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Background: Child and adolescent mental health problems account for a significant proportion of the local and global burden of disease and is recognized as a growing public health concern in need of adequate services. Studies carried out in Kenya suggest a need for a robust service for the treatment, prevention, and promotion of child and adolescent mental health. Despite a few existing services to provide treatment and management of mental health disorders, we need more knowledge about their effectiveness in the management of these disorders. This paper describes a study protocol that aims to evaluate the process and outcomes of psychotherapies offered to children and adolescents seeking mental health services at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Kenya., Methods: This study will use a prospective cohort approach that will follow adolescent patients (12-17 years of age) receiving mental health services in the youth clinics at the Kenyatta National Hospital for a period of 12 months. During this time a mixed methods research will be carried out, focusing on treatment outcomes, therapeutic relationship, understanding of psychotherapy, and other mental health interventions offered to the young patients. In this proposed study, we define outcome as the alleviation of symptoms, which will be assessed quantitatively using longitudinal patient data collected session-wise. Process refers to the mechanisms identified to promote change in the adolescent. For example, individual participant or clinician characteristics, therapeutic alliance will be assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively. In each session, assessments will be used to reduce problems due to attrition and to enable calculation of longitudinal change trajectories using growth curve modeling. For this study, these will be referred to as session-wise assessments. Qualitative work will include interviews with adolescent patients, their caregivers as well as feedback from the mental health care providers on existing services and their barriers to providing care., Conclusion: This study aims to understand the mechanisms through which change takes place beyond the context of psychotherapy. What are the moderators and through which mechanisms do they operate to improve mental health outcomes in young people?

The article focuses on the activity of making paper bag books as a creative intervention for elementary school children experiencing high-conflict parental divorce. Research shows that school-based interventions for children can help counter the adverse effects of divorce. It states that the paper bag book activity aims to offer a compassionate environment for meaningful connections and perceived commonality among students with similar traumatic experiences. Furthermore, the child-made paper bag books can help empower the child to express his or her innermost feelings.

This contribution aims to highlight the theoretical and epistemological premises of the co‐writing experience, a practice where a clinician and a patient are mutually engaged in jointly or collaboratively writing a narrative related to the patient's experience. Unlike a typical set of therapeutic techniques, co‐writing is based on sharing perspectives and meanings about the experience of crisis, recovery, and the therapeutic process. The paper identifies and briefly describes four non‐clinical epistemological paradigms on which it is grounded: ethnography, values‐based practice, narrative care, and phenomenology. Although they differ in several ways, at the same time, they seem to share some common features that the paper investigates and comments. For clinicians, nurses, researchers and Mental Health Service managers, attention to the users and to the improvement of their active roles represents not only a strategy for the empowerment of results, but also the access door to a different perspective which relies on a renewed conceptualization of the mental disease nature that may lead to overcoming the epistemic asymmetry between the 'expert' and the 'other' in favor of intersubjective dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, social assistive robots have gained significant acceptance in healthcare settings, particularly for tasks such as patient care and monitoring. This paper offers a comprehensive overview of the expressive humanoid robot, Qhali, with a focus on its industrial design, essential components, and validation in a controlled environment. The industrial design phase encompasses research, ideation, design, manufacturing, and implementation. Subsequently, the mechatronic system is detailed, covering sensing, actuation, control, energy, and software interface. Qhali's capabilities include autonomous execution of routines for mental health promotion and psychological testing. The software platform enables therapist-directed interventions, allowing the robot to convey emotional gestures through joint and head movements and simulate various facial expressions for more engaging interactions. Finally, with the robot fully operational, an initial behavioral experiment was conducted to validate Qhali's capability to deliver telepsychological interventions. The findings from this preliminary study indicate that participants reported enhancements in their emotional well-being, along with positive outcomes in their perception of the psychological intervention conducted with the humanoid robot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible Summary: What is known on the subject?: Mentalizing is the capacity to understand both one's own and other people's behaviour in terms of mental states, such as, for example, desires, feelings and beliefs.The mentalizing capacities of healthcare professionals help to establish effective therapeutic relationships and, in turn, lead to better patient outcomes. What this paper adds to existing knowledge?: The personal factors positively associated with the mentalizing capacities of healthcare professionals are being female, greater work experience and having a more secure attachment style. Psychosocial factors are having personal experience with psychotherapy, burnout, and in the case of female students, being able to identify with the female psychotherapist role model during training. There is limited evidence that training programmes can improve mentalizing capacities.Although the mentalization field is gaining importance and research is expanding, the implications for mental health nursing have not been previously reviewed. Mental health nurses are underrepresented in research on the mentalizing capacities of healthcare professionals. This is significant given that mental health nurses work closest to patients and thus are more often confronted with patients' behaviour compared to other health care professionals, and constitute a large part of the workforce in mental healthcare for patients with mental illness. What are the implications for practice?: Given the importance of mentalizing capacity of both the patient and the nurse for a constructive working relationship, it is important that mental health nurses are trained in the basic principles of mentalization. Mental health nurses should be able to recognize situations where patients' lack of ability to mentalize creates difficulties in the interaction. They should also be able to recognize their own difficulties with mentalizing and be sensitive to the communicative implications this may have. Introduction: Mentalizing capacities of clinicians help to build effective therapeutic relationships and lead to better patient outcomes. Few studies have focused on factors associated with clinicians' mentalizing capacities