Learning from Mental Health Lived Experience and the Influence on Students’ Practice

This study explored how learning from mental health lived experience influenced Australian social work students’ practice during their first fieldwork placement. Involvement of mental health consumers in social work education is gaining momentum, yet little is known about how this type of learning informs students’ practice. Ten social work students participated in semistructured interviews and one focus group. Findings suggest that learning from lived experience promoted social work practice that honoured the expertise of mental health consumers and privileged personal recovery. Factors such as organisational culture and supervisor attitudes were found to mediate the students’ attempts to privilege lived experience.     

Is Managed Mental Health Treatment Psychotherapy?

The corporate takeover of mental health treatment has dramatically affected mental health treatment. Two essential constituents of psychotherapeutic process, the relationship between patient and therapist and the special communicative process associated with a talking treatment, have been significantly compromised. Therapists and patients are being forced to consider whether in the absence of confidentiality, self determination, and a secure treatment partnership managed mental health care can be called psychotherapy. Drawing on several detailed sessions from the managed treatment of a young woman, the writer concludes that the answer is no.     

Acceptance of Online Health Services for Self-Help in the Context of Mental Health: Understanding Young Adults’ Experiences

ABSTRACT

This article explores the understanding of the acceptance of online health services from a self-help perspective in the context of mental health. By examining the experiences of young adults, this article develops a framework to leverage the current understanding of the factors that would support the acceptance and use of these types of services. To this end, a multidisciplinary perspective incorporating knowledge from the service marketing, health, and information systems literature is used. The results suggest that the production of online services that are meant for self-help purposes necessitates a focus on the acceptance of technology and, more importantly, instrumental value creation, as the purpose of using these types of services should be better understood and supported by technological solutions. This study also identifies several technological features supporting both the acceptance of technology and users’ ability to achieve well-being. Furthermore, when developing services for health self-help purposes, the issue of branding to increase acceptance should be assessed. From a user perspective, there appears to be a difference regarding whether the services are positioned as health services or as wellness services.     

Influence of Caregiver Substance Dependence and Serious Mental Illness on Children’s Mental Health: Moderating Effects of Social Support

This study examined the relationships between caregiver alcohol dependence, drug dependence, and serious mental illness and internalizing and externalizing behaviors and whether these risks were moderated by social support. The study included 3,225 children ages 2–17 and their current caregivers, who participated in the second cohort of the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Regression analysis indicated that caregiver alcohol dependence, serious mental illness, and social support were significantly associated with internalizing behaviors and caregiver serious mental illness and social support were significantly associated with externalizing behaviors. Results indicated that social support moderated the associations between caregiver alcohol dependence and internalizing and caregiver drug dependence and externalizing behaviors. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Mental Health Practitioners’ Experiences During the Shared Trauma of the Forced Relocation from Gush Katif

The study examined the experiences of 48 Israeli mental health practitioners who helped the residents of Gush Katif during the forced relocation. The practitioners spent between 1 week and a year-and-a-half assisting these residents. Shortly after the relocation, they participated in one of four debriefing groups, which aimed to process and summarize their work. Phenomenological analysis revealed three main themes: (1) Who are our clients: the government or the residents? (2) Blurring boundaries between professional and personal self; and (3) Returning home. The study highlighted the challenges associated with intervening in shared trauma, especially in realities of political conflict.     

Using Two Intersubjective Perspectives in Combat Deployment: A Military Mental Health Professional’s Experience

The stress and demands of combat deployment create challenges for a military mental health provider (MMHP) to operate in a helper role in an environment adverse to the helping process. A case is presented featuring the experience of a MMHP while deployed to establish the existence of two types of intersubjective space in a combat environment. Modern attachment theory and interpersonal neurobiology are used as a theoretical framework, and concepts of emotional self-regulation, implicit communication, and attunement are applied to the case. The work of the MMHP is shown within and between the two types of intersubjective space and emphasize the seizing of unexpected clinical moments. The MMHP must remain emotionally regulated to participate in the implicit communicative process and rapidly form a therapeutic relationship. Creative and improvisational methods are demonstrated by the MMHP that challenge rigid adherence to clinical models. Applicability is significant to the specialty field of MMHP’s to improve deployment preparation, clinical skill development, and personal health management. Work with veterans can be enhanced by understanding deployment experiences and recognizing the importance of attunement by regulating affect for both the provider and client.     

