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.…

Discusses the legacy of Carolyn Lewis Attneave who was, according to T. D. LaFromboise and J. E. Trimble (1966), "undoubtedly the most well-known psychologist of American Indian background." Reviews Attneave's work in organizations across the United States promoting the causes of American Indian families and community mental health and…

Examines racial factors within the juvenile justice and mental health systems that contribute to the overrepresentation of African American men and boys in correctional facilities. Recent efforts by lawmakers and academic institutions to address these inequalities are highlighted. Creation of the National Center on Education, Disability, and…

Using a case example of one of the mental health agencies in Florida, we demonstrate the utility of concept mapping for developing a program logic model and articulating a program theory for program assessment. The results of the concept mapping procedure enabled identification of 100 program services as described in statements by staff. Moreover,…

Expanded school mental health (ESMH) programs, the focus of this special issue, provide comprehensive mental health care to youth in general and special education through partnerships between schools and community mental health agencies and programs. As these programs progressively develop in the United States, there is a critical need to build…

This article describes the development, implementation, and preliminary evaluation of a school-based Intensive Mental Health Program (IMHP) for 50 children (42 boys, 8 girls) with severe, early-onset, serious emotional disturbances (SED). Eighty-four percent of the children showed clinically significant improvement in overall functioning as…

Increasingly, professionals are recognizing the need to involve parents and other caregivers in the mental health treatment of children. However, parents and caregivers may not feel efficacious when participating in mental health care. Self-efficacy is a mechanism of human agency that describes people's beliefs about their capabilities to exercise…