and the intervention strategies to improve them. Aim: Present a systematic review of empirical studies on factors associated with healthcare professionals' mentalizing capacities and the effectiveness of intervention programmes designed to improve these capacities. Method: Following PRISMA‐guidelines, a systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library and CINAHL. Results: Out of a systematic search with 1537 hits, 22 studies were included. Personal factors positively associated with mentalizing capacities of healthcare professionals are being female, greater work experience and having a more secure attachment style. Psychosocial factors are having personal experience with psychotherapy, burnout, and in the case of female students, being able to identify with the female psychotherapist role model during training. Evidence that training programmes improve mentalizing capacities is limited. Discussion: Mental health nurses are underrepresented in research on mentalizing capacities of healthcare professionals and training programs to improve these capacities are practically absent. Implications for Practice: For mental health nurses, training in basic mentalizing theory and skills will improve their capacities in building effective working relationships with patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document introduces a special issue on technological applications in mental health and mental health services research. The advancements in computer technology have allowed for innovative applications in collecting and analyzing data related to mental health. The use of personal electronic devices and the internet provides a rich stream of data that can offer insights into individuals' mental health. The special issue includes papers on topics such as video therapy, measurements in daily life, and automated coding of psychotherapy sessions. These papers highlight the potential of technology in improving mental health outcomes and expanding the accessibility of mental health services. [Extracted from the article]

Prepared for the CMP Special Issue on "Embodied Belonging" guest edited by Dominik Mattes & Claudia Lang. A Japanese medical activist observes that residents of I yoseba i , or underclass enclaves in urban Japan, tend to be abandoned by society in ways that leave a "deep hole inside their body" (Kim [17]). Rather, they draw us into zones of encounter that are cultivated, at times even choreographed, by people whose sociopolitical belonging is well-established - Japanese medical activists in one case (Kim [17]), German ethnographer-authors affiliated with a psychotherapy clinic in the other (von Poser and Willamowski [26]). If in Kim's paper we find medical activists enacting radical creativity, in von Poser and Willamowski's this is the task of the ethnographers themselves. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: Despite children and young people (CYP) with long term conditions (LTCs) having significantly elevated mental health needs, accessing evidence-based psychological support remains difficult. Previous work suggests low-intensity CBT (LICBT) interventions are effective for CYP with mental health needs in the context of LTCs. If embedded in hospitals LICBT may increase access and better integrate physical and mental health care. This new provision is currently being implemented in paediatric hospitals across the UK. A vital part of successful implementation is effective training. The current paper describes hybrid training in LICBT interventions delivered to staff from a range of health care settings. The aim of the study was to analyse the effectiveness of, and satisfaction with, this training. Methods: Two days of hybrid training in LICBT for mental health needs in the context of LTCs were delivered to staff. Attendees were introduced to LICBT strategies to support CYP with anxiety, depression and challenging behaviour. A brief questionnaire and evaluation form were completed before and after training on attendees' understanding of the topics covered and their views of the training (usefulness, relevance, preparedness). Results: Thirteen attendees completed the questionnaire before and after training was completed. Total scores significantly increased from pre-training to post-training. Qualitative feedback indicated the majority found the training highly relevant to their work and enjoyed the hybrid model. Conclusion: These findings support the acceptability and effectiveness of two-day hybrid training as part of enabling a paediatric hospital workforce to deliver psychological support for CYP with LTCs. Future training could consider this format to help overcome barriers to successful implementation. This work highlights the opportunity a new or existing workforce holds in integrating psychological therapies into existing physical health care pathways, coordinating care and ensuring equitable access to mental health support for CYPs, irrespective of their LTCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Single Session Therapy' (SST) is a service delivery model that seeks to provide an evidence-based, solution-focused, brief intervention within a single therapy session. The stand-alone session affords the opportunity to provide brief psychological interventions while clients await access to longer-term services. The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted individuals' mental health. However, the majority of research has investigated patient mental health within hospital settings and community organizations that offer long-term services, whereas minimal research has focused on mental health concerns during COVID-19 within an SST model. The primary aim of the study was to measure client experiences of a brief mental health service. The nature of client mental health concerns who access such services at various points during a pandemic was also investigated. The current study utilized client feedback forms and the Computerized Adaptive Testing—Mental Health (CAT-MH) to measure client experiences and mental health concerns. Qualitative analysis of client feedback forms revealed themes of emotional (e.g., safe space) and informational support (e.g., referrals). Clients also reported reduced barriers to accessing services (e.g., no appointment necessary, no cost), as well as limitations (e.g., not enough sessions) of the Walk-in clinic. Profile analysis of the CAT-MH data indicated that clients had higher rates of depression before COVID-19 (M = 64.2, SD = 13.07) as compared to during the pandemic (M = 59.78, SD = 16.87). In contrast, higher rates of positive suicidality flags were reported during the pandemic (n = 54) as compared to before (n = 29). The lower reported rates of depression but higher rate of suicidality during the pandemic was an unanticipated finding that contradicted prior research, to which possible explanations are explored. Taken together, the results demonstrate the positive experiences of clients who access a single session therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade, technological advancements in mental health care have resulted in new approaches and techniques. The proliferation of mobile apps and smartphones has significantly improved access to psychological self-help resources for individuals. In this paper, a narrative review offers a comprehensive overview of recent developments in mental health mobile apps, serving as a foundation to introduce the design and development of "Safer". Safer is a mobile application that targets the transdiagnostic process of emotion dysregulation. The review outlines the theoretical framework and design of Safer, an mHealth app grounded in the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) model, aimed at fostering emotion regulation skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the extent to which principles of recovery-oriented practice are evident in the published perspectives and experiences of health professionals and service users on seclusion in adult mental health services. