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Leading a horse to water: An action perspective on mental health policy
Author(s) -
Davidson Larry,
Flanagan Elizabeth,
Roe David,
Styron Thomas
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.20294
Subject(s) - action (physics) , mental health , perspective (graphical) , psychology , citizen journalism , mental illness , participatory action research , mental health care , public relations , psychotherapist , sociology , political science , law , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science , anthropology
Following publication of several landmark policy documents beginning in 1999, there are unprecedented opportunities for reforming mental health care to meet the needs of persons with mental illness. In this article, the authors suggest that transforming mental health requires dramatic changes in theory as well as in policy and practice, offering action theory as a corrective for a clinical psychology that has yet to view people as active agents shaping their own lives. A participatory approach to policy development and adoption of an action‐oriented model of clinical practice provide examples of the shift, which results from treating people to enhancing their access to opportunities and offering them the in vivo supports they need to pursue meaningful lives even while disabled. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 1141–1155, 2006.