The Public Psychiatrist as Clinical Team Member

Patients served in community mental health settings often have multiple psychiatric, physical health care, and psychosocial needs. Because of this complexity, clinical care by a multidisciplinary team is required. This chapter describes team member responsibilities and the role of the community psychiatrist within the various treatment team structures that community psychiatrist might encounter. Contemporary treatment planning, including wraparound services, the resiliency/strengths model, use of peer services, and cultural competency, is described. In contemporary community psychiatry, the patient is an integral part of the team, and so person-directed treatment planning is discussed as well as the recovery movement and its implications for psychiatry. The chapter discusses how to foster cross-discipline collaboration and describes the importance of systemic thinking and approaches to patient care. Examples of the treatment team process are provided.