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review informed by PRISMA guidelines was conducted, drawing from four databases, which were searched in August 2018 and August 2022. Only original empirical studies rated as having "major" relevance were included. Data were extracted from 31 studies and qualitatively synthesised through deductive analysis using recovery principles as themes. Findings: There was limited evidence of perceptions of seclusion being being consistent with recovery principles, with greater evidence of perceptions that directly opposed them. Studies of service user perspectives highlighted this more often than staff perspectives. The findings highlight paradoxical relationships between care and control and conflicting rights and emphasise the need to openly acknowledge the complexity of seclusion and its interface with recovery. Research limitations/implications: This review was developed in line with international best practice and the protocol was registered. Using a search string with only three components maximised sensitivity during searches and minimised the risk of relevant literature being missed. Limitations include the focus on studies where the full text was published in English. Originality/value: This review makes a unique contribution, highlighting that, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no studies to date have explicitly explored the perspectives and experiences of staff and service users on the use of seclusion in the context of recovery-oriented practice. The findings are relevant to clinical practice, policy and future research, including amending procedures and practices to partially reconcile seclusion and recovery where the seclusion is deemed necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the article by Friedhelm Roder and Petar Opalic which was published in the June 1, 1997 issue of "Group Analysis: The Journal of Group Analytic Psychotherapy." The author questions the therapeutic validity of Turkish therapist who runs groups for Turkish immigrants in Great Britain and the issue of cultural differences. The author emphasizes that the boundaries and the deepening communication are the backbone of any therapeutic approach. The author believes that running groups with people from different cultures is a very delicate subject.

Mental health comprises emotional, psychological and social well-being. Global mental health problems have shown an increase in its statistics. Some psychotherapy approaches such as Internet-based therapy and mobile therapy have been carried out in clinical settings to improve one’s mental health conditions. The objective of this paper is to identify the different kinds of text messaging platforms that have been tested in mental health computerised-based therapy settings. This paper also aimed to identify the effectiveness of the text messaging platforms on different mental health problems specifically. The review considered five databases (Scopus, PubMed, ACM Digital Library, IEEE XPlore and Web of Science) for the article searching process. The retrieved articles were screened to fulfil the selection criteria including English and Malay language but exclude research protocols, proposals for a prototype application and literature reviews. The search resulted in 3656 articles but only 18 were selected for further review. It was found that web applications were the least used type of text messaging in mental health therapy, followed by mobile applications, whereas SMS was the most popular platform. Overall, the three text messaging platforms showed improvements in depression, anxiety, suicide risk, selfharm risk, mood, eating behaviour and alcohol intake. Mental health treatment through mobile therapy has the potential to help individuals with mental health problems. Suggested future directions for research community includes comparison between two or three types of text messaging platforms used in interventions to identify which platform is the most suitable to improve a particular mental health problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and practice in the area of mental health has been conventionally predominated by the deficit-based approach, which attempts to improve lives by fixing symptoms. However, the growing impact of the positive psychology movement in the last two decades has resulted in incorporation of the strength-based approach into mental health work. The objective of this article is to (i) emphasize the efficacy of strength-based approach in the area of mental health (ii) identify shortcomings in the Indian Mental Health System (MHS) (iii) recognize micro-level initiatives in the MHS and (iv) provide recommendations for the future. These objectives are accomplished via reflections obtained from an ethnographic research with participants reporting mental health symptoms. Additionally, opinions gathered from mental health professionals, and government and non-government organizations working in the area were also considered. This work has shed light on the recent micro-level transformations in the system including contextualization of mental illness and treatment, valuing patient's input in the treatment process, and the creation and effective functioning of mental health task-forces. This paper concludes with a four-point recommendation that can help to incorporate the strength-based approach in MHSs for better outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with severe mental disorders report significantly poorer physical health and a higher mortality rate compared with the general population. Several interventions have been proposed in order to challenge this mortality gap, the promotion of physical activities represents one of the most important strategies. In fact, in people with severe mental disorders, physical activity can improve body composition, quality of life, personal functioning, self-esteem, cognition, and cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as reducing affective, psychotic and anxiety symptoms, cardiometabolic burden and increase the global recovery. While sport-based programs are consistently being proposed as an integral part of effective personalized treatment approaches for people with severe mental disorders, their routine implementation is hampered by poor working task integration among different professionals and the lack of training programmes for sport professionals focused on people with severe mental disorders. In this paper, we will: (a) review the efficacy of exercise/sport-based interventions for people with severe mental disorders; (b) describe the main difficulties in engaging patients with severe mental disorders in these interventions; and (c) report the results of the first study on the best practices available in Europe in the field of sport and mental health carried out in the context of the European Alliance for Sport and Mental Health (EASMH) project. According to the EASMH survey, sport-based psychosocial interventions are not frequently available in mental health services, with significant differences at the European level. In the near future, it would be advisable to promote the integration and collaboration between mental health professionals and sport professionals, in order to improve the dissemination and availability of sport-based interventions in routine clinical practice. The EASMH project aims to fill this gap by creating a