Numerous consultation models have developed over the years to serve the needs of different settings. Three commonly referenced models are described below:
Mental health consultation model: This model was initially developed as a preventive approach towards managing mental disorders. In this model, the consultant helps the consultee to address problems related to psychological wellbeing and to be more effective in managing similar problems in the future. In particular, four types of case consultations have been identified - client-centred case, consultee-centred case, program-centred administrative case, and consultee-centred administrative case.
Behavioural consultation model: Based on the principles of behavioural psychology, this model aims to alter client’s and/or consultee’s behaviour through four systematic problem-solving stages (i.e. problem identification, problem analysis, plan implementation, and problem evaluation).
Organisational consultation model: The main aim of this model is to resolve presenting organisational problems and bring about effective changes at the systemic level so as to improve the overall functioning of an organisation. This model also emphasises on processes such as data collection, diagnosis, and feedback to clients.
Here are some ideas and resources:
BOOKS
General texts
Brown, D., Pryzwansky, W. B., & Schulte, A. C. (2011). Psychological consultation and collaboration : Introduction to theory and practice. | Source: Pearson.
This comprehensive book provides an overview of both the theory and practice of consultation and collaboration along with a summary of the empirical support, multicultural strengths, and limitations for each approach. Coverage includes mental health consultation, behavioural consultation, organisational development consultation, and the processes in consultation and collaboration–including the characteristics of the people who engage in them, evaluation of the outcomes of the two processes, and ethical guidelines for consultants and collaborators.
Dougherty, A. M. (2014). Psychological consultation and collaboration in school and community settings. (6th ed.) | Source: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.
https://au.cengage.com/c/isbn/9781285098562/
This book provides a useful and engaging overview of the core theoretical models and basic skills needed to understanding the content and process of consultation in school and community settings. It is an excellent “primary” resource for students who are taking a first course in consultation.
Mental Health model
Caplan, G. (1970). The theory and practice of mental health consultation. | Source: New York: Basic Books.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000276427001400133
This book describes in detail the practice and conceptualisation of a new methodology in the field of community psychiatry – the mental health consultation model. Specifically, this book defines, delineates and systematises the concepts and the principles of a consultation method developed in the practice of community mental health.
Caplan, G. (2004). Recent advances in mental health consultation and collaboration (pp. 19-35). | Source: In Nadine M. Lambert, Ingrid Hylander, and Jonathan H. Sandoval’s Consultee-Centered Consultation: Improving the quality of professional services in schools and community organizations (1st ed.). Routledge: New York.
Chapter One focuses on identifying the methodological modification made to the mental health consultation model across different settings, to seek consensus about basic principles and conceptual models across both national and organisational boundaries.
Behavioural Consultation model
Ricciardi, J. N., & Luiselli, J. K. (2007). Behavioral–Clinical Consultation in the Developmental Disabilities. (pp. 227-243) | Source: Handbook of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Springer, Boston, MA.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/0-387-32931-5_12
This chapter reviews the contemporary role of consultation in various settings and shares guidelines for successful practice. It also discusses the emerging role of behavioural-clinical consultation in improving the greater wellbeing of persons with developmental disabilities, the staff working with them and their service systems.
Rowan, A. B., & Runyan, C. N. (2007). A primer on the consultation model of primary care behavioral health integration. (pp. 9-27) | Source: In The primary care consultant: The next frontier for psychologists in hospitals and clinics. American Psychological Association (APA).
https://psychologyinterns.org/wp-content/uploads/Primer-on-the-consultation-model.pdf
This chapter briefly describes the rationale for a consultative model of integrated behavioural health care and describes the pitfalls encountered when transitioning from the speciality health role to that of the primary care behavioural health consultant role. The goals of the chapter are three-fold: to provide exposure to a non traditional model of mental health care delivery, to demonstrate how and why a consultative model of behavioural health care is symbiotic to the goals of today's primary care environment, and to provide a foundational understanding of what this model of care looks like in actual clinical practice.
Kratochwill, T. R., Bergen, J. R. (1990). Behavioral consultation in applied settings: An individual guide | Source: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
This guidebook has been developed as a skill-training package to teach psychologists, counsellors, social workers, and other applied mental health professionals a model for the delivery of behavioural interventions through a behavioural consultation approach.
