Citation

Gerrard N. Can. J. Commun. Ment. Health 2000; 19(2): 89-100.

Affiliation

Saskatchewan Health, Saskatoon.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Wifrid Laurier University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11381740

Abstract

Community psychology arose in the 1960s, in the United States, as a response to: (a) pressure to move toward more community based mental health services, and (b) clinical psychologists asking themselves why they were individually treating and conceptualizing large numbers of people who had similar presenting problems. They realized that the social context of their clients' lives was paramount in determining their emotional health. In 1990, I brought a community psychology perspective to designing and implementing a farm stress program in Saskatchewan. I describe how community psychology values and practices, community development, and mental health promotion are applied to this program. I discuss the value of conceptualizing mental health issues, such as farm stress, from the perspective of individuals-in-communities and discuss considerations for future applications of a community psychology approach to similar and other mental health issues.

Language: en