Psychiatrists can't agree. As rates of diagnosis rise, a fierce debate rages in Psychiatry. Are we experiencing a parallel pandemic, or having a rational response to a traumatic world?
- Mead, J., Gibbs, K., Fisher, Z., & Haddon Kemp, A. (2012). What's next for wellbeing science? Moving from the Anthropocene to the Symbiocene. Fontiers in Psychology, 14: 1087078
The PTMF is referenced as a perspective for understanding the challenges posed by climate change. - Michelson, S. (2022). Children's agency when experiencing family-related adversities: The negotiation of closeness and distance in children's personal narratives.
The study analyses how children navigate relationships in their families, referencing the discussion of power in the PTMF. - Mitchell, S. & Thorne, E. Developing trauma-informed care and adapted pathways using the Power Threat Meaning framework (Part 2: Being helped differently)
- Morgan, E. (2019). 'The diagnosis question' Prospect Magazine, Oct 16th 2019
- Morgan, E. (June 2021). Sharing Mental Health Memes is making things worse, not better. Refinery 29.
- Morgan, G., et al (2022). The Power Threat Meaning Framework and the Climate and Ecological Crises. Psychology in Society (PINS). 63
- Morgan, G., Moutsou, I. & Georgaca, E. (2023). The Power Threat Meaning Framework: A lens for the psychosocial support of unaccompanied minors.
Metalogos Systemic Therapy Journal, 44, Oct 2023. - O'Toole, C. (2019). Time to teach the politics of mental health: Implications of the Power Threat Meaning Framework for teacher education. Clinical Psychology Forum, 313, 15-19.
The author, a lecturer in education psychology in Ireland, discusses how she believes the Framework has radical implications for how teachers can support wellbeing in schools and other educational settings. - Phillips, G., & Raskin, J. D. (2020). A primer for clinicians on alternatives to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. Advance online publication.
Various researchers have been developing alternatives to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fifth edition; DSM–5). This article serves as a "primer" for clinicians by introducing four alternatives to the DSM–5 that are currently garnering significant attention. - Pilgrim, D. & Cromby, J. (2020). Some philosophical roots of the Power Threat Meaning Framework. Clinical Psychology Forum 327.
- Pilgrim, D. (2020) A Critical Realist Reflection on the Power Threat Meaning Framework, Journal of Constructivist Psychology
- Polak. N., & Flynn, A. (2019). Incorporating the PTMF into an autism and learning disability team. Clinical Psychology Forum 313 - January 2019.
- Poxon, L. (2024). An Antidote to the Pathologizing of Grief: Applying the Power–Threat–Meaning Framework. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1891/EHPP-2023-0016
- Read, J., and Harper, D. (2020). The power threat meaning framework: addressing adversity, challenging prejudice and stigma and transforming services. Journal of Constructivist Psychology.
Advocates of a biomedical approach have argued that: it provides an evidence-based approach to classifying and understanding the causes of problems; adopting a biomedical understanding will reduce stigma; and biomedical interventions are effective and evidence-based. This article reviews the literature and finds not only that there is little or no evidence for these assumptions but that, in fact, the research evidence points to the need for the kind of alternative approach proposed by the PTMF. - Read, J., & Moncrieff, J. (2022). Depression: Why drugs and electricity are not the answer. Psychological Medicine , First View , pp. 1 - 10
This article critiques the assumptions on which use of antidepressants and ECT are based, and argues for alternative models, including the PTM Framework. - Reis et al (2019) Surviving Prison: Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework to explore the impact of long-term imprisonment. Clinical Psychology Forum 313.
