Managing Mental Health Crises in Indonesian Universities: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Psychologists' Experiences

Mental health issues have become a major concern in universities worldwide, including in Indonesia. Various mental health challenges experienced by students can trigger crises, such as urges to self-harm or even suicidal ideation. Such crises require immediate intervention. However, access to mental health emergency services remains limited and lacks standardized guidelines. This study aims to explore participants' experiences in handling mental health emergencies in university settings, with the hope of providing insights for the development of standardized mental health emergency service guidelines.

Data collection was conducted through focus group discussions involving six psychologists working in university-based mental health practices. The collected data were analyzed using reflective thematic analysis.

Through reflective thematic analysis, four primary themes emerged, namely the understanding and interpreting crisis; navigating crisis assessment in complex situation; professional responses in crisis intervention; and challenges in managing crises.

The findings of this study reveal the complexity of understanding and managing psychological crisis cases, including significant challenges in doing so effectively. These findings are consistent with previous research on psychological services and provide insights into how to manage clients experiencing crises. These insights make a valuable contribution to the development of regulations and the implementation of standardized mental health crisis services in higher education institutions.

Overall, this study demonstrates that crisis management in university mental health services involves diverse understandings of crisis, varied intervention practices, and multiple practical challenges. These findings highlight the importance of developing clearer frameworks to support mental health emergency services in higher education.