New Grandparents’ Mental Health: The Protective Role of Optimism,Self-Mastery,and Social Support

The current study examines the contribution of optimism, self-mastery, perceived social support, and background variables (age, physical health, economic status) to mental health following the transition to grandparenthood. The sample consisted of 257 first-time Israeli grandparents (grandmothers and grandfathers, maternal and paternal) who were asked to complete a series of self-report questionnaires. The results indicate the importance of internal and external resources, as well as of health and economic status, for mental health of new grandparents. The value of designing relevant preventive interventions by family social workers to assist grandparents in coping with their new role is discussed.     

Can Health Care Reform End Stigma Toward Mental Illness?

This article addresses the destigmatization of mental health through health care reform by incorporating antistigma efforts—a destaining of mental illness—through prevention and early intervention in community-based programs that would be mandated and funded through the auspices of Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Mental health care policies under the ACA and the Mental Health Parity Act are briefly described, following a definition of mental health stigma and its impacts. Recommendations for statutory mandates in stigma reduction at the community and federal levels and guidelines for mental health/behavioral health providers form the article’s conclusion.     

Mental Health Consumer and Carer Participation in Professional Education: ‘Getting There Together’ for Children of Parents with Mental Illness and Their Families

Abstract

‘Getting There Together’ is a professional education seminar developed as a collaborative project by professionals, mental health consumers and carers aimed at service providers who work with children of parents with mental illness and their families. The need for such professional education concerning this group is well recognised and the project reported herein was initiated by a reference group of professionals, consumers and carers focusing on children of parents with mental illness in the Eastern region of Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). The project began and continued as a collaborative effort during development and implementation, which ensured the experience, point of view and voice of consumers and carers was central to the material prepared, and at the time of seminar presentations. Seminar participants were from the family welfare, child care and supported housing sectors. Seminar participants found the first person accounts of consumers and carers the most helpful aspects of the seminars because they gave new insights into the experiences of carers and of mental health consumers as parents, as well as an understanding of ‘… the whole family, and how the child fits into the picture’.     

Barriers to Utilization of Mental Health Services amongst Male Child Sexual Abuse Survivors: Service Providers’ Perspective

ABSTRACT

Most research on child sexual abuse has been on survivors to the exclusion of service providers. This paper focuses on one group of findings from a larger qualitative study. The aim of the paper is to identify existing services and highlight the gaps in the current programs available for male CSA survivors from the perspective of service providers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 mental health service providers, recruited from two Southern and Central Ontario cities. Findings presented here report service providers’ perspective of gaps in services for male CSA survivors. “Limited Male CSA Programs”, “Institutional Barriers”, “Attitudinal Barriers”, and “Systemic Gaps” emerged as four major themes from the data analysis. Findings demonstrate the need to re-evaluate currently available service and highlights gaps in mental health service available for male CSA survivors. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.     

Does Music Therapy Improve Mental Health in Adults? A Review

The current review provides a summarized synthesis and evaluation of studies addressing the effects of music therapy (MT) alone or MT added to standard care on mental health among adults. Potential studies were identified through electronic bibliographic databases and manual searches. Studies were included for review if (1) the study methodology involved a randomized control trial, (2) the study outcome included a measure of mental health, (3) the study sample included adults ages 18 and older, and (4) the study was published in an English language peer-reviewed journal since 2006. Applying these criteria, the search yielded 593 studies, 9 of which were ultimately retained for review. These studies generally found MT to be more effective than no treatment or than standard care alone. Long-term studies were few, and results suggest no meaningful differences over time.     

Can Family Relationships Explain the Race Paradox in Mental Health?

Biomedical research consistently finds that Blacks have worse physical health than Whites, an expected pattern given Blacks' greater exposure to psychosocial stress, poverty, and discrimination. Yet there is surprising lack of consensus regarding race differences in mental health, with most scholars finding similar or better mental health outcomes among Blacks than Whites. Past research often attributes this “race paradox in mental health” to the notion that Blacks have stronger family networks than Whites, yet few studies have explicitly tested whether stronger family relationships among Blacks (if they exist) can account for these findings. Using data from the 2003–2005 National Survey of American Life (N = 4,259) revealed that minimal race differences in family relationships fail to explain the race paradox in mental health. The results have implications for mental health measurement, the provision of culturally appropriate mental health care, and how scholars understand the nature of family relationships among Black Americans.     

