Best Practices in Global Mental Health: An Exploratory Study of Recommendations for Psychologists

Abstract

Recommendations for best practice are useful in guiding the ethical and effective practice of psychology. Global mental health, which works to improve mental health treatment and access on a worldwide scale, is a growing field with many opportunities for psychologists, though such best practice recommendations have not been articulated. Using a grounded theory approach, this qualitative study recruited and interviewed psychologists identified as leaders in the field. Findings included broad categories of recommendations related to overarching variables (consideration of cultural/contextual variables and collaboration), program-level characteristics (sustainability, formative and summative evaluation, flexibility, attention to systems, multidisciplinary teams, clinical knowledge and perspective, and attention to spectrum of mental health), and individual-level characteristics (perseverance, ongoing mentorship/supervision, self-awareness, and boundary setting). Future directions include recommendations to recreate this study with a more geographically diverse sample, as well as with community members and service users of global mental health projects. Increased attention to individual-level competencies that impact global mental health projects is warranted. Implications for training are also considered.