New book: Cultural Consultation

The MMHRC is pleased to share news of the release of a new book edited by members of the MMHRC steering comittee. Cultural Consultation: Encountering the Other in Mental Health Care is edited by Laurence Kirmayer, Jaswant Guzder, and Cécile Rousseau and is published by Springer.

Cultural diversity is a global challenge for mental health services. The changing demography of communities requires rethinking approaches to cultural competence for health professionals and institutions. Cultural consultation is a way to improve the quality of mental health care by providing a nuanced understanding of the predicaments that prompt diverse clients to seek help, and the social contexts of their mental health problems, to guide clinical assessment and intervention.

Cultural Consultation explores the practice of cultural consultation as a strategy to improve the quality of mental health care for diverse populations. The contributors, who have worked together at an innovative clinical service, frame best practices in psychiatry clinical psychology, and social work in relation to empathy, human rights, and culturally responsive and ethically sound care. A detailed model of the process of cultural consultation, from initial intake, through assessment, to recommendations and referrals, provides guidelines for clinical practice. Expert contributors examine specialized settings (medical, psychiatric emergency, inpatient, social/legal services), populations (remote, indigenous, child and youth), and contextual issues in the care of people with a wide range of mental health problems.

Numerous case examples, charts, and tools add depth for readers interested in developing similar services or enhancing existing practice. Among the key areas covered:

  • Working with interpreters and culture brokers.
  • Family systems in cultural consultation.
  • Gender, power, and ethnicity in cultural consultation.
  • Consultation and mediation with racialized and marginalized communities. Collaborative care and primary care consultation.
  • Cultural consultation with refugees.

A unique guide to challenges and opportunities in contemporary practice, Cultural Consultation will be immediately useful for health care professionals, clinical psychologists, and cultural consultants and provide a versatile knowledge source for years to come.

Contents
Introduction: The Place of Culture in Mental Health Services.- Development and Evaluation of the Cultural Consultation Service.- The Process of Cultural Consultation.- Cultural Consultation in Child Psychiatry.- Working with Interpreters.- Culture Brokers, Clinically Applied Ethnography and Cultural Mediation.- Family Systems in Cultural Consultation.- Gender, Power & Ethnicity in Cultural Consultation.- Community Consultation and Mediation with Racialized and Marginalized Minorities.- Addressing Cultural Diversity Through Collaborative Care.- Consultation to Remote and Indigenous Communities.- Cultural Consultation for Refugees.- Consultation to Youth Protection and Legal Settings.- Cultural Consultation in General Hospital Psychiatry.- Cultural Consultations in Medical Settings.- Conclusion: The Future of Cultural Consultation.
To review sample pages of the book, please visit the book’s website.