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This article sets out to provide information regarding the evidence base for psychological treatments and to demonstrate that the number of mental health professionals who are available and competent to deliver these treatments is very small compared with the numbers of people who might benefit. The article also considers the prevalence of conditions that are amenable to psychological treatment and then explores how ‘stepped care’ may be one solution for providing available treatment resources in a way that is fairest and most effective for the population at large.

Behavioural activation is a contemporary behavioural treatment for depression that has the potential advantages of being more readily adopted in psychiatric inpatient environments than more complex psychological treatment approaches and requiring less intensive training than these approaches. In this article the theoretical and empirical foundations of behavioural activation are described along with an outline of the therapeutic process and key interventions used. Consideration is then given to factors influencing the implementation of BA in psychiatric inpatient environments.

Managing violence is an important clinical and managerial responsibility within contemporary mental health practice and there have been considerable developments across the country to pave the way for a more ‘standardised’ approach to conflict resolution. Many trusts employ someone to lead on ‘conflict resolution’ but the precise nature of the lead role and the responsibility attached to it vary greatly between organisations. Similarly, some trusts have sophisticated systems for delivering and monitoring conflict training and updates, whereas others do not. The project described here sought to clarify how training for conflict resolution is organised within a sample of mental health trusts in England. Data was generated by questionnaire and telephone interview with trust leads, and the audit findings were then analysed and used to inform an inter‐professional training pilot in one local trust. It is now expected that frontline staff will enter into conflict resolution training as defined by the NHS Security Management Service (2004) and be trained in accordance with a national syllabus of training standards. Audited opinion suggests that the training co‐ordinator role is associated with improved governance in relation to conflict‐resolution training. Arguably, if national benchmarks and standards are to be met in relation to conflict resolution, trusts need to invest in training infrastructure and at least consider the merits of funding a dedicated co‐ordinator role and inter‐professional training.

The purpose of this opinion piece is to present a case for the potential of positive autoethnography (PosAE) as a new autoethnographic approach.

This work resulted from on-going discussions between the authors as to the practicalities and benefits of associating the qualitative approach of autoethnography with the field of positive psychology.

PosAE is proposed to encourage writers to actively reflect on the importance for themselves, and their readers, of including positive narrative elements, prospective visions and exploratory trajectories in their work.

This research builds on existing research that has included positive psychology in autoethnography. As positive psychology is grounded in empirical research, the authors are suggesting that PosAE is allied to pragmatic autoethnography.

PosAE offers to facilitate positive thought, affect and strategies that could improve well-being. For example, some people struggling with serious health issues, and those helping them, may find it useful for articulating conditions and envisioning, even experiencing, positive change.

With so many lives impacted by mental health issues globally, and with rapidly changing societies struggling to provide stability and purpose, an autoethnography that provides tools such as PERMA (Positive emotions, Engagement, Positive Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishments/Achievements) to communicate the positive seems timely.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time the creation of an autoethnographic approach explicitly linked to positive psychology has been proposed.

The main aim of this paper is to provide a living tribute of lived expert by experience and researcher Andrew Voyce.

Andrew provided the author with a list of names of people he might approach to write a tribute on his behalf.

The accounts describe the influence that Andrew has had both as an educator and as a trusted colleague for the people approached.

In many ways, the voices of people with mental health problems have been marginalised. Few mental health journals, with only some exceptions, encourage lived experience contributions.

The mental health agenda continues to be dominated by professional groups. The remarkable individuals who continually battle with serious mental illness are often lost in official discourses.

Despite the fact that the topic of mental health is now much more in the public domain, research tells us that the most effective anti-stigma strategy is contact with sufferers.

The archivist Dr Anna Sexton co-produced one of the few mental health archives that only featured people with lived experience. Andrew was one of the four people featured in it. This account “showcases” the work of this remarkable man.