Training of Cross-cultural Competencies in Psychotherapists

Summary

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As the number of patients from diverse cultures increases in psychotherapeutic care, cross-cultural competencies of therapists become increasingly important. In particular, mental health care of patients with immigration background needs to be improved as studies show that these patients drop out of...

As the number of patients from diverse cultures increases in psychotherapeutic care, cross-cultural competencies of therapists become increasingly important. In particular, mental health care of patients with immigration background needs to be improved as studies show that these patients drop out of treatment more often and benefit less from therapy. In addition, patients with immigration background and refugees show higher prevalences in mental illnesses. Nevertheless, evaluated training programs to improve cross-cultural competencies in psychotherapists are lacking. In particular, web-based training programs, which allow therapists to work time-flexible and at their own pace on a training, are, to date, missing completely. For the current study, a web-based training program to improve therapists' cross-cultural competencies was developed. It is based on existing conceptions of cross-cultural competencies. The developed program consists of six modules with the following contents: definitions and conceptions of culture, the role of cross-cultural competencies in psychotherapy, the influence of prejudices and discrimination as well as the role of migration and acculturation, and culturally sensitive diagnostics. The modules contain PDF-files with text-based information, video files, case studies with associated questions as well as practical exercises. The main focus of the training is the participants' self-reflection concerning their conceptions of (their own) culture and their beliefs about culturally diverse patients. The training group will be compared to two other groups, i.e. an education only and a waitlist control group. Whereas the waitlist control group will not receive any training materials, the education only group will receive a slimmed down version of the training consisting only of text-based information files.

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