Secondary Prevention Mental health professionals may be involved in primary and secondary prevention depending on their interests and expertise. Primary prevention is directed toward preventing a problem from ever occurring.
Secondary prevention is targeted at a specific high-risk subpopulation or group.
In the field of child abuse and neglect, this involves working with both child victims and parents who abuse or neglect their children. Therapeutic interventions with children are directed toward preventing the harmful effects of child maltreatment. Therapeutic interventions with abusive parents are directed toward preventing recidivism through education, developing problem-solving skills, providing cognitive and behaviorally oriented counseling to prevent maltreatment, helping parents identify when they are at risk of abusing or neglecting their children, and teaching parents how to obtain support and resources to prevent abuse and neglect. The following roles briefly describe the activities in which clinicians are involved as a result of providing tertiary intervention or therapeutic intervention with clients. Mental health professionals often specialize by working either with children, adolescents, or adults and by working with victims or offenders.