Go hard, go early: Alternatives to the treatment model for addressing poverty, inequality and mental distress in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This discussion article is based on a paper presented at the Community Psychology Symposium as part of the 2021 New Zealand Psychology Conference. In this article, I reflect on my teaching praxis, widening inequalities, and on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for psychology. Currently, the lack of mental health sector capacity and the shortage of some 1000 psychologists, poses a significant conundrum. This article revisits Albee's critique, "that no mass disease or disorder has ever been controlled or eliminated through individual treatment" (2005, p.37), and in so doing I reflect on what community psychology can contribute at this point in history.