network of collaborators, researchers and stakeholders with different backgrounds in order to improve the dissemination of sport-based rehabilitation interventions and by developing an innovative training programme for sport coaches in order to improve their skills in interacting and building an effective relationship with people with severe mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most mental disorders have their first onset in early adulthood. Epidemiological research, as well as research on preventive and early interventions, is therefore very important. This thematic issue focuses on one of the first systematic attempts to develop such services for college students. The WHO World Mental Health International College Student (WMH‐ICS) initiative is based on the largest and continuously growing epidemiological dataset ever collected in college students. Based on these results, the initiative has now started to implement internet‐based interventions for common mental disorders and emotional problems. In this special issue, a general paper about the initiative is presented, as well as a paper on the implementation of the WMH‐ICS initiative in low and middle income countries. It also includes several papers with core epidemiological results of the initiative, a meta‐analysis of internet‐based interventions for mental health problems in college students and the first results of trials conducted as part of the initiative. Taken together, the papers in this special issue show that WMH‐ICS is on its way to becoming a major initiative in addressing the problem of unmet need for treatment of mental health problems among college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages with the notion of 'embodied belonging' through an ethnography of the social and material aspects of accessing mental health care in the UK. I focus on moments of access and transition in a voluntary sector organisation in London: an intercultural psychotherapy centre, serving a range of im/migrant communities. Whilst both 'belonging' and 'place' are often invoked to imply stability, I explore how material contexts of access and inclusion can paradoxically be implicated in the ongoing production of precarity-of unstable, uncertain, and vulnerable ways of being. A sociomaterial analysis of ethnographic material and visual data from two creative mapping interviews attends to material and spatial aspects of the centre and its transitory place in the urban environment. It demonstrates how these aspects of place became entangled in client experiences of access: uncertainties of waiting, ambivalence towards belonging to a particular client group, and questions around deservingness of care. This engendered an embodied and situated experience of 'precarious belonging'. I therefore argue that precarity should be 'placed', both within the concept of embodied belonging, and ethnographically, within the material constraints, impermanence, and spatial politics of projects to include the excluded in UK mental health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Place-based arts initiatives are regarded as rooted in local need and as having capacity to engage local assets. However, many place-based arts initiatives remain poorly funded and short-lived, receiving little attention on how to scale up and sustain their activities. In this study we make a unique contribution to knowledge about scaling up place-based arts initiatives that support mental health and wellbeing through focusing on the example of 'Arts for the Blues', an arts-based psychological group intervention designed to reduce depression and improve wellbeing amongst primary care mental health service users in deprived communities. Methodologically, we used realist evaluation to refine the study's theoretical assumptions about scaling up, drawing on the lived and professional experiences of 225 diverse stakeholders' and frontline staff through a series of focus groups and evaluation questions at two stakeholders' events and four training days. Based on our findings, we recommend that to scale up place-based arts initiatives which support mental health and wellbeing: (i) the initiative needs to be adaptable, clear, collaborative, evidence-based, personalised and transformative; (ii) the organisation has to have a relevant need, have an understanding of the arts, has to have resources, inspiration and commitment from staff members, relevant skillsets and help from outside the organisation; (iii) at a policy level it is important to pay attention to attitude shifts towards the arts, meet rules, guidelines and standards expected from services, highlight gaps in provision, seek out early intervention and treatment options, and consider service delivery changes. The presence of champions at a local level and buy-in from managers, local leaders and policy makers are also needed alongside actively seeking to implement arts initiatives in different settings across geographical spread. Our theoretically-based and experientially-refined study provides the first ever scaling up framework developed for place-based arts initiatives that support the mental health and wellbeing, offering opportunities for spread and adoption of such projects in different organisational contexts, locally, nationally and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many mental health practitioners have had or will have the opportunity to work with clients who engage in sex work (CSW). Sex work stigma is pervasive in the general population, and among mental health professionals, including sex and relationship therapists. Such stigma may lead to differential, unfair, and even unethical treatment of CSW. Although there is a clear need for best practice guidelines for mental health practice with CSW, no guidelines have been developed thus far. Therefore, drawing on feminist, multicultural, and sex-positive philosophies, this paper presents ten guidelines that are designed to: (1) address and increase mental health professionals' self-awareness of their own bias about sex work; (2) provide useful information about the multifaceted lived experience of CSW; and (3) offer culturally-appropriate counseling skills and intervention strategies in working with CSW. Acknowledging that multicultural competence is a professional process, rather than an outcome or an end, the guidelines included in this paper are developed with the underlying assumption that all mental health professionals are committed to be sex work-affirming and competent in working with CSW, regardless of therapeutic orientation. The guidelines discussed in this paper are informed by current literature about sex work and people who engage in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common mental disorders (CMDs) are prevalent throughout the population. Psychological therapy is often sought via primary care; however, equitable access is not commonplace. This review aims to investigate the barriers and facilitators adults experiencing CMDs perceive when accessing evidence-based psychological treatment in England. A qualitative systematic review with meta-synthesis was conducted (PROSPERO CRD42020227039). Seven electronic databases were searched for papers from 2008 to October 2022. Searches identified 30 studies from which three themes were developed with seven subthemes. Stigma and patients' perceptions and understandings of CMDs impacted their help-seeking decision-making and engagement with services. This meant that services were not used as a first resort for help-seeking. Upon reaching services, patients appeared to perceive primary care as not prioritising mental health problems, nor as being the place where they would be supported, particularly as healthcare