Jamilah Hanum's Address: MSCP’s Commitment to Family-Centered Mental Health Care

The "1st MyMFT Mental Health Professionals Dialogue 2025" was held on June 15, 2025, to foster inter-professional dialogue and collaboration within the Malaysian mental health landscape. The event brought together a diverse group of mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, trainees, clinical psychologists, and counselors.

"The Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology (MSCP) acknowledges that many clinical psychologists in Malaysia are trained primarily in individual-focused approaches. However, as the landscape of mental health evolves, so must our competencies. Families are often the first system of care—mental health doesn’t begin in clinics, but in everyday conversations at the dinner table.

Supporting families means understanding their dynamics, responding to their needs, and working within ethical and professional boundaries. It also requires breaking silos between professions. We must strengthen collaboration with counselors, social workers, and family therapists—especially when adopting a 'Family First' approach.

Yet we are mindful of real barriers on the ground: gaps in systemic therapy training, limited clinical resources, stigma that hinders family engagement, and scope-of-practice confusion among professionals. These challenges call for systemic solutions.

MSCP urges stakeholders, including MyMFT, to consider cross-disciplinary training, family-focused pilot projects, and the development of core competencies in family work. As a professional body, MSCP is ready to support this shift through standards, advocacy, and community education.

Let’s not treat symptoms in isolation. Let’s understand patterns in families. Because when families are supported, mental health care becomes sustainable.

● 'If we train mental health professionals only to work in silos, we risk fragmenting care that should be holistic.'

● 'We must expand our lens—not just treat individuals, but empower the systems they live in."

The 1st MyMFT Mental Health Professionals Dialogue 2025 served as an important platform for inter-professional exchange between MSCP, MPA, PERKAMA, and MYMFT. MSCP's active participation and the President's address on family-centered care further solidified our commitment to advancing holistic and collaborative mental health practices in Malaysia. We look forward to analyzing the insights gained from this event and continuing to collaborate with MyMFT and other stakeholders to implement the systemic (family first) solutions.