The InterSSCT Model: Systemic Cross-Cultural School-Based Mental Health Programming

The session was presented as a portion of a working group session on school-based mental health, which was attended by 26 participants. The presentation was well-received, with many participants commenting on the applicability of this model to settings in other countries and service delivery contexts. This presentation supports my scholarship in the area of school-based mental health programming. The development work for this presentation will permit me to develop a manuscript for submission by October 2011.This paper describes the InterSSCT (“intersect”) approach to the delivery of school-based counselling services. The InterSSCT approach is a transcultural, transtheoretical, systemic heuristic to assess needs, plan, execute, and evaluate school-based counselling initiatives. The elements of InterSSCT are: Interfaces. This refers to the interfaces between social systems, including formal organizations (e.g., mental health services and school, school and religious communities), informal social structures (school and cultural communities). The InterSSCT model asserts that effective school service delivery relies on functional interfaces between social systems. Systems. Counselling services are delivered in a context, the dynamics of which counsellors must understand. Ultimately, counsellors are obligated to serve the needs of the systems in which they are embedded. Skills. School counsellors’ efforts should focus on the development of skills (capacity building) in students and school personnel. Connections. Attachment theory indicates that children are more resilient when they experience a sense of connectedness. Accordingly, school counsellors can work to create a school context in which children feel a sense of belonging and connection. Transitions. Faltering through transitions (within the school day, throughout the school year, and between school years [e.g., elementary to middle school, middle school to high school]) can contribute and maintain problems. Accordingly, counsellors can work to develop programming that assists children through transitions. This conference session will describe how counsellors can focus on interfaces, systems, skills, connections, and transitions can support children’s development