ABSTRACT
Consultation has become one of the most sought-after services rendered by psychologists and counselors in mental health agencies and in schools. The practice was born out of the Mental Health Act of 1962 and Gerald Caplan’s (1970) seminal work The Theory and Practice of Mental Health Consultation, which provided a solid basis for understanding and implementing mental health consultation. In the school systems, a formal consultation role for counselors arose in the late 1970s as other helping professionals started branching out from one-to-one relationships to work with caretakers, who then worked with clients (Baker, 2000). Consultation is a way counselors can use their skills to influence other professionals to facilitate the emotional, psychological, academic, and career development of clients or students. Given the importance of consultation in the mental health clinician’s range of duties, this chapter was included for the purpose of providing students with a basic understanding of consultation in schools and mental health agencies.
