ABSTRACT
Payor-sponsored mental health care delivery systems have reshaped the map of treatment services provided to consumers. Most clinicians have long considered their practice in relation to one customer–the patient or client who directly makes use of psychotherapy or counseling services. Travelers in new or confusing lands need road maps. In the area of mental health care, these road maps, or theories, help structure new information and provide a basis for validating hypotheses. Managed care providers take new perspectives in their relationships with direct consumers of services. These new approaches to patient relationships are more consumer-friendly and reflect modern marketing practices. Many consumers present in clinical settings expecting immediate and active assistance with acute difficulties. They expect problem-focused treatment goals. Health care delivery systems call upon practitioners to help educate consumers about their role, responsibilities, and rights. Managed care practitioners must be able to educate consumers as to how their care is based upon need.