- Sabados, D. & Potash, J. S. (2023). Art to humanize mental illness for teaching diagnosis. Journal of Humanistic Psychology
The PTMF offers a foundation for utilizing weekly art viewing and art making as a foundational element for teaching masters-level mental health practitioners how to consider mental health and diagnosis with a critical mindset. In particular, the one-canvas painting approach allows for metaphors in imagery and creative processes to inform students in their professional development. - SHIFT Recovery Community (2020). Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework in a Self-help group of people with expereince of mental and emotional distress. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, Vol.35(1)
This article describes how the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) has been used by the SHIFT (Self Help Inspiring Forward Thinking) recovery community of people with direct experience of mental and emotional distress based in Portsmouth, UK. - Siverns, K. & Morgan, G. (2021) 'If Only I Could Have Said, If Only Somebody Was Listening': Mothers' Experiences of Placing Their Child into Care. Adoption Quarterly
This qualitative research explored the experiences of mothers who had made or agreed with the decision for their child to be placed into care, and drew on the PTMF for reflections on the power processes involved. - Stupak R, Dobroczyński B. From Mental Health Industry to Humane Care. Suggestions for an Alternative Systemic Approach to Distress. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(12):6625.
These authors cite the PTMF as an example of how mental health services in Poland could be radically reformed. - Stupak, R., & Johnstone, L. (2023). Power Threat Meaning Framework – A brief description of the basic assumptions and context. Psychoterapia 3; 206, 71-84.
- TFDA Open letter regarding reform and revision of diagnostic systems
This letter was constructed by the Task Force on Diagnostic Alternatives of the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32 of the American Psychological Association [APA]). - Topor, A., and Matscheck, D. (2021) Diversity, Complexity and Ordinality: Mental Health Services outside the institutions-Service users' and professionals' experience-based practices and knowledges, and new public management. International Jounral of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(13): 7075.
This article cites the PTMF in describing community mental health support in Sweden. - Vidha, Sadaf (2019) Mental Health beyond symptoms: Encouraging Survivor-led dialogue by focusing on aspects of power, threat.
Article in India that considers the PTMF and Mental Health dialogue. - Warrender, D., Bain, H., Murray, I., & Kennedy, C. (2020). Pespectives of crisis intervention for people diagnosed with 'borderline personality disorder': An integrative review. Jornal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 1, 1-29.
This paper explores the experiences of stakeholders involved in the crisis care of people diagnosed with "Borderline Personality Disorder." - Webb, Nick 17 February 2018) My mother took her own life – and now I know a different mental health approach could have saved her. The Independent.
This article discusses the author's own experience with mental health and the loss of a loved one, and the role which the PTMF can play in helping others in the future. - Willmot, P., & Evershed, S. (2018). Interviewing people given a diagnosis of personality disorder in forensic setting. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health.
Blogs
- A response to some criticisms of the PTMF
- Frames of Mind - Lucy Beney
- Aherne, C. - The Power Threat Meaning Framework Part 1
Part one in a three part series exploring the Power Threat Meaning Framework with Clinical Psychologist Dr Cian Aherne
Discussion about the PTMF between Lucy Johnstone and service user Danny Whittaker - Invited blog by Johnstone and Boyle challenging the Global MH movement
- Mad In America - Publication of the Power Threat Meaning Framework
- A four part blog series by PTMF authors John Cromby and Lucy Johnstone taking a critical perspective on the concept of neurodiversity. The fourth blog unpicks some of the ways critics have attempted to discredit the PTMF.
- Psychology Today - An alternative to psychiatric diagnosis?
- The Diagnosis of Exclusion - Forgetting inconvenient truths: A way to keep thinking (2018)
- CMHNN - A mental health nurse's first response to the launch of the Power Threat Meaning Framework
- Canterbury Christ Church University - I've been waiting for this since I was a child
- Imperfect Cognitions - On the Power Threat Meaning Framework
- ISPS-UK - An introduction to the Power Threat Meaning Framework for ISPS-UK members
- Socialist Health Association - The Power Threat Meaning Framework
- Critical Psychiatry - The limitations of psychiatric diagnosis
- Linda Gask - Diagnosis, power, and suffering
- Social Work With Adults (GOV.UK) - A radically different perspective on mental health
- There is a different way - Response to the Power Threat Meaning paper
- Mental Health Today - Do you identify as having a disorder or as having survived something?
