Mental Health Services in Primary Care: Implications for Clinical Mental Health Counselors and Other Mental Health Providers

I am pleased to introduce this special issue of the Journal of Mental Health Counseling dedicated to mental health in primary care. Though the idea of incorporating mental health services into primary care is not new, there is a clear need to promote the transportability of counseling theories and culturally sensitive counseling practices to primary care settings. Clinical mental health counselors who are not aware of the importance of fostering meaningful collaborations and consultation with primary care physicians can garner useful information from the articles that appear in this special issue of the Journal of Mental Health Counseling. Knowledge acquired from this special issue about the dearth of quality mental health care for some patients seen in primary care settings may engender innovative solutions, both put forward by clinical mental health counselors and co-created with primary care physicians. I also hope that the articles in this special issue may stimulate future research and produce implications for treatment and services that can be piloted and evaluated for their sustainability, patient-centeredness, and cultural responsiveness to the long-standing clinical issue of ensuring effective mental health services in primary care settings.