The Mental Health Practitioner and Psychopharmacology

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Kaut ◽  
Josephine Dickinson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Health Service Delivery ◽  
Health Practitioner ◽  
Mental Health Practitioner ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Mental Health Service Delivery

Today's mental health practitioner is likely to be quite familiar with a rather diverse range of pharmacological issues confronting clients seeking mental health services. Indeed, drug therapies are commonplace, and in some cases, might be viewed as the primary intervention for a presenting problem. Pharmacological approaches to mental health concerns can be effective, and provide treatment options with significant therapeutic potential. Nevertheless, the current pharmacological and ever-growing biomedical milieu that so often characterizes modern health care can potentially undermine the importance of the bio-psycho-social perspective of mental health assessment and intervention. The growing emphasis on pharmacotherapy must certainly be recognized by the mental health practitioner, but frameworks for mental health service delivery should continually identify better ways to integrate pharmacological options with the psychological and socio-cultural context that influence the behaviors, cognitions, and emotions of clients.

scholarly journals Freely Available Virtual Reality Experiences as Tools to Support Mental Health Therapy: a Systematic Scoping Review and Consensus Based Interdisciplinary Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Best ◽  
Matilde Meireles ◽  
Franziska Schroeder ◽  
Lorna Montgomery ◽  
Alan Maddock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Health Practitioner ◽  
Case Formulation ◽  
Therapeutic Value

AbstractThe primary purpose of this article is to review the potential therapeutic value of freely available VR content as an addition to the practitioners ‘toolkit’. Research has shown that virtual reality (VR) may be useful to extend existing guided imagery-based practices found in traditional mental health therapy. However, the use of VR technology within routine mental health practice remains low, despite recent reductions in equipment costs. A systematic scoping review and interdisciplinary analysis of freely available VR experiences was performed across two popular online databases (SteamVR and Oculus.com). A total of 1785 experiences were retrieved and screened for relevance with 46 meeting the inclusion criteria. VR content was then reviewed for potential therapeutic value by an interdisciplinary panel with experience across a number of therapeutic interventions including cognitive behavioural therapy, Rogerian counselling, mindfulness-based therapies. and family therapy. Eleven (22%) of the 50 freely available VR experiences were reported to have therapeutic potential as tools to support routine mental health therapy. These included support with the following mental health issues—low mood, social anxiety, stress reduction and fear of heights. Guidance of a qualified mental health practitioner was recommended in all cases to maximise the benefit of the VR experiences retrieved. While the quality is variable, freely available VR experiences may contain valuable content that could support mental health therapy. This includes as a homework activity or as an initial setting for case formulation and behavioural experiments.

scholarly journals The Emergence of Recovery: A Genealogical Exploration of the Forces of Power Shaping New Zealand's Mental Health Services in the 21st Century

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Darren Mills
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Health Service Delivery ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Mental Health Service Delivery ◽  
Methods And Techniques ◽  
Psychiatric Discourse

<p>Recovery is a conceptual model that underpins New Zealand’s mental health service delivery in the 21st century. This thesis explores how recovery emerged historically as an influential philosophy and how representations of recovery have changed to meet the needs of different groups. An inquiry, based on Foucault’s genealogical method, investigates the historical and contemporary forces of power that have shaped the construction of mental illness, and the development of methods and techniques to support and manage persons labelled as mentally ill. The normalisation of knowledge developed during 19th century psychiatric practice provided a context for later critique and resistance from movements that highlighted the oppressive power of psychiatric discourse. Key to the critique were the antipsychiatry and service user movements, which provided the conditions for the possibility of the emergence of recovery as a dominant discourse. Since its emergence, recovery has moved through a number of representations as it was taken up by different groups. A significant shift in the 21st century has been the dominance of neo-liberal discourse based on consumerism, a rolling back of the state, and an emphasis on individual responsibility. The implications of this shift for users and providers of services and their effects on current representations of recovery conclude the inquiry.</p>

scholarly journals Can a brief training intervention help improve mental health service delivery in South Africa?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances B. Slaven ◽  
Yvonne Erasmus ◽  
Margot Uys ◽  
Pierre-Emile Bruand ◽  
Beki Magazi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Health Service Delivery ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Training Intervention ◽  
Mental Health Service Delivery ◽  
Brief Training

Background: South Africa faces a number of significant challenges apropos mental health service delivery, including a large treatment gap, a high rate of readmission, over-burdened specialist tertiary facilities, and slow integration of mental health into general health services. The South African National Mental Health Education Programme implemented between February 2019 and December 2019, aimed to upskill health workers to diagnose and manage mental disorders at primary and secondary levels of care.Aim: This study aimed to assess the evolution of training participants’ self-reported competency in mental health care and the number of referrals made to higher levels of care as well as to reflect on the possible broader effects of the training.Setting: The programme and study were conducted in South Africa with Medical Officers and Professional Nurses working at public sector primary and secondary level health care facilities.Methods: A descriptive observational study collected data from training participants through a pre- and post-course, and 3-month follow-up survey.Results: The average confidence ratings for performing mental health care activities and managing mental health conditions increased from pre- to post-course, and was either maintained or increased further at 3-month follow-up. A decrease in the self-reported percentage of patients being referred to a higher level of care was observed 3-months after the training.Conclusion: The evaluation suggests that a brief training intervention such this can go a long way in increasing the confidence of primary and secondary level health care workers in managing common mental health conditions and adhering to the provisions of legislation.

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