professionals did not appear to know about CMDs and therapy was seen as difficult to access. The interaction between healthcare professional and patients was seen as pivotal to whether patients accessed support or not. The review is limited to research conducted within England. Additionally, it only explores access barriers prior to treatment experiences. Knowledge, attitudinal, systemic and relational barriers and facilitators were identified. Future research should focus on developing stigma reduction initiatives. Clinical implications include provision of standardised training across primary care HCP (healthcare professionals). • Barriers, such as stigma, are experienced by patients before engaging with services. • Primary care is not viewed as where common mental health disorders are supported. • The patient-healthcare professional relationship is pivotal to accessing support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This opinion paper discusses certain recommendations of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention pertaining to psychology, GP and psychiatric professions. Conclusions: The Committee's recommendations may compromise patient care by undermining the ability of private sector medical specialists in providing direct clinical treatment and their role in the coordination of multidisciplinary teams. Expanding private psychological therapies without GP and private psychiatry support might increase the reliance on public hospital emergency departments and public sector mental health services for severe disorders and suicidal crises. Psychiatrists and GPs need to engage in more effective policy advocacy with the Australian Government, in order to maintain their roles in leading private sector collaborative multidisciplinary care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This position paper proposes a model for systematic integration of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) in mental healthcare. On the one hand, PPIs can contribute to the decrease of dysfunctional processes underlying mental illness. This evidence is at the core of the new domains of positive clinical psychology and positive psychiatry. On the other hand, a growing number of studies demonstrate that mental health is not merely the absence of mental illness. Mental wellbeing represents a related but separate dimension of mental health. Mental wellbeing reduces the risk of future incidence of mental illness and is highly valued by people receiving psychological treatment as an important aspect of personal and complete recovery and personal growth. This makes mental wellbeing a vital outcome of mental healthcare. PPIs can directly increase mental wellbeing. The model of sustainable mental health is presented integrating the science of positive psychology and mental wellbeing into mental healthcare. This heuristic model can guide both practitioners and researchers in developing, implementing, and evaluating a more balanced, both complaint- and strength-oriented, treatment approach. The role of gratitude interventions is discussed as an example of applying the model. Also, three potential modalities for implementing PPIs as positive psychotherapy in treatment are as: positive psychotherapy as primary treatment, as combinatorial treatment, and as intervention for personal recovery of people with severe or persistent mental disorder. Finally, we argue that longitudinal studies are needed to substantiate the model and the processes involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose UK mental health strategy calls for interventions that empower people to self-manage their condition. In lifestyle coaching, coach and client work collaboratively on positive behaviour change to improve client health. There is debate about the appropriateness of coaching for mental health, yet claims have not been supported with evidence. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and scope of the existing research literature in this field.Design/methodology/approach Scoping review.Findings The growing evidence base shows positive outcomes of coaching; for instance, symptom reduction, enhanced self-management and achievement of personal goals.Research limitations/implications The evidence base is small and of variable quality, offering insights that warrant further exploration.Practical implications Coaching not only supports better self-management but also addresses further mental health strategy priorities (such as improved physical health and social functioning). Coaches need not be mental health experts; therefore coaching may be a cost-effective intervention.Social implications As mental ill-health prevalence continues to rise despite widespread use of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies and medication, there is a need to explore how novel approaches such as coaching might be integrated into mental healthcare.Originality/value This is the first study to collate the evidence on mental health coaching, highlighting its extensive potential, which should be further explored in research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The development of mobile computing technology has enabled the delivery of psychological interventions while people go about their everyday lives. The original visions of the potential of these "ecological momentary interventions" were presented over a decade ago, and the widespread adoption of smartphones in the intervening years has led to a variety of research studies exploring the feasibility of these aspirations. However, there is a dearth of research describing the different dimensions, characteristics, and features of these interventions, as constructed. Objective: To provide an overview of the definitions given for "ecological momentary interventions" in the treatment of common mental health disorders, and describe the set of technological and interaction possibilities which have been used in the design of these interventions. Methods: A systematic search identified relevant literature published between 2009 and 2020 in the PubMed, PsycInfo, and ACM Guide to the Computing Literature databases. Following screening, data were extracted from eligible articles using a standardized extraction worksheet. Selected articles were then thematically categorized. Results: The search identified 583 articles of which 64 met the inclusion criteria. The interventions target a range of mental health problems, with diverse aims, intervention designs and evaluation approaches. The studies employed a variety of features for intervention delivery, but recent research is overwhelmingly comprised of studies based on smartphone apps (30 of 42 papers that described an intervention). Twenty two studies employed sensors for the collection of data in order to provide just-in-time support or predict psychological states. Conclusions: With the shift towards smartphone apps, the vision for EMIs has begun to be realised. Recent years have seen increased exploration of the use of sensors and machine learning, but the role of humans in the delivery of EMI is also varied. The variety of capabilities exhibited by EMIs motivates development of a more precise vocabulary for capturing both automatic and human tailoring of these interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symptoms of depression are common in adolescents and have negative impacts on academic engagement and achievement, as well as on future mental health and functioning. A number of psychological therapies are effective for the treatment of adolescent depression but there are barriers to young people accessing treatment promptly. Providing treatment in school may help improve access to mental health care; school-based