Cultural considerations in psychiatric assesment - Essay Example

Cultural considerations in psychiatric assessment Factors or cultural considerations that I would consider while rendering diagnoses, case conceptualizations, and treatment planning include the particular norms, values, and traditions of the culture the patient comes from, patient’s family structure, personal history, and belief system. A health-care provider must conduct a psychological analysis of the patient in order to understand and perceive the patient’s outlook on the disease and treatment.

Many patients come from cultures in which symptoms are attributed to superficial factors or magic. In order to get the patient’s collaboration, it is imperative that the health-care provider and the patient are on the same board and approach the disease similarly both with respect to diagnosis and treatment. Patients with such belief systems need special care, mentoring, and counseling from the stage of diagnoses through planning, treatment, and post-operative care. Constantine (2001) found that counselors who had more formal multicultural training not only had an integrative orientation toward counseling, but also the higher affective empathy attitudes were found to facilitate the conceptualization of the mental health issues of clients that were culturally diverse.

I would try to evaluate the patient’s cultural information in the clinical encounter (Lewis-Fernandez and Diaz, 2002, p. 272) by not only asking him/her about the symptoms, but also what he/she thinks they originate from, and to what extent could he/she cooperate in the planning and treatment process. I would also assess the patient’s competence in language in which we interact with each other, and take measures, if required, to have my ideas conveyed without linguistic barriers. References: Constantine, M. G. (2001).

Multicultural training, theoretical orientation, empathy, and multicultural case conceptualization ability in counselors. Journal of Mental Health Counseling. Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Multicultural+training%2c+theoretical+orientation%2c+empathy%2c+and.-a080553854. Lewis-Fernandez, R., and Diaz, N. (2002). The cultural formulation: a method for assessing cultural factors affecting the clinical encounter. Psychiatric Quarterly. 73(4), 271-295.