Bringing Psychotherapy to the Underserved Challenges and Strategies

"Providing psychotherapy services to the underserved is a significant problem with far reaching consequences. This book brings together discussions of multiple groups of underserved, some of whom are generally neglected by much of the literature. This book is designed to help mental health professionals who provide psychotherapy increase their awareness of the key issues related to many different peoples. Zimmerman, Barnett and Campbell bring together contributors who focus on many underserved communities, in their many different forms, both within and outside the United States. This wide-ranging discussion of the issues of many underserved peoples has chapters written by experts in their respective fields, offering their thoughts and very practical advice. The first four sections of the book focus on systemic factors, discrimination, people in transition and people who are often overlooked or are "invisible". Each of these chapters follows the same format to bring you a more consistent reading experience. The authors begin by discussing the scope and offer a description of the problem area they are addressing. They then discuss barriers to service delivery, how to create or improve cultural competence, and effective strategies and empirically-supported treatments for best meeting the treatment needs of this population. They conclude by discussing future steps. The fifth section addresses other challenges related to ethics and research. Overall, whether you read this book cover-to-cover, or pick individual chapters that are of particular relevance or interest, Bringing Psychotherapy to the Underserved is a valuable resource for you as you strive to approach underserved communities in socially responsible, culturally sensitive, ethical, and effective ways"--