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.

Culture and PTSD examines the applicability of PTSD to cultural contexts beyond Europe and North America and details local responses to trauma and how they vary from PTSD as defined by the American Psychiatric Association.

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.

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.

"Few of the excellent models that have been developed for working with trauma survivors take into account the complexity of an individual's unique background and experience. Even treatment for members of "special groups" often ignores the individual's multilayered identities--which may include age, social class, ethnicity, religious faith, sexual orientation, and immigrant status--in favor of a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Drawing on her extensive clinical experience and the latest research, Laura Brown shows therapists how to become more sensitive to individual identity when working with clients who have suffered trauma. The author explains how culturally sensitive therapists draw upon multiple strategies for treating patients and are aware of both dominant group privilege and their own identity and culture. Of particular interest is a chapter on the role of systems of faith and meaning making in trauma therapy. The book has a practical focus and contains a variety of case studies illustrating how theoretical constructs can inform assessment and treatment. Given the ubiquity of trauma in its various forms, all therapists, from trainees to seasoned professionals, will find this volume educational and thought provoking"--Jacket. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

The editors of Beyond Trauma: Cultural and Societal Dynamics have created a volume that goes beyond the individual's psychological dynamics of trauma, exploring its social, cultural, politica!, and ethical dimensions from an international as well as a global perspective. In the opening address as International Chair of the First World Conference of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies on Trauma and Tragedy: The Origins, Management, and Prevention of Traumatic Stress in Today's World, June 22-26, 1992, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the conference that formed the foundation for the col lected chapters in this volume, 1 commented: This meeting is a landmark in accomplishing the Society's universal mission. Our distinguished International Scientific Advisory Committee and Honor ary Committee, whose membership was drawn from over 60 countries, the cooperation of six United Nations bodies, and the participation anei endorse ment of numerous nongovernmental organizations and institutions attest to the Society's emerging presence as a major international forum for profes sionals of ali disciplines working with victims and trauma survivors.