Professional Psychology: Research and Practice
Volume 42, Issue 5, 2011, Pages 361-367

Adapting Clinical Services To Accommodate Needs of Refugee Populations (Article)

Kaczorowski J.A.* , Williams A.S. , Smith T.F. , Fallah N. , Mendez J.L. , Nelson-Gray R.
  • a University of North Carolina at Greensboro, United States
  • b University of North Carolina at Greensboro, United States
  • c University of North Carolina at Greensboro, United States
  • d University of North Carolina at Greensboro, United States
  • e University of North Carolina at Greensboro, United States
  • f University of North Carolina at Greensboro, United States

Abstract

The diversity of the refugee population in the United States requires practicing psychologists to respond by adapting clinical services to meet their mental health needs. However, the available literature on culturally adapted treatments is only a first step in guiding the process for adapting clinical services. This paper describes our experiences with designing and adapting a variety of clinical services for youth and families with refugee status. Guided by Sue's (2006) tenets for culturally competent service delivery, we discuss a therapeutic model of tiered service delivery used to deliver preventative services and treatment to refugee youth and adults. We discuss how we adapted treatments to help overcome access barriers to mental health treatment, and we provide specific examples of how existing treatments were used with refugee populations. In addition, we discuss information and approaches for how practicing psychologists can develop additional skills for working with refugee populations. We conclude by focusing on the need for our field to work toward improving access to mental health treatment for refugee youth and families and developing evidence-based treatments for this population. © 2011 American Psychological Association.

Author Keywords

Barriers to treatment Therapy Refugee Cultural competence

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-80755126895&doi=10.1037%2fa0025022&partnerID=40&md5=de99c580ac1873eac728badb8d15fb12
DOI: 10.1037/a0025022
ISSN: 07357028
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English