- Hidden Universes - Call to abandon the diagnosis of all mental health problems
- Noteworthy - How I divested from the medical model of mental health
- My experience of our mental health care system - Ella Gregory
- The Role that Clinical Psychologists can play in regard to housing insecurity in the UK: a social justice perspective - Kieran Day
- A four part blog by journalist and survivor Hannah Green about alternative to psychiatry (including the PTMF)
- Lucy Johnstone describes her experiences of sharing the PTMF with audiences in New Zealand and Australia, including members of indigenous communities
- Crossing Cultures with the Power Threat Meaning Framework-New Zealand
- Crossing Cultures with the Power Threat Meaning Framework-Australia
Podcasts and videos
- Dr Orla Gallagher (a Post-Doctoral Researcher employed in the Irish Prison Service) on Studying Violence in the Irish Prison System
- Lucy Johnstone discusses the PTMF on Mad in America - 2018
- Lucy Johnstone discusses the PTMF one year later on Mad in America - 2019
- Lucy Johnstone speaking at Copenhagen University - 2018 (video)
- Lucy Johnstone speaks to Metalog in Denmark - 2019 (video)
- Lucy Johnstone discussing the PTMF with Lisa Cherry - 2020 (video)
- Lucy Johnstone's brief overview of the PTMF for online festival 'A disorder 4 everyone' - 2020 (video)
- Lucy Johnstone talks about the PTMF and 'personality disorder' - 2021
- Lucy Johnstone talks about formulation, trauma and the PTMF - 2021
- Lucy Johnstone speaking at a lunchtime seminar on the PTMF at Roehampton University - 2021
- Mary Boyle and Lucy Johnstone introduce their book 'A straight talking introduction to the PTMF' - 2021
- Lucy Johnstone talks to Irish host Niall Breslin for his podcast 'Where is My Mind?' - May 2021
- Lucy Johnstone Talks with Claire McClorey (May 2021). Podcast Anuway
- Lucy Johnstone discusses the PTMF with Birgit Valla of 'Mad in Norway'.
- Using the PTMF for Staff Support: Jan Bostock talks to Paula Redmond about burnout and trauma in health professionals
- Lucy Johnstone talks to David Prescott from 'Safer Society', a US nonprofit that seeks to reduce social and sexual violence through preventive and restorative means
- Gareth Morgan (Clinical Psychologist) and Garrett Barnwell (Clinical Psychologist): Climate Psychology drawing on the PTMF.
- Cian Aherne talking about using the PTMF with young people whose lives are affected by alcohol misuse
Covid-19
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Covid-19 Resources - We're all in This Together - Mad in the UK
A list of non-medical, non-pathologising blogs and resources related to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Power Threat Meaning Framework and Covid-19 - Clinical Psychology Today (Declan and Cian Aherne)
Covid-19 has forced many of us into introspection in attempts to figure out what is important to us individually and as a society. Here we have used the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF; Johnstone & Boyle, 2018) as a framework of reflection in an attempt to illuminate some understanding of Ireland's responses to the illness and some thoughts on how to approach things going forward.
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Capitalism, Coronavirus, and Mental Distress - International Socialism: Issue 168
The Covid-19 crisis has combined mental health stressors that have been studied before, in other disasters, but which have never been seen consolidated in one global crisis. So, for example, there is research on how humans cope with quarantine, mass disasters and ongoing stressors but not on all three.
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The Conversation: Covid19 and Mental Health: Feeling Anguish is normal and is not a disorder
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This report uses the PTMF as one of 3 key psychological frameworks to explore key themes.
Chapters
- Ball, M., Morgan, G., Haarmans, M. (2023). The Power Threat Meaning Framework and 'Psychosis'. In: Díaz-Garrido, J.A., Zúñiga, R., Laffite, H., Morris, E. (eds) Psychological Interventions for Psychosis. Springer, Cham.
- Collins, N. (2020) 'Broken or Superpowered?' Traumatized People, Toxic Doublethink and the hea,ing potential of evangelical christian communities. Chapter 10. in Feminist Trauma Theologies: Body, Scripture and Church in Critical Perspective. SCM Press.
- Cromby, J (2019) 'An alternative to diagnosis: the Power Threat Meaning Framework' in (eds) Gibjels, H, Sapouna, L and Sidley, G 'Inside out, outside in', PCCS Books.
- Harper, D., & Vakilli, K. (2020). Mental Health prejudice, discrimination and epistemic injustice: Moving beyond stigma and biomedical dominance. In, Routledge international handbook of discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping. Routledge.
