Abstract Book of the 7th International Conference on Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Year: 2025
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Subjective Accounts of School Clinical Practitioners in Supporting Students with Mental Health Challenges in Hong Kong
Dr. Ho Wai Ming, Hannah, Prof Mo Yuen Han, Kitty
ABSTRACT:
It has been documented that systemic intervention can positively affect the outcomes of young people who have difficulties in school. For example, marital and family therapy has been recognized as an effective mental health intervention for young people in public schools in the United States since 2003. In Hong Kong, an increasing number of professionals have been trained with a systemic perspective, and there is rising concern about the mental health challenges faced by students. However, how school clinical practitioners in Hong Kong apply the systemic perspective to help students with mental health challenges remains underexplored. This study aims to understand how clinical school practitioners, such as school counselors and school social workers, adopt a systemic perspective to assist students with mental health challenges in Hong Kong schools. This qualitative study interviewed seventeen school clinical practitioners, and thematic analysis was used to allow four themes to emerge. Insights were generated from the voices of the practitioners to improve service delivery and training from a systemic perspective, leading to better intervention outcomes for young people with mental health challenges in schools
Keywords: school, students, mental health, clinical practitioners, systemic perspective