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Fulfilling the Promise of School-Based Mental Health: Moving Toward a Public Mental Health Promotion Approach

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Abstract

School-based mental health (SBMH) programs and services are growing progressively in the United States for many reasons. However, the SBMH field is young and tenuously supported, and challenges are being confronted on many levels. There are major needs to continue to bring research-supported interventions into schools, and to better equip educators and mental health programs and staff in schools to function effectively. Articles in this special issue present the many challenges well and point to important directions for advancing SBMH. To truly advance the field a Public Mental Health Promotion approach is needed. Elements of this approach, in advancing training, quality assessment and improvement (including empirically supported practice), and advocacy and policy influence are discussed, as are strategic connections to the Community Science perspective and to the development of a growing Community of Practice in SBMH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

    Mark D. Weist

  2. Center for School Mental Health Assistance, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 737 West Lombard Street, 4th Floor, Baltimore, Maryland, 21201

    Mark D. Weist

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  1. Mark D. Weist
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Correspondence to Mark D. Weist.

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Weist, M.D. Fulfilling the Promise of School-Based Mental Health: Moving Toward a Public Mental Health Promotion Approach. J Abnorm Child Psychol 33, 735–741 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-7651-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-7651-5

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