New directions in clinical pastoral training

Abstract

The passage of the Mental Health Act of 1963 marked the beginning of a new era in the treatment of mental illness in the United States. The change from the old state hospital concept to the new emphasis upon community centered treatment for the mentally ill has now been developed to the point where we can begin to see important implications for our own work as chap lains. Indeed, the last few years have been a period of radical change in the whole mental health field. There has been a questioning of psychoanalytic practices. At the same time there has been an increasing emphasis on ego psychology, crisis theory, and crisis intervention, as well as preventive psy chiatry. There have also been efforts to include nonprofessionals as mental health workers and the beginnings of attempts to enlist the aid of all mem bers of the community in promoting and maintaining the kind of community that will foster better mental health.