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Student Mental Health and Psychological Interventions in a School Setting

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Abstract

This chapter addresses the increasing community concern about student mental health and considers the role of the school psychologist in relation to this issue, both from a preventative and a treatment perspective. Intervention can be important and relevant at an individual, selective and universal level. Prevalence figures reveal that many students in schools will experience severe difficulties. Understanding and supporting students with these problems and disorders are an important task. At the same time school communities are challenged to consider ways to enhance the positive well-being of young people and develop a prevention focus alongside the focus on individual treatment. The school psychologist has a valuable role in a school context to work with teaching staff and school leadership to build a foundation of well-being and positive mental health policy and practice. The school can be considered a universal and accessible agency for implementation of prevention and early intervention in mental health disorders, and the school psychologist is a key player in this approach.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, 100 Leicester St., Carlton, VIC, Australia

    Vicki McKenzie

  2. Long Island University, Post Campus, 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville, NY, 11548, USA

    Hilary B. Vidair Ph.D. & Danielle Sauro

  3. University of Melbourne, Carlton, VIC, Australia

    Chelsea Eacott

Authors
  1. Vicki McKenzie
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  2. Hilary B. Vidair Ph.D.
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  3. Chelsea Eacott
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  4. Danielle Sauro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hilary B. Vidair Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia

    Monica Thielking

  2. St. John’s University, Jamaica, New York, USA

    Mark D. Terjesen

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McKenzie, V., Vidair, H.B., Eacott, C., Sauro, D. (2017). Student Mental Health and Psychological Interventions in a School Setting. In: Thielking, M., Terjesen, M. (eds) Handbook of Australian School Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45166-4_12

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