Cultural Psychiatry With Children, Adolescents, and Families: A Comprehensive Guide

Although numerous books on cultural aspects of mental health exist, Cultural Psychiatry With Children, Adolescents, and Families stands out as one of the few resources that specifically focuses on the role of culture in mental health assessment, diagnosis, and care of children, adolescents, and their families.

In the United States, where over 50% of children under 15 years old identify as nonwhite, comprising diverse ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, this book serves as an indispensable companion for healthcare providers across all disciplines and clinical settings. Additionally, it caters to the needs of diverse sexual/gender identities and religious/spiritual beliefs that render young people a “hidden” minority.

Comprehensive and Clinically Rich

This comprehensive guide presents material on a wide variety of ethnicities, including:

• African American
• American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
• Asian American
• Latinx
• Arab American cultures

The book addresses the special mental health and medical needs of LGBTQ+ youth, including their distinct developmental trajectories. It explores the mental health, medical, and structural interventions that can reduce mental health and medical disparities they face, offering best practices and the most recent guidelines for transgender youth wishing to transition.

DSM-5 Outline for Cultural Formulation and Case Examples

The volume emphasizes the importance of the DSM-5 Outline for Cultural Formulation, a crucial instrument in populations where development is in flux and family compositions are diverse. A chapter of complex case examples is included to help readers understand the role of the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview.

Immigration Status, Displaced Children, and Protective Factors

The book delves into the impact of immigration status and the mental health burden of forcibly displaced children. It provides a literature review on the mental health effects of migration, a discussion of protective factors and resilience in children and families, and strategies for working with migrant youth and families, including building trust, understanding the role of silence, and taking a family-centered approach.

Intersectionality and Nonjudgmental Stance

Throughout the book, the paramount importance of remaining open-minded and taking a nonjudgmental stance when dealing with aspects of culture is emphasized. It also recognizes the significance of intersectionality, a theoretical framework that acknowledges individuals with multiple social or minority identities and their experience of layered, societal-based inequities due to their diverse individuality.

Timely and Essential Information

This comprehensive guide provides timely and essential information to help clinicians address the impacts on youth and families of the COVID-19 pandemic and the movement for social justice. The book offers down-to-earth, absorbing, and essential information for clinicians and caregivers in our increasingly diverse world.

Published by the American Psychiatric Association Publishing on December 4, 2020, this resource is a must-have for healthcare providers seeking to deliver culturally sensitive care to children, adolescents, and families from diverse backgrounds.