- Johnstone, L (2020) 'Do you still need your psychiatric diagnosis? Critiques and alternatives'. In 'Drop the disorder! Challenging the culture of psychiatric diagnosis' ed J Watson, PCCS Books.
- Morgan, G. (2024). Climate distress through the lens of the Power Threat Meaning Framework. In: J. Anderson, T. Staunton, J. O'Gorman & C. Hickman (Eds), Being a therapist in a time of climate breakdown. Routledge, pp 70-81. [CJ1] p
- Ramsden. J., & Beckley, K. (2022). The power threat meaning framework: Implications for practice with the criminal justice system. In, 'Challenging bias in forensic psychological assessment and testing: Theoretical and practical approaches to working with diverse population'. Eds. GC Liell, M.J. Fisher and L.F Jones. Routledge.
- Randall, J, Johnson, E and Johnstone, L 'Self-formulation: making sense of your own experiences'; in 'Surviving Clinical Psychology: Navigating Personal, Professional and Political Selves on the Journey to Qualification' (2020). Routledge.
- Stupak, R. (2023). Going Beyond the DSM with the Power Threat Meaning Framework, Open Dialogue Approach and Soteria.
In: 'Practical Alternatives to the Psychiatric Model of Mental Illness: Beyond DSM and ICD Diagnosing' (published by Ethics Press). - Tribe, R and Marshall, C (2024) Is there a case for using the Power Threat Meaning Framework within clinical supervision? In Social Justice, Social Discrimination and Mental Health: Theory, practice and professional issues, Eds. R Tribe and D Bhugra, Routledge.
- Watson, J (2023) The Power Threat Meaning Framework and demedicalising counselling and psychotherapy
In: People not pathology: Freeing therapy from the medical model. Ed Pete Sanders and Janet Tolan, Monmouth: PCCS Books. - Watson, J (2024). 'The Power Threat Meaning Framework and Eating Distress'
In: Theoretical Alternatives to the Psychiatric Model of Mental Disorder Labeling: Contemporary Frameworks, Taxonomies, and Models, Edited by Arnoldo Cantú, Eric Maisel and Chuck Ruby. Ethics International Press Ltd, UK
Books
- Boyle, M. & Johnstone, L. (2020). A straight talking introduction to the Power Threat Meaning Framework. PCCS
This introduction to the PTM Framework explains why a non-diagnostic approach is needed and presents the ideas and evidence behind the Framework in an accessible way. Readers are guided in using the Framework for themselves or with people they're working with or supporting. They are also encouraged to question some taken for granted assumptions about ourselves and the world. The book provides many additional resources for those who want to follow up the ideas, practices and sources of support for alternatives to diagnosis and medicalisation.
- Cromby, H., Harper, D., Johnstone, L., and Reavey, L. (2013). Psychology, mental health and distress. London, Bloomsbury.(2nd edition due in 2025).
- Fisher, N. (2024). The Psychology of Mental Health, Oxford, OUP.
- Goodman, B. (2019). Psychology and Sociology in Nursing. 3rd edition, London: Sage.
- Grant, A & Goodman, G. (2018). Communication and interpersonal skills in Nursing. 4th edn London: Sage.
- Liao, L-M. (2023) Variations in Sex Development: Medicine, Culture and Psychological Practice. Cambridge University Press
In this book Lih-Mei Liao (former Head of Women's Health Psychological Services at UCL Hospitals and Hon. Reader, UCL Institute for Women's Health) situates the dilemmas facing people impacted by innate variations in sex characteristics, also known as intersex, in their cultural context. Almost without exception, service users experience medical interventions to approximate social norms for bodily appearance and function, as their individual choice. Likewise, medical practitioners tend to understand themselves as providing neutral and unbiased counsel on their interventions.
Dr Liao draws on the PTM Framework to encourage professional and peer providers to identify and highlight negative operations of power in intersex medicine and the role of cultural messages in common meanings encountered in these settings. She provides clinical vignettes to suggest that the initial meaning given to a threatening experience need not be the last word on the subject or a mandate for medical 'normalisation'.
- Raskin, J (2024). Psychopathology and mental distress: Contrasting perspectives. London, New York: Bloomsbury Academic.