What Young People Want from Clinicians: Youth-Informed Clinical Practice in Mental Health Care

Abstract

Evidence from around the world consistently indicates young people experience high rates of mental ill-health, but frequently have limited engagement with treatment. One powerful influence on young people’s engagement with mental health care is their relationships with treatment providers. A strong relationship with clinicians may be key to sustaining engagement, reducing dropout rates, and improving outcomes from treatment. However, research into young people’s perspectives on qualities they value in their clinicians has often been limited by traditional methodologies which explore young people’s attitudes to clinicians they have already worked with. This limits young people’s responses and, therefore, our understanding of who an effective ‘youth mental health clinician’ could be. In this study, 94 young people from New Zealand participated in innovative research workshops in which they described their ideal mental health clinician. Thematic analysis identified five themes which summarized these young peoples’ priorities for an ideal mental health clinician: Someone Like Me, Someone I Connect With, Someone Who Protects My Space, Someone Who Treats Me as an Equal, and Someone Who Works in the Right Way for Me. The presence and demonstration of these qualities may support both initial and sustained engagement with treatment, with the potential to improve outcomes for young people. Importantly, the connections between these themes highlight that young people are less likely to value ‘relatability’ as an isolated quality in their clinicians and most desire to work with clinicians who balance a warm and comfortable personal style with professional expertise and boundaries. These findings provide guidance for clinicians from a range of orientations who wish to work effectively with young people as to how they can adapt their approaches and seek feedback to improve their work with young people.