Commentary: Metaknowledge is power: envisioning models to address unmet mental health needs: reflections on Kazdin (2019)

Abstract

Despite having more knowledge and resources at our disposal than ever before in history, the human suffering due to mental health concerns is extensive and mostly untreated. Kazdin (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2019) calls for a significant departure from prevailing conventions of psychotherapy delivery, noting that the traditional formats, settings, and workforce limit the potential of science to help those in need. This paper supports and extends Kazdin's argument, urging an additional shift in perspective about treatments altogether. A reconceptualization of treatment protocols as knowledge resources is offered, such that the strategy to reduce human suffering becomes one of flexibly moving knowledge of how to address mental health concerns to any and all contexts in which those problems can be addressed, whether or not a treatment is used. A dedicated pursuit of metaknowledge–knowing how to structure, coordinate, and apply knowledge–promises to lift the world's collective therapeutic intelligence and thereby move us closer to the goal of substantively addressing the global mental health burden.