mental health care is routinely provided in some parts of the world and is currently a policy priority in the UK. However, introducing mental health services into schools will require services to adapt. This paper illustrates how a short-term psychological therapy can be delivered successfully in schools. It describes the treatment and outcomes for two young people with symptoms of depression. Both received Brief Behavioural Activation (Brief BA) which has been adapted specifically for adolescents. Brief BA focuses on helping young people engage with valued activities in different areas of their life, thus increasing rewards and reducing symptoms of depression. The two cases highlight a range of educational and clinical benefits of Brief BA for young people with depression symptoms and illustrate how the treatment and service delivery were adapted for schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accessing quality mental health care poses significant challenges for persons affected by adversity, especially in low- and middle-income countries where resources are scarce. To mitigate this, the World Health Organization has developed group problem management plus (gPM+), a low-intensity psychological intervention for adults experiencing psychological distress. gPM+ is a group-based intervention consisting of five-sessions, and can be delivered by non-specialist providers. This paper outlines the study protocol for a trial of gPM+ in Jordan.Methods: We will conduct a single-blind, two-arm, randomized controlled trial in a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. We aim to enrol 480 adults into the trial. Participants will be eligible for the trial if they screen positive for levels of psychological distress. Following screening, those eligible will be randomly assigned to receive the gPM+ intervention or enhanced treatment as usual. The primary outcome is reduction in levels of psychological distress at 3-months post-treatment. Secondary outcomes include anxiety, depression, prodromal psychotic symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief, daily functioning, economic effectiveness, and change in parenting behaviour. Secondary outcomes also include the reduction in psychological distress of the participant's child.Discussion: The trial aims to deliver a template for affordable and scalable psychosocial interventions that can readily be implemented in refugee settings, and that can benefit both the participant and their child.Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12619001386123. Registered prospectively on 10/10/2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Mental health problems are highly prevalent throughout the world; however, all too frequently individuals do not receive treatment. Psychological therapy is a potentially successful intervention, but barriers to access are likely to vary across countries and cultures and could be better understood. This paper aimed to identify perceived barriers to accessing psychological therapy for people living in Qatar in the Middle East. Methods: A mixed methodology known as concept mapping was used to investigate the views of mental health clinicians and policymakers. Participants were invited to brainstorm the issue (qualitative data), then sort these barriers into groups (clusters), and rate them in terms of perceived importance (quantitative data). Results: Fifteen clinicians and 11 policymakers took part in this study. A nine‐cluster concept map was produced with the following titles: Stigma, Impact of the family, Cultural implications, Stigma impacting on reality, Cross‐cultural Therapy, Workforce and training, Local (mis)understanding of therapy, Structural problems within the country and East meets West. There was substantial consensus between clinicians and policymakers. Discussion: We concluded that there are numerous barriers to accessing psychological therapy in Qatar. All participants rated barriers relating to the individual as having a greater impact on individual's access to therapy than organisation‐level barriers. Addressing these barriers is likely to require a multifaceted response involving health policy as well as political and sociological level changes. The views of service users and their families also need to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last several decades single session psychotherapy has become a mainstream psychotherapeutic approach. A steadily increasing demand for psychotherapeutic services and a continuous reduction in mental health care resources worldwide are both largely responsible for this development. This paper describes single session psychotherapy and provides a brief review of the relevant literature. Single session psychotherapy delivered in walk-in settings is also discussed. Therapists who are unfamiliar with single session psychotherapy will find that this paper provides a concise introduction to the essential processes and outcomes of this psychotherapeutic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group therapy is a useful form of intervention for individuals with histories of extreme trauma. This paper will discuss the relevance of group interventions with refugees and asylum seekers who have suffered persecution and trauma in their home countries. Using case examples, this paper will illustrate how groups can provide an environment in which members can begin to work through past traumatic experiences and begin the process of finding a home in the UK, within a context of continued uncertainty and threat. The central principles of group analytic psychotherapy and how these can be applied and adapted to meet the needs of this specific group will be explored. Key issues, including working with an interpreter, cultural factors and dealing with high levels of vulnerability and dependency, will be discussed. The complex boundary issues arising from needing to intervene with practical issues outside the group therapy process will be considered. The paper will also explore the impact of this work on the group facilitators and ways in which this can be managed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this context, I believe that the paper did not address the part played by psychiatrists, representing mental health services, driven by a push to see quick results and under pressure from pharmaceutical companies, in medicalising and pathologising human distress. I Reconceptualising the treatment gap: a paradigm shift is urgently needed i I read with great interest the article by Roberts et al on reconceptualising the treatment gap, which highlights that the reason we have a gap in mental health treatment is not necessarily the shortage in effective treatments (pharmacological and psychological) - instead, it may be the fact that distressed individuals may not view their distress in medical or psychiatric terms but in terms of the causes of distress being related to socioeconomic circumstances that doctors and medical or psychological treatments cannot help with. