TY - JOUR
T1 - "a Lot of Ghanaians Really Don't Understand the Work We Do" - Cultural Adaptations and Barriers in Ghanaian Psychotherapy Practice
AU - Dzokoto, Vivian
AU - Anum, Adote
AU - Affram, Adjeiwa Akosua
AU - Agbavitoh, Joseph K.M.
AU - Dadzie, Henrietta A.
AU - Mintah, Rebecca Korantemah
AU - Norman, Queen Angela
AU - Owusu-Prempeh, Cecilia
AU - Tawam, Louis N.
AU - Turkson, Sarah M.
AU - Osei-Tutu, Annabella
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Hogrefe Publishing.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Formal psychotherapy in Ghana is gaining momentum. Concerns about the over-reliance on Western theories bring the suitability of associated clinical interventions into question for Ghanaian, non-Western clients. We interviewed 27 clinical practitioners (including clinical, counseling, and health psychologists) practicing in an urban setting to explore cultural challenges they faced and to identify cultural adaptations they made in their practice. Our participants reported navigating cultural barriers to therapy such as potential clients seeing therapy as an unfamiliar resource, resistance due to mental illness stigma, linguistic barriers, and hierarchical and age norms associated with help-seeking. Our sample identified attention to the following as routine in clinical practice: charismatic Christian and African cosmological worldviews, cultural expectations of helping and interdependence, and family involvement in "individual"therapy sessions. The findings have implications for future psychotherapy practice and training in Ghana and similar Low and Middle Income Country (LMIC) contexts, as well as for clinical work with African immigrants.
AB - Formal psychotherapy in Ghana is gaining momentum. Concerns about the over-reliance on Western theories bring the suitability of associated clinical interventions into question for Ghanaian, non-Western clients. We interviewed 27 clinical practitioners (including clinical, counseling, and health psychologists) practicing in an urban setting to explore cultural challenges they faced and to identify cultural adaptations they made in their practice. Our participants reported navigating cultural barriers to therapy such as potential clients seeing therapy as an unfamiliar resource, resistance due to mental illness stigma, linguistic barriers, and hierarchical and age norms associated with help-seeking. Our sample identified attention to the following as routine in clinical practice: charismatic Christian and African cosmological worldviews, cultural expectations of helping and interdependence, and family involvement in "individual"therapy sessions. The findings have implications for future psychotherapy practice and training in Ghana and similar Low and Middle Income Country (LMIC) contexts, as well as for clinical work with African immigrants.
KW - Africa
KW - cultural adaptation
KW - cultural barriers
KW - cultural competence
KW - Ghana
KW - psychotherapy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124465606&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1027/2157-3891/a000015
DO - 10.1027/2157-3891/a000015
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124465606
SN - 2157-3883
VL - 11
SP - 28
EP - 42
JO - International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation
JF - International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation
IS - 1
ER -