Literaturecan clarify, examine and define emotions, behaviour and thoughts. Forpsychiatrists, literary texts can be valuable tools for furthering ourunderstanding of patients and their conditions. This book explores thefruitful relationships between the written word and central aspects ofpsychiatric practice. It includes newly commissioned chapters plusarticles originally published in the journal Advances in PsychiatricTreatment that have been reworked and updated. The contributors.