Prevention Activities in Professional Psychology: A Reaction to the Prevention Guidelines

In this reaction article, the authors provide a historical context for prevention activi-ties and their place in psychological practice. They then discuss the prevention guide-lines in the Major Contribution authored by S. M. Hage et al. (2007 [this issue]) and provide their critique. Finally, the authors offer ideas for the future specific applica-tions of these general guidelines and illustrate with a case example. Hage et al. (2007 [this issue]) are to be commended for their compre-hensive, thorough, and thoughtful contribution. They have managed to pull together the relevant literature regarding prevention efforts and its support-ing research, as well as organize this work into a set of aspirational guide-lines. The scope of their efforts is truly impressive—a scope that has its own problems as well as its obvious successes. This response will first pro-vide a brief historical context for prevention activities, and then provide a general response to these guidelines. We will conclude with ideas of our own for future applications of these guidelines and prevention in general. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF PREVENTION Hage et al. (2007) correctly state that prevention activities have histor-ically been an important aspect of the practice of counseling psychology (p. 497). This is consonant with counseling psychology’s developmental approach to mental health as compared with the more remedial approach of clinical psychology and the more case management approach of social work. Community psychology as a professiponal psychological specialty was Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Evelyn Rivera-Mosquera