Call for Contributors: THE HANDBOOK OF LANGUAGE AND MENTAL HEALTH  

26-Oct-2023

-------Call for Chapter Proposals------- 

Handbook of Language and Mental Health 

Editors, Dr Laura A. Cariola (University of Edinburgh, Clinical and Health Psychology) and Dr Mike Birch (Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts) 

Bloomsbury is pleased to announce the development of a very exciting new project: The Handbook of Language and Mental Health. The Handbook is a single-volume, edited work of reference, mainly aimed at a scholarly market. The book will present a theoretical and research-based state-of-the art comprehensive overview of an interdisciplinary field by bringing together a range of critical and pluralistic perspectives. The chapters will be written by leading and emerging scholars from around the globe for a wide range of disciplines, including linguistics, sociology, psychology, media, culture, psychotherapy, arts, disability studies, and literature. The Handbook aims to include chapters on a range of topics that critically consider key historical themes and enduring debates, main theoretical and philosophical stances, examine main methodologies paradigms and scholarly traditions, and consider future trajectories within the field of language and mental health as well as the implications to individuals with lived experience. The Handbook is intended to be one of the most significant publications available for scholars in these fields. We are currently seeking contributors for The Handbook of Language and Mental Health, so please find below some relevant information on Handbooks.  

Wish List of Chapter Topics: 

  • Good research practice and methodological approaches, such as ethics in language and mental health research, qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches, and ethics and methods of data collection. 
  • Language and mental health conditions, such as the language of the DSM, language of specific mental health disorders [e.g., depression and suicide; ADHD, dementia; neurodiversity; psychosis; eating disorders; language in psychotherapy and counselling; language and typical and atypical child development]. 
  • Pathologising, stigmatising mental health discourses, and best representation practices. Stigmatising media representations, focusing on specific populations including LGBTQI+, misogyny, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, ethnicity, and race as well as alternative and stigma-free portrayals. 
  • AI, language and mental health, such as machine learning, large language models, Web and Smartphone Apps, chatbots and online therapy. 
  • Mental health in cultural studies and the arts, such as language and mental health in literature, art, applied theatre, popular music. 

This list is not exhaustive and authors are welcome to propose another chapter topic if it is relevant to the theme of language and mental health. 

Please send your book chapter proposal of up to 300 words with an author’s bio (50 words per author) to Dr. Laura Cariola (Laura.Cariola@ed.ac.uk) and Dr. Mike Birch (michael.birch@mcla.edu). 

Submission deadline of book chapter proposal: 15 November 2023 

Tentative publication date of handbook: 2026