Name
Capella University
PSYC FPX 4100
Prof. Name
December, 2024
Community Presentation
Hello everyone. My name is _____, and today, we’ll identify why everybody should have mental health and the value of the services of a psychologist, particularly within our society. People will encounter barriers to access often due to cultural issues, disadvantages based on their system, or even a lack of trust in conventional medicine. That is the goal of today’s presentation to make all of us discuss it so that those from different fields can get what they need.
Community Presentation
The case of mental illness has a huge challenge when it comes to publicity and disasters and is greatly neglected in many societies- societies that in the past were termed as minorities (McClendon et al., 2020). As charged by culture customs beliefs, and traditional practices other individuals also believe that problems generally get a mental fix and can be handled personally rather than professionally. However, lack of trust in conventional medicine & healthcare is no less in developing countries and this makes a majority of such people avoid getting psychological help. Most of this mistrust stems from past, and at times present, injustice whereby the subordinate has been receiving inferior, discriminatory, or culturally insensitive treatment in health facilities. Others are language barriers, shortage of culturally sensitive caregivers, and affordability of reasonable healthcare costs. This results in cases whereby individuals in such communities fail to report such issues hence denying them the necessary medical attention they require; a situation that taps into the well-being of the individual as well as the entire community. Thus, mental health services need to rise to the occasion and eradicate this challenge by promoting cultural awareness.
Middle East Psychology
Middle Eastern psychology is highly dependent on a blend of beliefs stemming from traditional cultural activities, Islam, and Western psychological styles (Boman, 2021). Traditional Middle Eastern culture and religion have offered much insight into what constituted mental health in many of these countries and how psychological distress was perceived – as a spiritual or moral failure. The above cultural perspective sometimes becomes overwhelming in terms of seeking professional psychological treatment, because there is always spirituality and kin support in cases and issues.
Some of these include, and trauma, depression, anxiety, and PTSD because of existing conflicts, displacement, and social unrest in the region. There are some recommendations for managing mental health in the Middle East such as cultural competence, the use of both Western and local cultural practices, and building trust while reducing stigma that comes with seeking mental health treatment.
How Psychology Offers Culturally Similar Perspectives
Psychology offers culture-sensitive perceptions since it has the notion that there is such a thing as universal psychology, although the concepts or problems may be depicted differently (Saarikallio et al., 2020). For example, a child will cry if happy or sad to show the feeling despite culture while these feelings are expelled in different ways. Likewise, an adult, whatever his roots, will experience fear in his veins. On the same note some psychological processes like how people manage stress, emotion, or depression are standard and hence rendering mankind comrades. Only the idea that it is possible to generalize the use of psychological theories such as the ‘Happiness Triangle by Maslow or the Psychosexual stages by Freud proves the relativity of existence. These perspectives help the psychologist to come up with ways and means for getting to the human being in need that could resonate with the body and soul of a diverse cultural experience and ring with meaning to the audience, thereby facilitating understanding, empathy, and therapeutic response (Prajapati et al., 2021).
However, though psychology provides such general principles, their application together with comprehension must be done concerning specific cultural standards. For example, depression which is a mental disorder might have a different meaning in a collectivist culture than in an individualist one. The black-and-white concept of the psyche (Throwable 28, p. 160) allows psychologists to take into account both general psychological processes and cultural specifics encountered in practice, thus being able to offer culturally sensitive treatment for clients from other cultures that helps to bridge the gap between western approaches to psychological help and the clients’ cultural orientation. The same approach also enhances the performance of therapy and fosters goodwill and cooperation between different stakeholders.
Evaluation of Similarities in Cultural Influences
Critical analysis of comparable effects of cultures on psychological practice across the globe (Tam & Milfont, 2020). Something quite obvious; in any culture, the value simply put on the family and social –concerning good mental health – the relationship is easily discernible. The present results also suggest that similar to the Western samples, both the non-Western participants want support, as well as guidance from close kin. Family is a significant cultural factor in the majority of cultures because it supplies a role model or helps during mental disorders.
Many cultures have begun to recognize the effects that trauma, be it as a result of war, personal violence or even personal loss brings to the psychological profile of an individual (Saarikallio et al., 2020). This results in the introduction of the concept of trauma-informed care, which is incrementally being practiced in settings across the West and the Northwest. Being able to identify trauma in certain mental illnesses enables the practitioner to understand that individuals differ from one culture to another and have experienced different kinds of traumas. This shared recognition assists in reducing cultural differences and concerns in psychological practice and highlights the specificity of psychological outcomes of trauma.
