Development of Aculturally Informed Therapy for Schizophrenia

Abstract

This speaker will serve as chair ofthis workshop. Background informationabout schizophrenia will be presented, including how cultural variables impactvarious aspects of the illness. Ofparticular interest is the fact that patients from more traditional societiesappear to have a vastly better course of illness (World Health Organization, 1960, 1992). The speaker will present results fromnumerous studies, both from her own research and from colleagues, demonstratingthe possible reasons why patients from these cultures have better prognoses. Main ideas include attributions for thecause/controllability of the illness, use of religion/spirituality, greaterfamily cohesion, and less critical/hostile emotional climate of the family(commonly referred to as Expressed Emotion). Dr. Weisman de Mamani will describe how these studies have shaped a newfamily therapy for schizophrenia, titled Culturally Informed Therapy forSchizophrenia (CIT-S). This new therapyis being pilot tested at the University of Miami and incorporates elements frompreviously-established therapies as well as new, culturally-informedtechniques. CIT-S consists of 15sessions broken into five modules: Family Collectivism, Education, SpiritualCoping, Problem-Solving, and Communication Training. CIT-S is offered in English and in Spanish.