Standards of Mental Illness

STANDARDS OF MENTAL ILLNESS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3

FOCUSSED PSYCHOLOGICAL STRATEGIES(FPS) 3
CLINICAL SCENARIOS AND STANDARDS 4
VALUES AND ETHICS 4
STANDARD 1.1 4
STANDARD 1.2:- 5
STANDARD 1.3:- 6
PROFESSIONALISM 7
STANDARD 2.1 7
STANDARD 2.3:- 8
CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE AND INCLUSIVE PRACTICE 9
STANDARD 3.1:- 9
STANDARD 3.2:- 10
KNOWLEDGE FOR PRACTICE 10
STANDARD 4.1:- 11
STANDARD 4.4:- 11
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE TO PRACTICE 12
STANDARD 5.1:- 12
STANDARD 5.2:- 13
STANDARD 5.3:- 14
STANDARD 5.4:- 15
STANDARD 5.7:- 16
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUPERVISION 17
STANDARD 8.1:- 17
STANDARD 8.2:- 18
REFERENCE LIST:- 19
INTRODUCTION
Mental health is a state of emotional and social well being of a person in society. Mental
health social workers play an integral part in resolving the issues in mental health practices.
Australian Association of Social Workers came up with eight components of practice
standards in 2014 for mental health social workers which I have described with clinical
scenarios in this report. The framework of practice standards also includes three core values

that are ethics which has to be followed by the social worker practitioner. In this report, I
have applied FPS(Focussed Psychological Strategies) to the situations in my clinical areas
and I have also used SBAR structure for the assessment of the scenarios. The main purpose
of this report is to practice mental health issues from my own experience and address them
through a proper application of nominated practice standards to that particular situation.
FOCUSSED PSYCHOLOGICAL STRATEGIES(FPS)
FPS is a range of evidence-based strategies that have been approved for use by the Australian
health professionals. I have relevant FPS for their respective mental illness carefully for the
improvement of the patient. There were strategies made and analyzed by me to achieve small
goals. FPS used are as follows:-
● Psycho-education.
● CBT(Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
○ Behavioral interventions
○ Behavior modification
○ Exposure techniques
○ Activity scheduling
○ Cognitive interventions
○ Cognitive therapy
● Relaxation strategies
● Skills training
● Interpersonal therapy (especially for depression)
CLINICAL SCENARIOS AND STANDARDS
VALUES AND ETHICS
STANDARD 1.1
Establishes a professional working relationship with the person who has a mental illness or
disorder and their significant others.

SITUATION:- 29-year-old Francis, a school teacher was was diagnosed with mental illness
after failed marriage. The patient has been smoking cannabis for a very long time.
BACKGROUND:- patient has a substantial history of smoking cannabis, behavioral change,
and aggressiveness. She also had symptoms of hallucinations and delusions. Ran away from
home from day to day and killed his own domestic animals in the belief that it is going to
save him or protect him. He was eventually diagnosed with psychosis caused by smoking
cannabis.
ASSESSMENT:- according to my study, I found outpatient was not happy with the failed
marriage and started smoking cannabis which caused the illness which made him leave his
school teacher job.
RECOMMENDATION:- I would recommend relaxing techniques,continuous muscle
techniques and breathing management . A calm environment would be useful for the patient
STANDARD 1.2:-
Acts on social justice issues related to people with a mental illness
SITUATION:-Abida, 55, a primary school teacher and a mother of seven, suffered from
depression.
BACKGROUND:- Her family believed that her illness was due to evil spirits and took her to
various shrines, but she showed no signs of improvement. She felt like leaving her home and
running away and attempted suicide several times. She was experiencing various types of
negative thoughts. Her family physically abused her upon this illness behavior.
ASSESSMENT:- according to my study, the case of depression was getting worse because of
the family not taking care of it and abusing the patient,eventually, the patient attempted many
suicides. The social worker will ensure that all human rights were recognized and will take
judicial action against the family.