When it was first published in 2006, Community Mental Health in Canada was hailed as a much-needed critical overview of the provision of public mental health services in Canada. Comprehensive in scope, its coverage included:

• the prevalence and impact of mental illness in Canada
• the complementary and conflicting interests of stakeholder groups, such as mental health professionals, clients, families, governments, and drug companies
• strengths and limitations of models of care and practice approaches
• current and developing initiatives in treatment, rehabilitation, housing, and criminal justice programs
• the clinical benefits and costs of particular interventions
• the legal and ethical basis of mental health practice.

This much-awaited new edition of the book has been substantially revised and expanded to include:

• a deeper discussion of stigma, the recovery vision, the pharmaceutical industry, the assessment process, and mental health law
• new topics, such as the two-continua model of mental health/mental illness, rural mental health, and prevention and health promotion
• recent developments stemming from recommendations of the 2006 Senate report on mental health, including the creation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada in 2007 and its influential national mental health strategy released in 2012.

This book fills a gap in the literature in its analysis of both clinical mental health practice and the structural context within which it is situated. Accessibly written and highly informative, it is an indispensable resource for students, practitioners, and policymakers, as well as service recipients, their families, and interested members of the public.

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Simon Davis is a manager in mental health and addictions with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. He is also an instructor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Social Work and in the post-degree program in psychosocial rehabilitation at Douglas College.