Seeking Help From a Mental Health Professional: The Influence of One’s Social Network  David L. Vogel and Nathaniel G. Wade Iowa State University  Stephen R. Wester University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee  Lisa Larson and Ashley H. Hackler Iowa State University The decision to seek psychological help may be hindered or facilitated by many factors. Two potential factors that might facilitate help seeking are having a relationship with someone (a) who recommends seeking help or (b) who themselves have sought help. In two studies ( N = 780, N = 746), we explored the relationship between these factors and intentions to seek mental health services. In Study 1, being prompted to seek help and knowing someone who had sought help were both related to positive expectations about mental health services. In Study 2, being prompted to seek help and knowing someone who had sought help were related to more positive attitudes toward help seeking. Also, knowing someone who had sought help was related to the intention to seek help. Of those who sought psychological help, approximately 75% had someone recommend that they seek help and about 94% knew someone who had sought help. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 63: 233–245, 2007. Keywords: help seeking; attitudes; social influence; social network Less than 40% of individuals seek any type of professional help within a year of the onset of a psychological disorder (e.g., Andrews, Issakidis, & Carter, 2001; Reiger et al., 1993). Furthermore, the number of people seeking help specifically from a mental health pro- fessional is much lower (i.e., 11%), particularly for those experiencing a concern that Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: David L. Vogel, Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, W149 Lagomarcino Hall, Ames, IA 50011-3180; e-mail: dvogel@iastate.edu JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Vol. 63(3), 233–245 (2007) © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jclp.20345