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Adolescents living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have an increased risk of depression, negatively affecting their adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and treatment outcomes. Integrating mental health care in HIV care and treatment settings improves comprehensive care. However, integration remains challenging in Tanzania, like in other high-burden and low-resource settings. The overall objective of this work is to inform the development of a psychological intervention for depression in adolescents living with HIV (ALWHIV). We describe perceived barriers and opportunities for implementing an integrated, evidence-based psychological intervention to manage adolescent depression in HIV care and treatment centers (HIV-CTC) from the perspectives of adolescents, caregivers, and healthcare providers (HCPs) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods: To inform intervention development and implementation, this study utilized a qualitative design through a phenomenological approach informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to explore implementation barriers and facilitators in ALWHIV, HCPs, and caregivers. Forty-five in-depth interviews were conducted in three HIV-CTCs in Kinondoni Dar es Salaam. Audio records were transcribed verbatim and analyzed deductively through NVIVO software. Results: Barriers to implementing an integrated psychological intervention to address depression in ALWHIV included (A) poor mental health awareness among caregivers, adolescents, HCPs, and policy-makers, (B) high level of stigma against mental health care, (C) poor communication between adolescents and HCPs concerning mental health care, (D) lack of contextualized intervention of proven effectiveness and guidelines of mental health care, and (E) inadequate mental health care supportive supervision and mentorship. Facilitators for implementation included supportive infrastructure, positive pressure from HIV implementing partners, tension for change, and participant's perception of the advantage of a psychological intervention as compared to just usual HIV care and treatment counseling. Conclusion: Despite several modifiable barriers to implementing a psychological intervention in HIV CTC, there were encouraging facilitators and opportunities for implementing an integrated, evidence-based psychological intervention to address depression in ALWHIV in Kinondoni Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Correctional workers (CWs) are frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events in the workplace, leading to an increased prevalence of mental health concerns. Online psychotherapy can address many of the barriers CWs face when seeking adequate mental health care. Despite their benefits, CWs' experience using digital mental health interventions is relatively unknown. This information could be valuable in developing enhanced care delivery to improve recruitment, retention, satisfaction, and treatment outcomes. Methods: This study investigated the experiences of a sample of CWs enrolled in a clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of the Online Psychotherapy Tool (OPTT) in this population. Participants were surveyed and interviewed to capture their opinions and feedback on the program. Survey analysis was conducted through Qualtrics statistical analysis software. The interview transcripts and open-ended survey questions were analyzed using thematic analysis methods in NVivo. Results: Participants (n=14) were cis-gender, predominantly white, with an average age of 38 years. While most respondents preferred in-person therapy, they also reported the benefits of the online psychotherapy program. Specifically, they expressed positive perceptions of the platform, the quality and interaction of their care provider, and the homework assignments and skills learned. Lack of motivation to complete weekly homework assignments was a frequently cited challenge. Unhelpful aspects of the therapy noted issues with the online format and frustration with certain program elements. Discussion: Participants expressed a positive outlook on the program, the platform, and treatment outcomes. A preference for in-person therapy was still indicated, demonstrating the need to focus on engagement in digital mental health interventions. In addition, the findings of this study shed light on the factors that can influence help-seeking in this population, including stigma in the work environment, demanding work schedules, workplace perceptions, and previous experiences accessing mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the use of digitally enabled programmes to support perinatal mental healthcare in the NHS in Scotland, focusing on the Perinatal Wellbeing Programme from SilverCloud®. This follow up to a previous article published in the British Journal of Midwifery considers the experiences of using this programme in a Scottish context, examining feedback from users of the intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reconstructs postpsychiatry's core propositions and briefly describes its theoretical background and assumptions. It also presents chosen aspects of postmodern psychotherapy, which seem to be in many ways similar to postpsychiatry's ideas. Although they are drawn from different inspiration, postpsychiatry and postmodern psychotherapy seem to come to similar conclusions, especially regarding the role of the patient in the therapeutic process, the meaning of psychiatric diagnosis, and the importance of the institutional, cultural, and social contexts in mental health practice and research. The paper also aims to place postpsychiatry and postmodern psychotherapy in a Polish context, focusing on the ethical challenges faced by psychiatry and showing that some of postpsychiatry's ideas and solutions to contemporary problems were already present in the Polish psychiatric literature of the 20th century. It also contains a brief description of the Polish social and historical context of psychiatry, as well as key aspects of the Polish legal system that relate to mental health and seem to reflect the nature of biomedical explanations of mental distress. It concludes that the model of psychiatric care postulated by "postmodern" approaches seems more ethical and scientifically and philosophically grounded and promises better treatment results than the "traditional" biomedical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is common in patients attending primary care clinics especially for those in socioeconomically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. A number of behavioral health collaborative care models exist to screen, assess, and treat patients within primary care clinics. This paper discusses the implementation of a behavioral health care program using the Improving Mood Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment (IMPACT) model within an urban primary care clinic setting in New York City, that serves a large population of ethnically diverse and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients. While elements of the structured IMPACT model in the clinic were effective, the therapeutic approaches did not always meet the needs of all the patients. Therefore, the article describes the challenges this program faced and highlights how the IMPACT model was modified to meet the specific needs of the patients by using an adapted version of Interpersonal Psychotherapy as an alternative psychosocial intervention to the traditional Problem Solving Treatment psychosocial treatment in IMPACT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

