On October 23, 2024, over one thousand clinicians, educators, and other members of the public joined McLean’s free live course on spirituality, culture, and mental health. The course, now available on demand, aims to help clinicians recognize the important role identity plays in patients’ lives.
Despite the importance of culture and spirituality in mental health, clinicians are not always prepared to address the topics with patients.
“When diagnosing or treating someone with a condition—mental or physical health—we give a lot of attention to getting the diagnosis right, understanding the symptoms, and finding the right treatment plan,” said Scott J. O’Brien, director of Education Outreach at McLean.
“At the core of this course is the importance of each individual’s uniqueness. It’s not just their condition we need to treat, but the whole person. By considering a person’s connection to their culture and community, we can look at them in the context of their own lives and incorporate how their background and identity may harm or help their mental health challenges.”
Bridging Culture, Faith, and Mental Health in Clinical Practice
In the first session of the course, Lisa W. Coyne, PhD, and Ipsit Vahia, MD, described how culture, faith, and mental health intersect in complex ways. The experts discussed strategies mental health professionals can use when building trust with patients to address this topic.
“All cultures are not represented in the realm of professional expertise,” Vahia said, “so I think openness and an ability to learn and be humble is a bigger factor.”
In fostering trust with patients, Coyne and Vahia emphasized the importance of cultural humility: a receptiveness to learning and to changing one’s approach when needed.
“There’s a balance between this openness and then requiring or assuming that it’s your patient’s job to educate you. It is not,” Coyne pointed out.
“It is our role as clinicians to remain open and learn as much as we can, and also do as much work as we need to on the outside to get consultation and learn what we can beyond the meetings with our patients,” she said.
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Understanding the Impact of Spirituality on Mental Health
In the course’s second session, Angelika A. Zollfrank, MDiv, BCC, ACPE, described the many ways she has witnessed spiritual beliefs impact the mental health of patients.
“A lot of our patients actually are drawing on spirituality and religion, particularly in times of crisis,” she said. “They turn to what has given them hope, faith, or just the ability to get through the day and to be strengthened as they go through treatment.”
Research supports the fact that spiritual and religious beliefs can benefit a person’s mental health in several ways. Zollfrank pointed out that belief in a higher power can give someone hope, as well as a sense of meaning and purpose. Faith and religion can provide structure, as well as community—factors that are known to decrease depression, anxiety, and substance misuse.
Zollfrank explained how the profound connection between spirituality and mental health is complicated when people have faced religious trauma. She also offered guidelines for how health providers can broach the topic of religion and spirituality with patients.
Cultivating Culturally Informed Global Mental Health Practices
In the course’s third and final segment, Rick Wolthusen, MD, MPP, discussed his experiences working in countries including Australia, Ghana, New Zealand, Kenya, Germany, and the U.S. to promote mental health advocacy and care.
In his talk, Wolthusen described how mental health conditions are experienced differently throughout the world, and how mental health systems vary globally.
Because of this, mental health is dependent on cultural understanding, and it’s imperative that mental health professionals and other health workers understand the culture they are working in.
Wothusen pointed out that every system is unique and has its own challenges, limitations, and solutions.
“All countries are developing countries when it comes to mental health care and equitable access to mental health care,” he said. “The U.S. or Germany are not any different than countries like Ghana or Kenya. We are all developing and that’s the impetus to learn from each other, to grow together, and find solutions to the pressing mental health issues of our time.”
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