Mental health articles

The Mental Health Service and the Community In calmer times, college mental health services had to justify their existence within the academic community. Th e public relations challenge was explaining why an institution of higher learning should bother funding a fringe activity like psychological treatment. In today’s climate of acting-out students and the negative publicity […]

A nursing home director contacts you about a resident at her facility who has become more withdrawn and resistant. At your initial meeting with the director, the resident is described as an 80-year-old woman, Ruby, who has been at the nursing home for 2 years. She was previously more involved with others and had a […]

Foundational Assertions of Mental Health Consultation • The consultative relationship is triadic between the consultant, consultee(s) and client(s). • The consultant and consultee relate collegially rather than the consultee being subordinate to the consultant. The consultant and the consultee are seen as experts in their own areas. • The content of discussions between the consultant […]

Twelve Easy Steps for Failure as a Mental Health Consultant 1. Know it all. 2. Learn nothing about the consultee. 3. Be unaware of your own motives. 4. Be definite, dogmatic, unyielding. 5. Sulk when your advice is not taken. 6. Use ambiguity to your own advantage. 7. Avoid feedback mechanisms. 8. Keep professional status […]

A Mental Health Professional Consultant’s Code of Ethics Because there is no universally accepted code of ethics for consultants with mental health backgrounds, Gallessich (1982) created a set of principles based on information culled from the consultation literature (American Psychological Association, 1972; Benne, 1969; Division of Managerial Consultation of the Academy of Management, 1978; G. […]

As mental health professionals know from their course work and experiences in human learning, many factors can facilitate participant learning: Maximize motivation: Whenever possible, the consultant should strive to maximize the intrinsic motivation of the employees. However, extrinsic motivation (e.g., monetary rewards, recognition, praise, Continuing Education credits) can also be useful. Motivation is maximized when […]