W@TC - "We continue talking, when I need counseling she comes": The relational context of community mental health worker support in Eldoret, Kenya

Justin Rasmussen is a sixth-year clinical psychology PhD candidate working with Dr. Eve. Puffer. His primary interests center on improving access to mental health care in East Africa through professional training and existing community structures. Justin is especially interested in understanding the influence of cultural and social context on mental health promotion and intervention. His dissertation explores the integration of lay counselors into family support networks in a community-delivered family counseling intervention in Eldoret, Kenya. In response to the increasing demand for mental health services globally and continued challenges providing sufficient access to those services, community mental health programs are gaining traction as a solution that offer evidence-based treatments at scale and in context. Many of these programs do this by creating a new "lay counselor" role occupied by community members who receive basic training while remaining in their existing community roles. In this talk, Justin Rasmussen will share findings from his dissertation research on how this "lay counselor" role fits into existing networks of family social support in one such community mental health intervention in Western Kenya. This event will be hybrid. Registration is required to join via Zoom. Lunch will be provided.