The Issue of Availability of Psychotherapy Through the Lens of Key Stakeholders

The bachelor thesis focuses on the issue of availability of psychotherapy in the Czech Republic. The work analyzes the possible causes of unavailability of psychological services for their users and interprets the future of the system of providing mental health care with special emphasis on psychotherapy. To answer the research questions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with actors with different perspectives on the issue. The interviews provided not only a description and evaluation of the current and future state of the mental health care system, but also suggestions for its improvement. The conceptual and theoretical framework of the work consists of a model of actors generating the agenda in arenas (also known as the A-A- A model) and policy analysis. As the main factor influencing the availability of psychotherapy, respondents mentioned the generally poor systemic setting of its provision. However, respondents agreed that the Czech Republic is well placed to improve the overall system of mental health care through the ongoing Psychiatric Care Reform, which should respond to the shortcomings of the system through the strategy document Psychiatric Care Reform Strategy (2013). The National Action Plan for Mental Health is a document expanding the Strategy for the Reform of Psychiatric...