It is the thesis of this paper that the amount of technical knowledge available in certain areas of clinical psychology and related fields is now sufficient to permit considerable advances to be made in the decision-making aspects of mental health services. (Author)

This article reflects the cognitive and emotional experience of the author. The focus was on securing funds needed for implementation and the vicissitudes of this endeavor in the areas of community organization and political action. (Author/EK)

The success of the training program for women as computer programers at the Missouri Institute of Psychiatry entails free instruction and the promise of part-time employment upon completion. The program must be so sub-divided that minimally trained persons can make a valid productive effort. (NL)

The results of the study on developmental group counseling showed no experimental control group differences of practical significance despite substantial differences between counseling group and placebo control group students in perception of personal benefit. (Author)

Three models of evaluation emerge: objective and independent, objective but serving one interest, and pseudo-scientific public relations. Evaluation of an interdisciplinary mental health education program and roles must all be attended to or the weak link undermines the rest. (Author/RL)

Discusses a strategy for organizing mental health programs for American Indian families. Suggests four principles for clinical service: (1) spirituality; (2) immersion with families and the community; (3) "picturing," or the articulation of unconscious family behaviors; and (4) "joining," or the reconstitution of the American Indian family system.…

The therapeutic community and traditional mental health services have not been demonstrated to be effective for the drug user, the mental health patient, or the alcoholic. A variety of behavior modification techniques look promising. However, their applicability for drug users has yet to be determined. The means for adequate assessment are…

Profiles characteristics of adolescent suicide attempters (N=27) and the treatment they received in a pediatric emergency room. Results demonstrated that the evaluation of suicidal adolescents cared for in a pediatric facility may be episodic. Suggests need for comprehensive program to approach the problem. (Author/ABL)

After efforts to improve mental health services for older adults, services to older adult minorities were compared with services to non-minority counterparts by questioning aging specialists (N=72). Found although aging specialists perceived substantial growth in services, mental health services for ethnic minority adults showed a lower rate of…

This report gives an update on the status of planning and delivery of mental health services for people with intellectual disability who have psychiatric disorders in Australia and New Zealand. A number of innovative approaches in policy and planning, legislative support, education, consultation, and coordination among services are discussed.…

Describes mental health service needs in rural America and barriers to improving its quality and availability. Federal programs, especially the Office of Rural Health Policy, are described and policy recommendations for improving rural mental health care are presented. (DM)

Describes outreach program to deliver mental health services to mentally ill older adults in Baltimore County, Maryland. Incorporating prevention and early intervention strategies, program targets older adults with late-onset or previously undiagnosed psychiatric histories. Explains how services are provided through one-third/one-third/one-third…

Explores the hypothesis that spouses involved in couples counseling will present similar intimacy complaints. Couples (N=100) described their expectations and perceptions of current marital intimacy. Results show that husbands and wives came to counseling with different intimacy complaints. Discusses implications of these results for case…

Recounts how one community's response to tragedy illustrates that a community-based system of care can meet the needs of individuals, families, and organizations in culturally competent ways. Examines how the implemented program successfully meets the community's needs for coordinated children's mental health services on the community's terms.…