Allyship in Psychiatric and Mental Health Services: A Scoping Review and Thematic Analysis

AI Summary

Allyship must commit to redistributing power and addressing coercive and epistemically unjust psychiatric practices.
Effective allyship requires reflexivity, recognition of privilege, epistemic humility and concrete actions rather than symbolic gestures.
There are ethical tensions where performative allied behaviours risk reinforcing paternalism rather than promoting mutual emancipation.

J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2026 Jun 25. doi: 10.1111/jpm.70165. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Psychiatric and mental health services have been increasingly scrutinized for sustaining coercive and epistemically unjust practices. Allyship, conceptualized as a commitment to power redistribution, has emerged as a strategy to address such injustices.

AIM: The aim of this study is to map the literature and current state of knowledge regarding allyship in psychiatry and mental health.

METHOD: A scoping review was carried out. Tirthy-four (n = 34) reports were subjected to a descriptive and thematic analysis.

RESULTS: The analysis of the literature identifies four interrelated and complementary themes characterizing allyship: (1) the scope of allyship in mental health, (2) its general principles, (3) the qualities expressed by allies and (4) their repertoire of actions.

DISCUSSION: Reviewed studies depict allies as reflexive agents aware of their privilege and advocating for patients. However, findings reveal ethical tensions between performative and effective allyship, with risks of reinforcing paternalistic structures rather than dismantling them.

IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: The results highlight the ethical responsibility of psychiatric and mental health professionals to resist mere symbolic or performative allyship.

RECOMMENDATIONS: This synthesis underscores the ethical imperative to anchor allyship in principles of social justice, epistemic humility, and mutual emancipation.

RELEVANCE TO MENTAL HEALTH NURSING: Allyship has been the subject of significant debate in psychiatric nursing. The results of this review inform nursing practice by identifying the principles, qualities, and defining actions of individuals who seek to become and act as allies. The findings presented also outline avenues for action aimed at adapting educational curricula to incorporate key dimensions of allyship, including the recognition of privilege, the redistribution of power, and epistemic humility. Finally, this scoping review serves as a caution against the uncritical use of the ally concept, to avoid the erasure of its political foundations.

PMID:42347705 | DOI:10.1111/jpm.70165

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