This book, written and edited by leading experts from around the world, looks critically at how culture impacts on the way posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related disorders are diagnosed and treated. There have been important advances in clinical treatment and research on PTSD, partly as a result of researchers and clinicians increasingly taking into account how "culture matters." For mental health professionals who strive to respond to the needs of people from diverse cultures who have experienced traumatic events, this book is invaluable. It presents recent research and practical approaches on key topics, including: •How culture shapes mental health and recovery •How to integrate culture and context into PTSD theory •How trauma-related distress is experienced and expressed in different cultures, reflecting local values, idioms, and metaphors •How to integrate cultural dimensions into psychological interventions. Providing new theoretical insights as well as practical advice, it will be of interest to clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and other health professionals, as well as researchers and students engaged with mental health issues, both globally and locally. For mental health professionals who strive to respond to the needs of people from diverse cultures who have experienced traumatic events, this book is invaluable. It presents recent research and practical approaches on key topics, including: How culture shapes mental health and recovery How to integrate culture and context into PTSD theory How trauma-related distress is experienced and expressed in different cultures, reflecting local values, idioms, and metaphors How to integrate cultural dimensions into psychological interventions. Providing new theoretical insights as well as practical advice, it will be of interest to clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and other health professionals, as well as researchers and students engaged with mental health issues, both globally and locally.

This work is a vital set of insights and guidelines that will contribute to more aware and meaningful practice for mental health professionals. Focusing equally on theoretical concepts, culturally valid assessment methods, and cultural adaptation in trauma and resilience, an array of experts present the cutting edge of research and strategies. Extended case studies illustrate an informative range of symptom profiles, comorbid conditions, and coping skills, as well as secondary traumas that can occur in asylum seekers.

This book, written and edited by leading experts from around the world, looks critically at how culture impacts on the way posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related disorders are diagnosed and treated. There have been important advances in clinical treatment and research on PTSD, partly as a result of researchers and clinicians increasingly taking into account how "culture matters." For mental health professionals who strive to respond to the needs of people from diverse cultures who have experienced traumatic events, this book is invaluable. It presents recent research and practical approaches on key topics, including: •How culture shapes mental health and recovery •How to integrate culture and context into PTSD theory •How trauma-related distress is experienced and expressed in different cultures, reflecting local values, idioms, and metaphors •How to integrate cultural dimensions into psychological interventions. Providing new theoretical insights as well as practical advice, it will be of interest to clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and other health professionals, as well as researchers and students engaged with mental health issues, both globally and locally. For mental health professionals who strive to respond to the needs of people from diverse cultures who have experienced traumatic events, this book is invaluable. It presents recent research and practical approaches on key topics, including: How culture shapes mental health and recovery How to integrate culture and context into PTSD theory How trauma-related distress is experienced and expressed in different cultures, reflecting local values, idioms, and metaphors How to integrate cultural dimensions into psychological interventions. Providing new theoretical insights as well as practical advice, it will be of interest to clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and other health professionals, as well as researchers and students engaged with mental health issues, both globally and locally.

Synthesizing insights from psychiatry, social psychology, and anthropology, this important work sets out a framework for therapy that is as culturally informed as it is productive. An international panel of 23 therapists offers contextual knowledge on PTSD, coping skills, and other sequelae experienced by the survivors of traumatic events. Case studies from Egypt to Chechnya demonstrate various therapeutic approaches. Authors explore the balance of inter- and intrapersonal factors in reactions to trauma and dispel misconceptions that hinder progress in treatment.

This volume describes a variety of public mental health and psychosocial programs in conflict and post-conflict situations in Africa and Asia. Each chapter details the psychosocial and mental health aspects of specific conflicts and examines them within their sociopolitical and historical contexts. This volume will be of great interest to psychologists, social workers, anthropologists, historians, human rights experts, and psychiatrists working or interested in the field of psychotrauma.

This book analyzes the individual and collective experience of and response to trauma from a wide range of perspectives including basic neuroscience, clinical science, and cultural anthropology. Each perspective presents critical and creative challenges to the other. The first section reviews the effects of early life stress on the development of neural systems and vulnerability to persistent effects of trauma. The second section of the book reviews a wide range of clinical approaches to the treatment of the effects of trauma. The final section of the book presents cultural analyses of personal, social, and political responses to massive trauma and genocidal events in a variety of societies. This work goes well beyond the neurobiological models of conditioned fear and clinical syndrome of post-traumatic stress disorder to examine how massive traumatic events affect the whole fabric of a society, calling forth collective responses of resilience and moral transformation.

This volume argues that there are serious problems inherent in current conceptualisations of how people react to trauma, and consequently in many of the therapeutic responses that have been developed.

