Power in the Power Threat Meaning Framework

This paper discusses why and how the operation of power is a central part of the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF). Following a brief review of evidence linking social context to psychological distress and troubling behavior, and of psychology and psychiatry’s limited engagement with this evidence, the paper focuses on the different approach adopted in the PTMF. It reviews conceptual resources drawn on in examining the nature and role of power and key ways in which the operation of power is central to the development and maintenance of troubling experiences and behavior which may be encountered in mental health systems and beyond.