mental health consultation
a model of mental health service provision to communities or specific settings (e.g., schools, organizations) in which a clinically trained mental health specialist acts as a consultant to assist and guide an individual or group of individuals (known as consultees; including professionals, such as teachers, nurses, primary care doctors, peer counselors, and employers, and nonprofessionals, such as parents or caregivers) in addressing a problem presented by clients under the consultees’ supervision or care (such as students, patients, employees, or family members). There is often a dual purpose to mental health consultation: (a) problem solving with a consultee on a specific mental health issue with a client and (b) giving the consultee added skills and insights that will enhance his or her future functioning in dealing with a client’s problems. Mental health consultation has several subtypes, including client-centered consultation, which
focuses the consultant’s attention on effective intervention for the client; and consultee-centered consultation, in which the consultant focuses on remedying shortcomings in the consultee instead of solely addressing the problems of the client. See also behavioral consultation; consulting psychology. [developed by British physician Gerald Caplan (1917–2008)]