Evaluation of Differences in Cultural Influences
The first major difference when analyzing the impact of culture on psychology can be described as the attitude toward the mental disorder’s definitions and approaches to its treatment (Prajapati et al., 2021). Most Western civilizations approach it from a liberal humanistic perspective customary to perceive mental conditions as private affairs that can be addressed with the help of a counselor or medicine. On the other hand in other many non-western societies especially in the Eastern hemisphere, such a notion may not have much to do with social, spiritual, or community aspects; for instance in most of the Middle Eastern, African, or Eastern Asian societies, it’s widely believed that mental ailment can only be viewed in family and community context wherein going for help-seeking with mental health worker may be the last resort or even a sign of cowardice. This would then go on to influence the mental health care approach one takes since Western approaches greatly advocate for more one-on-one sessions while non-Western cultures tend to encourage the community approach.
Last but not least, cultural concerns differ regarding how much the community links to mental health problems (Ran et al., 2021). Western countries have gone a long way in terms of removing stigmatization on the aspect of mental health care; currently, most Western cultures have adopted the need and importance of mental health care and the importance of psychological health. Nonetheless, for most non-western cultures, especially in rural or rather more conservative societies, mental health disorders are relatively taboo.
Analysis of Factors a Mental Health Practitioner Should Take
There are many factors that a practicing mental health practitioner when working with multicultural, diverse communities must take into account to provide culturally responsive and appropriate care (Khatri & Assefa, 2022). One of them is the emphasis on cultural and spiritual practices as the factors which may help to shape the perception of the population on the issues of mental health and treatment. For example, when some people from specific cultures get sick mentally they will think that it resulted from an imbalance in their spiritual realm or a conflict within their family and not illnesses hence the approach to seeking treatment. The practitioners should be ready to include some culturally specific treatments like community participation or prayers together with the standardized treatment plan (M, 2020). These are some of the reasons that help infrastructures respect their clients’ dignity so that they pursue treatments.
I realized that practitioners should familiarize themselves with the culture of the people and ensure they have a good rapport; secondly, they should look for a relationship that has a sympathetic agreement. In addition, practitioners shall pay attention to language that is used in communication and will use interpreters or culturally appropriate materials where necessary.
PSYC FPX 4100 assessment 1 Conclusion
In conclusion, the struggle for better identification of cultural factors concerning mental health is important for culturally competent care delivery across the existing ethnically diverse population (McClendon et al., 2020). By beginning to some extent to understand how universals and cultural variations in personality, thoughts, feelings, and behavior might be relevant to therapeutic practice and relationships, mental health practitioners can cultivate less culture-bound models of practice. By embracing trust showing humility in terms of culture, and integrating culturally appropriate practices in service delivery, mental health workers are creating a favorable status for the client and the ability to seek help is promoted.
PSYC FPX 4100 assessment 1 References
Boman, B. (2021). Parallelization: the fourth leg of cultural globalization theory. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 55(2), 354–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-021-09600-4
Khatri, R. B., & Assefa, Y. (2022). Access to health services among culturally and linguistically diverse populations in the Australian universal health care system: Issues and challenges. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13256-z
M, K. (2020). The Western philosophers about Abu Nasr Farabi. Экономика и социум, 6-2 (73), 787–792. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-western-philosophers-about-abu-nasr-farabi
McClendon, J., Dean, K. E., & Galovski, T. (2020). Addressing diversity in PTSD treatment: Disparities in treatment engagement and outcome among patients of color. Current treatment options in psychiatry, 7(3), 275–290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40501-020-00212-0
Prajapati, R., & Liebling, H. (2021). Accessing mental health services. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-00993-x
Ran, M.-S., Hall, B. J., Su, T. T., Prawira, B., Breth-Petersen, M., Li, X.-H., & Zhang, T.-M. (2021). Stigma of mental illness and cultural factors in Pacific Rim region: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02991-5
Saarikallio, S., Alluri, V., Maksimainen, J., & Toiviainen, P. (2020). Emotions of music listening in Finland and India: Comparison of an individualistic and a collectivistic culture. Psychology of Music, 49(4), 030573562091773. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735620917730
Tam, K.-P., & Milfont, T. L. (2020). Towards cross-cultural environmental psychology: A state-of-the-art review and recommendations. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 71, 101474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101474
