About Culturally Adapted  Mental Health Programming 

A colonial history of ethnocentric and assimilationist programs has resulted in suspicion towards conventional psychological treatment by many Indigenous clients. In accordance with the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists, all persons are entitled to benefit equally from psychological contributions. Practitioners are also bound by the principle of responsible caring and must thoughtfully discern potential harms and benefits of interventions for their clients. A lack of cultural competency is a threat to this ethical commitment as it increases the likelihood of miscommunication, misinterpretation, and misdiagnosis. Mental health programs have responded by attempting a move towards community-based, culturally responsive methods. The goal of this study is to engage in an interdisciplinary exploration of how and to what extent mental health programs for Indigenous populations are implementing culture.  

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We are performing a content analysis on peer-reviewed literature to investigate the state of cultural integration in Indigenous mental health programs. Our search has yielded 70 programs that we have coded deductively and inductively for cultural components. Preliminary descriptive statistics have revealed seven categories of cultural integration present in Indigenous mental health programs. Programs represent three levels of integration (low, moderate, high), with the majority in the moderate range. The most common components are easily observable surface elements (e.g., representation, protocol), whereas foundational deep components (e.g., language, pedagogy) are less common. The emergent distinction between surface and deep culture suggests that all integration is not equal. We are currently conducting secondary analyses to further elucidate the effects of cultural integration.