Mental Health Mobile Apps’ Instruction: Technology Adoption Theories Applied in a Mixed Methods Study of Counseling Faculty

This objective of this research was to determine factors influencing counselor educators’ behavioral intentions to teach counseling students about mental health mobile applications (MHMAs), factors influencing values of MHMAs as therapeutic tools, and to what extent counselor education programs are contributing to future counselors’ technological competence with regard to evaluating and integrating MHMAs. The conceptual basis was a theory triangulation approach using theories of technology use and acceptance and diffusion of innovations. Nine quantitative, two qualitative, and two mixed methods research questions served to guide the study. Participants were 132 faculty members from 99 university counseling programs. Participants completed an initial survey, an evaluation of an evidence-based mental health mobile application (app), and a postmeasure. Hierarchical multiple regression, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), independent samples t-tests, and paired samples t-tests were used to analyze quantitative data. Results indicated that unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) variables along with anxiety/apprehension and ethical concerns are related to behavioral intentions to teach students about MHMAs. Semistructured video interviews were conducted and analyzed in the qualitative phase to add depth and explain quantitative findings. This study has implications for graduate counselor education programs and related accrediting agencies.     

Perceptions of Long-Term Community Adaptation of Delinquent Young Adults Who Graduated from Children’s Residential Mental Health Treatment

Purpose

This article presents results from one part of a longitudinal study into the post-discharge community adaptation of youth involved in residential mental health treatment. The focus is on young adults interviewed in Phase 3 of the research who have been identified as experiencing delinquent behaviour in their communities which brings them into contact with the law. This research is unique as young adult graduates of residential treatment were interviewed and they describe in detail how they are currently functioning in their lives.

Method

Qualitative interviews were completed with a convenience sample of 59 young adults between 18 and 25 years of age who had accessed children’s residential mental health treatment up to 10 years prior to data collection.

Results

The results demonstrate that delinquent behaviour post-discharge from residential treatment is a real concern and, for a sub-set of young adults, relates to negative outcomes in multiple domains of living, such as substance abuse, personal well-being, education and employment, and social networks and relationships.

Conclusions

The results indicate there is a need to improve long term community adaptation for this group, and that improving community living outcomes is much more a function of ongoing support and caring than short-term treatment and cure.

     

Health Care “As Usual”: The Insertion of Positive Psychology in Canadian Mental Health Discourse

The recent shift to a “positive psychological” approach that emphasizes a “health model,” rather than a “disease model,” in mental health discourses is intended both to reduce the stigma around mental health issues and to enable people to play a role in monitoring their own mental health. As a component of a larger study on access to and utilization of mental health services by immigrant women, and a partial reflection of the current ideological context of mental health policy and practice in Canada, this shift was examined by analyzing the Canadian Mental Health Association's mental health discourse as posted in Web-based text using features of critical discourse analysis. Although considered an improvement over previous approaches by some, the current mental health discourse continues to reflect ideologies that assume a universal psychology of individual mental health. Framing this research with aspects of sociocultural and postcolonial theories, this article seeks to identify the possibilities of this new discourse and expose its limitations in relation to immigrants to Canada.     

Self-Employment,Work–Family Fit and Mental Health Among Female Workers

We used the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce to investigate the effects of work type on women’s lives. Specifically, we hypothesized that self-employed women have better work–family fit than organizationally employed women. We also hypothesized that as a result of better work–family fit, self-employed women would report better mental health than organizationally employed women. The analysis shows limited support for the hypotheses. Of the different dimensions of work–family fit, self-employment directly influenced only job to home facilitation. Work type had no direct influence on mental health. It appears that work type may indirectly influence work–family fit and mental health through higher job satisfaction and increased autonomy.

What Do Social Workers Need to Know About Mental Health Courts?

Abstract

Mental health courts are an emerging strategy to engage mentally ill offenders in treatment and to avoid unnecessary incarceration. These courts began in 1997 based upon the drug court model; there are currently over 70 courts nationwide. These courts are heterogeneous in structure, work with interdisciplinary teams, and seek to engage the consumer in treatment rather than use judicial sanctions. Social workers are integral members of these teams; yet, no research has been published in social work journals on mental health courts. This article explains the background and context of the courts, describes their features, discusses what social workers need to know about mental health courts, and concludes with ideas for how social workers may work effectively with mental health courts.     

African American Stepfather–Stepchild Relationships,Marital Quality,and Mental Health

ABSTRACT

This study examined associations between stepfather–stepchild relationship quality, stepfathers’ depressive symptoms, and two aspects of marriage: marital quality and positive marital interactions. Marital quality was assessed in terms of commitment, trust, passionate and friendship-based love, and happiness. Marital interactions were assessed in terms of intimacy, shared activities, and verbal communication. Using data collected from 149 recently married African American stepfathers, structural equation modeling revealed that when stepfathers reported more positive relationships with their stepchildren, they also reported more positive marital quality and a higher frequency of positive marital interactions (relationship-solidifying activities), and that, in turn, was associated with stepfathers experiencing fewer depressive symptoms.