The World Mental Healthcare Association (WMH) is a global professional association dedicated to advancing mental healthcare through advocacy, education, ethical practice, and professional collaboration.
WMH brings together mental health professionals, healthcare providers, researchers, institutions, and allied practitioners to strengthen mental health systems, promote evidence-based practices, and support the development of responsible, accessible, and high-quality mental healthcare worldwide.
Operating as a non-profit professional body, WMH serves as a collective platform for mental healthcare professionals, while also contributing to informed public discourse on mental health policy, standards, and best practices.
Why WMH Exists
Despite growing awareness, mental healthcare systems across regions continue to face challenges such as limited professional representation, inconsistent standards of practice, fragmented advocacy efforts, and gaps in coordinated knowledge sharing.
WMH was established to address these challenges by creating a structured and credible professional ecosystem that supports practitioners, strengthens collaboration across disciplines, and advances mental health advocacy at institutional and policy levels.
What We Do
WMH operates across four core domains:
Advocacy & Policy
WMH engages in mental health advocacy by contributing to policy discussions, promoting professional and ethical priorities, and supporting initiatives that improve mental healthcare systems and professional recognition.
Education & Resources
WMH curates and disseminates educational and reference resources, including research publications, journals, professional articles, and practice-oriented materials, to support continuous learning and informed engagement within the mental health ecosystem.
Practice & Professional Standards
WMH promotes ethical, responsible, and evidence-aligned mental healthcare through professional guidelines, ethical frameworks, and best-practice recommendations that uphold quality of care and professional integrity.
Professional Community & Collaboration
WMH fosters a collaborative professional network through structured membership pathways, interdisciplinary engagement, and knowledge exchange initiatives that encourage dialogue, learning, and cooperation among mental healthcare professionals.
Who WMH Serves
WMH is inclusive in scope and serves a broad spectrum of stakeholders within mental healthcare, including:
- Psychologists
- Psychiatrists
- Counsellors and Therapists
- Social Workers
- Mental Health Researchers
- Allied Healthcare Providers
- Students and early-career professionals
- Institutions and organizations working in mental healthcare
Membership and engagement opportunities are structured to reflect diverse professional roles, experience levels, and areas of practice.
Global Outlook
WMH operates with a global perspective, recognising the diverse cultural, regulatory, and systemic contexts in which mental healthcare is delivered. Through regional chapters and collaborative initiatives, WMH supports context-sensitive approaches while encouraging alignment with internationally recognised standards and ethical principles.
Governance & Organisational Structure
WMH is guided by a structured governance framework comprising an Advisory Board, committees, and regional chapters.
- Advisory Board:
A multidisciplinary body including policymakers, service providers, representatives from regulatory environments, and allied professionals, providing strategic guidance and institutional oversight. - Committees:
Committees support the execution of key programs and initiatives, including publications, professional engagement, and advocacy activities. - Chapters:
Regional chapters are established to coordinate activities at local and regional levels, each supported by designated leadership roles to ensure responsible operations and alignment with WMH’s mission.
Institutional Commitment
WMH operates with a strong commitment to ethical governance, transparency, professional accountability, and public interest responsibility. All initiatives are guided by clearly defined principles intended to strengthen trust, credibility, and long-term impact within the mental healthcare ecosystem.