wThe development of recovery-oriented practice inmental health has brought about a much greater prominence to the place of lived experience workers. Many aspects of indvidualised recovery-oriented care have been taken up in forensic mental health settings. However, the introduction of lived experience workers is arguably significantly more difficult when the dual vulnerabilities of forensic mental health services users are considered (Drennan&Alred, 2012). This paperwill describe a multi-layered approach to the introduction of lived experience roles in a forensic in-patient unit. Roles have developed from being solely ward-based, to service-wide roles that include participation in management and service development, the creation of a Recovery College Forensic Campus, and to co-production and co-delivery of the psychological therapies programme. In addition to 'mapping' these developments in co-production, this paper will also describe the development of the governance structures that have been necessary to support this infrastructure. Lived experience workers require recruitment, vetting, placement, and aftercare, when they engage in the activities available. On-going mental health and risk stability cannot be assumed, and so regular formal and informal psychosocial support is required to ensure that workload pressures do not negatively impact on other service users and staff. The paper will suggest that much more attention needs to be paid to the development of organisational infrastructure to sustain and manage the growth of lived experience roles in forensicmental health settings than is currently in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic adults are at increased risk of mental health difficulties; however Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) often struggle to offer appropriate support to this group. Within England, Government initiatives, such as the 'Transforming Care' programme which included 'Building the Right Support' (NHS England, 2015) have promoted the need for AMHS to consider how they can better provide autism-informed support to autistic adults. Here, we describe the first two years of work of the Transforming Care in Autism (TCA) Team; a specialist service that supports autistic adults, without a moderate or severe intellectual disability or presenting significant risk to others, experiencing a mental health crisis. The service model is described, and descriptive data is presented over the two years of the service operation. Results: Between February 2019 and February 2021, 110 referrals were received; 52 (47%) were accepted. Support offered to autistic adults included psychoeducation, psychological interventions, family-focused interventions, and consultation with professionals about specific individuals. Seventy autism training sessions were delivered to professionals working in medical health settings, AMHS, social care and residential services. Developing more autism-informed community and inpatient AMHS is vital for improving care. Further research about the experiences and needs of autistic adults using AMHS is needed, along with improved awareness of autism and provision of tailored intervention within these settings. Autistic people have mental health problems more often than people who are not autistic. When autistic people need help from mental health services, often these services do not know how to help autistic people. The Government says mental health services must do more to help autistic people. In this paper we write about a new team, called the Transforming Care in Autism team. In its first two years the team was asked to help 110 people and worked with 52 of them. Help included talking to autistic people about how autism affects them and offering therapy. We also worked with families and professionals supporting autistic adults and offered 70 training sessions. More work is needed to make sure mental health services work well with autistic people. We also need to ask autistic people about their experiences of getting help from mental health services. • A bespoke service to support autistic adults, experiencing a mental health crisis. • Primary remit to support autistic adults at risk of admission or already inpatient. • Secondary remit to improve knowledge and skills within local non-specialist autism. • Specialist autism support was welcomed by mainstream services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: E-mental healthcare is the convergence of digital technologies with mental health services. It has been developed to fill a gap in healthcare for people who need mental wellbeing support that may not otherwise receive psychological treatment. With an increasing number of e-mental healthcare and research, this study aimed to investigate the trends of an e-mental health research field that integrates interdisciplinary fields and to examine the information technologies is being used in mental healthcare. To achieve the research objectives, bibliometric analysis, information extraction, and network analysis were applied to analyze e-mental health research data. Methods: E-mental health research data were obtained from 3663 bibliographic records from the Web of Science (WoS) and 3172 full-text articles from PubMed Central (PMC). The text mining techniques used for this study included bibliometric analysis, information extraction, and visualization. Results: The e-mental health research topic trends primarily involved e-health care services and medical informatics research. The clusters of research comprised 16 clusters, which refer to mental sickness, e-health, diseases, information technology (IT), and self-management. The information extraction analysis revealed a triple relation with IT and biomedical domains. Betweenness centrality was used as a measure of network graph centrality, based on the shortest path to rank the important entities and triple relation; nodes with higher betweenness centrality had greater control over the network because more information passes through that node. The IT entity-relations of "mobile" had the highest score at 0.043466. The top pairs were related to depression, mobile health, and text message. Conclusions: E-mental related publications were associated with various research fields, such as nursing, psychology, medical informatics, computer science, telecommunication, and healthcare innovation. We found that trends in e-mental health research are continually rising. These trends were related to the internet of things (IoT) and mobile applications (Apps), which were applied for mental healthcare services. Moreover, producing AI and machine learning for e-mental healthcare were being studied. This work supports the appropriate approaches and methods of e-mental health research that can help the researcher to identify important themes and choose the best fit with their own survey work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minoritised individuals (people identifying as belonging to groups experiencing socially constructed power inequalities) frequently experience mental health inequalities. Mental health services have often, intentionally or inadvertently, perpetuated these inequalities due to historic and ongoing systemic discrimination. To reduce inequalities, mental health services must address ongoing systemic discrimination and improve cultural-sensitivity of clinical staff. One method of improving clinician cultural-sensitivity is through reflective practice groups. This project evaluates a staff Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) reflective space within a community psychological therapies team. A mixed methods approach of survey feedback and semi-structured interviews was used. Staff found the reflective space beneficial for improving their clinical skills relating to issues of EDI and helpful for their own wellbeing. Staff also found the EDI reflective space both acceptable and feasible and were keen to attend future sessions. However, some clinicians highlighted challenges relating to fear of judgment and evaluation from others. Findings are discussed in relation to the growing body of evidence of the usefulness of staff reflective spaces in healthcare generally, and provide specific support for the implementation of EDI reflective spaces. Guidance for developing an EDI staff reflective space for healthcare staff are discussed, alongside limitations and possible future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]