On the Brink cover art

On the Brink

Stories of Harm and Healing from a Lifetime in Psychiatry

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On the Brink

By: Penelope Campling
Narrated by: Penelope Campling
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About this listen

 We have lost our way when it comes to treating serious mental illness: this is a powerful call to arms from highly respected doctor and therapist, Penelope Campling.

'Deeply thoughtful and compassionate' Susie Orbach, author of In Therapy

'As a GP I wish I could send patients to Penelope Campling; as someone worried about failing mental health services, I wish she were in charge.' Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being

NHS psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr Penelope Campling has spent a lifetime on the frontline of mental health care, working with patients in crisis. Now she has an urgent message for us all: with our health service at breaking point, we are failing people in serious mental distress. We can and must do better.

Dr Campling invites us into her therapy room. At the forefront of a radically new approach to working with mental illness, she shows how therapeutic communities have helped her patients to break generational cycles of trauma, change crippling internal narratives of shame and despair, overcome abuse and rebuild their lives to find meaning and hope.

Moving and insightful, On the Brink combines patients’ stories with candid self-reflections on the difficult business of helping others.

'A book with the power to move and inform . . . [Campling] is an expert in "intelligent kindness".' Gwen Adshead, author of The Devil You Know

'[An] insightful, important book . . . an exhibition of what could be possible and an invitation to act to deliver that vision.' Kathryn Mannix, author of Listen

'This book oozes compassion and kindness and made me want to be a more understanding doctor.' Kate Milton, British Journal of GP Practice

Previously published in hardback under the title Don’t Turn Away: Stories of Troubled Minds in Fractured Times©2024 Penelope Campling (P)2024 Simon & Schuster UK Mental Health Mood Disorders Neuroscience & Neuropsychology Personal Development Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Psychology & Interactions Health Inspiring

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Critic reviews

'Fantastic new book from Penny Campling - 5 stars' Dr Kate Lovett, former Dean, Royal College of Psychiatrists
All stars
Most relevant
While this book gives a good historical context of mental health systems, it also honestly explores the sad state of our attention to people’s trauma and distress in current times - a sad indictment of the poor thinking of politicians and leaders in the concept of investing to save - sometimes people’s lives!

Kindness and compassion and normality in abundance

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I loved everything about this book, the depth of explanation in every chapter, Penelope has a real empathy for her patients despite having to navigate the constraints of the NHS over several decades.
The book wasn't all about her and how great she was, which many books written about ones medical practice can be.
It was totally focused on patients and how the system fails patients and the medical staff who work within the NHS. It was a thoroughly fantastic listen on Audible.

The depth of detail in the book

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Everyone should read this highly empathetic highly personal account of what it's like to work in mental health care in the uk and what it's like to try and help people when the system allows it and when it doesn't. Anyone who has experienced services first hand will identify with it and those who haven't will come away more informed about the realities of how the system works and doesn't work.

Disturbingly Brillant

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amazing thoughtful in my opinion gave clear answers on what it is needed for the struggling mental health system in the uk.

amazing and thoughtful

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