The Relationship between Public Mental Health Policy and the Practice of Community Psychology through Family Support Groups

Abstract

This article will examine the relationship between public mental health policy and the practice of community psychology through the lens of family support groups (FSGs). Government policy promotes community psychology, but the implementation thereof is lacking and gives way to approaches that deny the involvement of communities and families as equal owners in the psychotherapeutic process. However, the psychiatric system expects families to act as the ‘primary carers’ or ‘case managers.’ Family involvement is cited as invaluable to the overall success of recovery and, therefore, represents an opportunity for self-critique within the psychiatric system in its orientation towards partnering with families. In this context, FSGs were initiated within the adult male and adolescent inpatient units in the Western Cape at Lentegeur Hospital (LGH). This article promotes FSGs as central to psychotherapeutic interventions and offers an empirical grounding for an inclusive approach to family support. This practice of inclusivity is underpinned by a community psychology ethos and is based on the analysis of 24 FSG sessions involving 446 family members between July 2013 and November 2015.