Luiselli, J. K. (2018). Conducting behavioral consultation in educational and treatment settings| Source: Elsevier Academic Press.
This book is a practitioner’s guide to implementing consultation with multidisciplinary care providers for children and adults who have learning and behavioural challenges. The book focuses on the interactive, problem-solving, dispute resolution, time management and related skills necessary for conducting behavioural consultation successfully. Primary topics include (a) basic principles and practices of behavioural consultation, (b) roles, expectations and responsibilities of a behavioural consultant, (c) establishing a consultation relationship, (d) consultation in action (problem identification, problem analysis, intervention implementation and intervention evaluation), (e) supervision, (f) interpersonal skills, and (g) time management skills.
Organisational Consultation model
Rodney L. Lowman (2002). The California School of Organizational studies: Handbook of organizational consulting psychology. | Source: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jossey-Bass.
This book reflects the depth and breadth of the contemporary state of organisational consulting psychology, an exciting field that is now coming into its own. Specifically, it reviews the foundations of organisational consulting psychology, applications on the individual-, group- and organisational-levels, and how to bridge these levels, and issues in consulting to, and for, specific types of organisations. Finally, it also looks at measurement, evaluation and effectiveness issues and how to manage issues of professional practice.
Rodney L. Lowman (2016). An introduction to consulting psychology: Working with individuals, groups and organizations. | Source: American Psychological Association (APA).
https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4317403?tab=1
In this book, Rodney Lowman describes consulting psychology and how consultation helps clients at three levels – individual, group and organisational. He uses case examples to illustrate the issues that can arise at each level and describes appropriate tools for assessment and intervention. The book also covers important professional standards and guidelines for consulting psychologists, including the APA Ethics Code.
VIDEOS
Mental Health model
Mental health consultation model presentation| Source: Ana Maria Rodriguez-Negrete. (2018, Feb 5).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U-48cwZHXyQ
The video provides a summary on the history, type and development of the mental health consultation model. It also outlines the steps taken to conduct a mental health consultation in settings such as school and in culturally diverse populations.
Behavioural Consultation model
BHC Podcast | Source: Primarycareshrink.com (2006, Oct 21).
https://www.youtube.com/user/nserrano4ME/about
This channel provides a series of podcasts for viewers interested in primary care behavioural health, in particular, the behavioural health consultation model. This channel is hosted by primarycareshrink.com, and includes podcasts such as an overview of the behavioural health consultation model, primary care behavioural health consultation basics, and even how to introduce the behavioural health consultant and to write SOAP notes.
Primary care behavioral health: MH care redesign| Source: Primarycareshrink.com (2008, Oct 31).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t0MsDjlTQfo
This video presents a vision for redesigning the mental health care delivery system by integrating it into the primary care system.
The rationale behind the behavior health consultation model | Source: Primarycareshrink.com (2012, Sept 1).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2lFPaGxnW-A&t=15s
This video describes the rationale and benefits of the behavioural health consultation model, a model of primary care behavioural health integration.
Core components of a primary care behavior health consult| Source: Primarycareshrink.com (2012, Aug 30).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xmiXvRIRWFE&t=236s
This video presents the basic outline of a primary care behavioural health consultation.
Ways to think about consultation versus therapy| Source: Primarycareshrink.com (2013, Jan 4).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KgG1sOiW9jc
This video discusses the differences in approach between primary care consultants and therapists, with focus on contrasting meta approaches to content driven approaches.
Organisational Consultation model
Introduction to industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology| Source: Job Canary (2019, Oct 1).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnyNQNTZXF0&t=22s
This video provides a short introduction to industrial and Organisational (I-O) psychology, and includes definition, background and brief history.
The basics of industrial / oganizational psychology and behavioral sciences research methods| Source: Statistics and Research with Dr. Wendi L. Benson(2019, Oct 1).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_DcuoRMsmk
This video lecture provides a brief overview of what industrial and organisational psychology is and the basics of quantitative research in industrial organisational psychology and of psychology in general. It also include information on career options in organisational psychology and the applied research methodology required in this area.
OTHER RESOURCES
Mental Health model
Marbley, A. F., Stevens, H., Taylor, C. M. et. Al. (2015). Mental health consultation: An untapped tool for facilitating volatile intercultural diversity group dialogs. | Source: Multicultural Education, Winter(1), 8-15.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1065398.pdf
This article reviews the utility of the mental health consultation model as an effective tool for use in the provision of safe open spaces for cultural exchange in diverse and volatile settings.
