Treatment Engagement: An Introduction

Abstract

Increasingly, the field of behavioral health has recognized that there is a problem that might be called: the problem of behavioral health service delivery (O’Donohue & Dyer, 1993). That is, just because there are individuals who have problems (or will have problems); just because there is knowledge about how to remedy (or prevent) these problems; and just because there are professionals who are willing to deliver interventions—perhaps even evidence-based interventions, and just because there are entities (third parties or the consumers themselves) who are able and willing to pay for these interventions does not mean that treatment will be delivered. Aligning all of these dimensions is the core problem of behavioral health service delivery. Sometimes in research or scholarly work only one dimension of this problem is addressed. For example, typically, clinical researchers try to increase the knowledge base regarding clinical efficacy with little or no attention to the other dimensions necessary for this treatment to be actually delivered. Or, in other cases, behavioral health professionals deliver therapy with little or no attention to the other factors—for example, to the knowledge base about treatment efficacy or effectiveness. Each of these dimensions is important in the problem of behavioral health service delivery and must receive its due attention.