half day workshop

MENTAL HEALTH CARE OF  IMMIGRANTS
Adil Qureshi, Servei de Psiquiatria, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Spain and Francisco Collazos, Servei de Psiquiatria, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron Spain

CCIB Room: 219/20

Multiculturalism in Europe is becoming a reality that increasingly affects most every psychiatrist. Effective mental health treatment adaptations to respond to the myriad ways in which migration impacts psychosocial development, help-seeking, symptom presentation, and all aspects of diagnosis and treatment.  This course will be an introduction to the general themes pertinent to the effective psychological care of migrant patients. The first part of the course will provide attendees with a general overview of key aspects relevant to the relationship between migration, culture, minority status and mental health/illness, which will then serve as the basis for the second part which will be focused on psychological interventions. The development of Intercultural communication and  a strong therapeutic relationship are key for diagnosis and treatment. Errors in the diagnosis of migrant patients is all too common due to differences in symptom presentation and meaning, as well as due to psychologist’s lack of familiarity with this population. Although posited as a universally applicable therapeutic approach, CBT is predicated on European-American epistemic basis and I incorporates a variety of cultural values that are not necessarily universal. The workshop will identify some of these key issues and suggest modifications that will bring CBT more effective with immigrant and ethnic minority patients. Cultural mediation is increasingly being introduced as means of bridging the linguistic and cultural gap between psychiatrist and migrant patient, however, for a variety of reasons, effective use of this resource demands that specific steps be taken and that professionals are sufficiently well trained.

Adil Qureshi, Ph.D. is a counselling psychologist working in the Transcultural Psychiatry Program of the Psychiatry Service of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona. He provides psychotherapy to immigrant patients and conducts research on psychological aspects of immigration. In addition, he provides cultural competence training in health and mental health throughout Catalonia.

Key References:
Bracken, P. & Thomas, P. (1999). Cognitive therapy, Catersianism, and the moral order. European Journal of Psychotherapy, Counselling & Health, 2(3), 325-344. 
Lega, L.I. & Ellis, A. (2001). Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) in the new millennium: A cross-cultural approach. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 19(4), 201-222.  Qureshi, A. (2005).
Dialogical relationship and cultural imagination: a hermeneutic approach to intercultural psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 59(2), 119-35