Edmunds, J. M., Beidas, R. S., & Kendall, P. C. (2013). Dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices: Training and consultation as implementation strategies. | Source: Clinical Psychology (New York), 20(2), 152-165.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3780425/
This article explores the movement towards deployment of evidence-based practices (EBPs) from research to community setting. It presents the literature on consultation following initial training, alongside a model of consultation and preliminary findings regarding effective consultation techniques and future directions.
Ghag, J., Kellet, S., & Acknroyd, K. (2021). Psychological consultancy in mental health services.| Source: Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 94(1), 141-172.
https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/papt.12264
This review of direct and indirect forms of consultation seeks to clarify the theoretical models underpinning consultation, define how consultancy is implemented, assess the methodological rigour of the evidence base, and define the outcomes achieved for services, staff and patients.
Caplan, G., Caplan, R. B., & Erchul, W. P. (1994). Caplanian mental health consultation: Historical background and current status. |Source: Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 46(4), 2-12.
This article traces the historical roots of Caplanian mental health consultation and lists 9 aspects of the model that have proved valuable over time. It also identifies the role of the internal consultant in mental health collaboration and the role of the mental health consultant in primary prevention.
Behavioural Consultation model
Sigafoos, J., Bushell, H., & Tucker, M. (2016). Application of behavioural consultation to assist teachers of children with developmental disabilities. (1996). |Source: Australasian Journal of Special Education, 20(2), 40-52.
This paper describes application of behavioural consultation in an Australian special education setting. Consultation focused on assisting teachers in the development, implementation and evaluation of systematic instructional programs in a number of priority goal areas (e.g., community, domestic, language, recreational, and vocational domains).
Reiter, J. T., Dobmeyer, A. C., & Hunter, C. L. (2018). The primary care behavioral health (PCBH) model: An overview and operational definition. |Source: Journal of Clinical Psychology Medical Settings, 25(2), 109-126.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29480434/
This article provides the first concise operationalised definition of the PCBH model as a team-based approach to managing biopsychosocial issues that present in primary care, with the over-arching goal of improving primary care in general. The article provides a description of the key components and strategies used in the model, the rationale for those strategies, a brief comparison to other integration approaches, a focused summary of PCBH model outcomes, and an overview of common challenges for implementation.
Dale, H., & Lee, A. (2016). Behavioural health consultants in integrated primary care teams: A model for future care| Source: BioMedCentral Family Practice, 17, 97.
https://bmcfampract.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-016-0485-0#citeas
This article argues the need for integrated care models that incorporate behavioural health care as part of the solution to relieve pressure on UK primary care. The Behavioural Health Consultant (BHC) role is integral to this, working psychologically to support the team to improve collaborative working, and supporting patients to make changes to improve their health across management of long-term conditions, prevention and mental wellbeing.
Organisational Consultation model
Intervention/ Consulting | Source: Library of Professional Psychology website
https://library.psychology.edu/category/organizational-psychology/intervention-consulting/
This website provides articles that seek to upskill the organisational psychologist through provision of specific techniques looking at the different aspects of the organisation, such as development, empowerment and appreciative consulting within the domain of intentions.
Gaiswinkler, W. (2006). Organisational Consulting as a field for the solution focused approach | Source: Netswerk fur Organisationasberatung, 1(7).
http://netzwerk-ost.at/publikationen/pdf/publikationen_organisationalconsulting.pdf
This article argues for the utility of a solution-focused approach for organisational consultants and their customers and compares this against the medical model. This article advocates the solution focused approach as an efficient and radical departure from the medical model but stresses the importance of integrating aspects of the medical model into the organisational consulting processes. The crucial art is in how to use both models in an appropriate way.
Hermansson, G. L. (1993). Counsellors and organisational change: Egan’s systems model as a tool in organisational consulting| Source: British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 21(2), 133-144.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03069889308253650
The increasing involvement of counsellors as consultants to effect organisational change is considered. The value of Egan's systems model, ‘Model A’, for use in this work, is promoted. A case example is presented to demonstrate how Egan's model can be applied effectively both for the development of a consultation relationship and for organisational change. In the example a counsellor acted as an external consultant to a helping-service agency, using Egan's Model A as the primary tool.