This is definitely a book whose time has come. One of the brilliant aspects of the EMDR therapy approach is that it makes it clinically possible to cut through social issues, and yet maintain its cultural consonance. From multiple contributions around the world, each chapter brings significant insights into how EMDR therapy can be culturally attuned and yet efficacious in preserving the individuality of each client. Highly recommended for those therapists who work in multi-cultural settings. -Esly Regina Carvalho, Ph.D., Trainer of Trainers, EMDR Institute/EMDR Iberoam rica and President TraumaClinic do Brasil/TraumaClinic Edições, Brasilia, Brazil. Underscoring the importance of cultural competence, this groundbreaking book focuses on using EMDR therapy with specific populations, particularly those groups typically stigmatized, oppressed, or otherwise marginalized in society. Drawing on social psychology research and theory as well as social justice and social work principles, it delivers general protocols for EMDR intervention for recovery from the internalized effects of cultural mistreatment. Employing best-practice methods for cultural competence as EMDR therapy is introduced to new cultures worldwide, the editor and esteemed EMDR clinician-authors relay their experiences, insights, guidance, and lessons learned through trial and error while adapting EMDR interventions for cross-cultural competency and therapeutic effectiveness The text defines cultural competence and validates the need for a multi-culturally aware approach to psychotherapy that embraces authentic socialidentities and attends to the impact of socially based trauma. Chapters address using EMDR therapy to heal the trans-generational impact of Anti-Semitism,working with the LGBT population, treating an immigrant woman suffering from social anxiety, healing individuals with intellectual disabilities, thetraumatizing effects of racial prejudice, harmful cultural messages about physical appearance, EMDR therapy attuned to specific cultural populations andsocially based identities, and many other scenarios. The text is replete with step-by-step treatment guidelines to help clients recover from traumatic lifeevents, dos and don‚Äôts, and common adaptive and maladaptive cultural beliefs. Key Features: Defines cultural competence and validates the need for a multi-culturally aware approach to psychotherapy Offers innovative protocols and strategies for treating socially based trauma within the EMDR model Presents best practice methods for cultural competence Includes step-by-step treatment guidelines and dos and don'ts Written by highly esteemed EMDR clinician-authors

Cultural diversity has always been a fact of life, nowhere more so than in the unique melting pot of U.S. society. Respecting and understanding that diversity is an important -- and challenging -- goals. Culture and Psychotherapy: A Guide to Clinical Practice brings us closer to that goal by offering a fresh perspective on how to bring an understanding of cultural diversity to the practice of psychotherapy to improve treatment outcomes. This remarkable work presents the nuts and bolts of incorporating culture into therapy, in a way that is immediately useful and practical. Illustrated by numerous case studies that demonstrate issues, techniques, and recommendations, the topics in this wide-ranging volume focus not on specific race or ethnicity but instead on culture. Introduction -- Summarizes the influence of culture (an abstract concept defined as an entity apart from race, ethnicity, or minority) on the practice and process of psychotherapy while offering a broadened definition of psychotherapy as a special practice involving a designated healer (or therapist) and identified client (or patient) to solve a client's problem or promote a client's mental health Case Presentations and Analysis -- Illustrates distinctive cultural issues and overtones within psychotherapy, such as the traditional Japanese respect for authority figures, the Native American concept of spirit songs, the clash of modern values with traditional Islamic codes, and the effects of the conflict between Eastern values of dependence and group harmony and Western values of independence and autonomy Specific Issues in Therapy -- Discusses lessons from folk healing, the cultural aspects of the therapist-patient relationship, and the giving and receiving of medication as part of therapy Treating Special Populations -- Presents issues and trauma faced by African Americans, Hispanic veterans, Southeast Asian refugees, adolescents, and the ethnic minority elderly Special Models of Therapy -- Shows the interplay between cultural issues and specific models of therapy, including marital therapy for intercultural couples and group therapy with multiethnic members The relevance of cultural diversity will only grow stronger in the coming years as our definition of community expands to embrace global -- not just local -- issues. With its balanced combination of clinical guidance and conceptual discussion highlighted by fascinating case studies, this volume, authored by national and international experts, offers psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric residents, psychiatric nurses, and mental health social workers -- both in the U.S. and abroad -- an expansive focus and richness of content unmatched elsewhere in the literature.

Based on a recently completed project of cultural consultation in Montreal, Cultural Consultation presents a model of multicultural and applicable health care. This model used clinicians and consultants to provide in-depth assessment, treatment planning, and limited interventions in consultation with frontline primary care and mental health practitioners working with immigrants, refugees, and members of indigenous and ethnocultural communities. Evaluation of the service has demonstrated that focused interventions by consultants familiar with patients’ cultural backgrounds could improve the relationship between the patient and the primary clinician. This volume presents models for intercultural work in psychiatry and psychology in primary care, general hospital and specialty mental health settings. The editors highlight crucial topics such as: - Discussing the social context of intercultural mental health care, conceptual models of the role of culture in psychopathology and healing, and the development of a cultural consultation service and a specialized cultural psychiatric service - Examining the process of intercultural work more closely with particular emphasis oto strategies of consultation, the identity of the clinician, the ways in which gender and culture position the clinician, and interaction of the consultant with family systems and larger institutions - Highlighting special situations that may place specific demands on the clinician: working with refugees and survivors of torture or political violence, with separated families, and with patients with psychotic episodes This book is of valuable use to mental health practitioners who are working in multidisciplinary settings who seek to understand cultural difference in complex cases. Psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurse practitioners, primary care providers and trainees in these disciplines will make thorough use of the material covered in this text.