Community Psychology Initiatives in Greece

In this chapter, we describe several community-focused initiatives that may be the stirrings of community psychology (CP) in Greece. Although CP has not ‘officially’ set hold in our country with regard to academic training, professional organizations, and journals, it may be accurate to say that its existence is evident through the many initiatives, programs, and actions that have been developed and applied in many communities throughout the country. It is the services offered by mental health centers, programming for parents, the prevention and health promotion initiatives made possible by the centers for prevention of drug use, and the community volunteer actions that focus on different social issues and community concerns that can be ‘interpreted’ as CP in Greece. The chapter describes the history of these community initiatives, their characteristics, their theoretical underpinnings, and how they relate to the discipline and the practices of CP as they are described in the international literature.