mindfulness

In his recent edited volume, Mindfulness and Acceptance in Multicultural Competency: A Contextual Approach to Sociocultural Diversity in Theory and Practice, Akihiko Masuda, PhD, explores the growing applicability of mindfulness- and acceptance-based therapeutic modalities like acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and compassion-focused therapy (CFT), among others, to the development of cultural sensitivity and competency among today’s therapists.

Editor’s Note: In our last post about multicultural competency, we explored the pitfalls that currently detract from our ability to deliver culturally salient, non-ethnocentric psychological services to clients, and how overcoming these pitfalls to provide such services can improve mental health in a broader sense.

Evidence has shown that our current forms of mental health treatment have been especially inadequate for ethnic minority populations, and finding interventions that are culturally competent has been an enduring significant challenge in the psychotherapy community. Nearly four decades ago, S. Sue and McKinney (1975) found that ethnic minorities tended to underutilize mental health services, compared to white individuals.

Editor's note: The following was adapted from the edited volume, Mindfulness and Acceptance in Social Work, edited by Matthew S. Boone. Boone will be presenting a two-day Introduction to ACT Training in Oakland, California on August 1 - 2, 2015. Don't miss your chance to learn the fundamentals of ACT with an award-winning trainer and exceptional clinician.

Editor's note: The following was adapted from the edited volume, Mindfulness and Acceptance in Social Work, edited by Matthew S. Boone. Boone will be presenting a two-day Introduction to ACT Training in Oakland, California on August 1 - 2, 2015. Don't miss your chance to learn the fundamentals of ACT with an award-winning trainer and exceptional clinician.