Laurence J. Kirmayer
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View article: Cultural competence in psychotherapy
Cultural competence in psychotherapy Open
View article: Religion and spirituality in cultural psychiatry
Religion and spirituality in cultural psychiatry Open
Religion is central to the theory and practice of cultural psychiatry because it is an important determinant of health, wellness and resilience, and it shapes illness experience, coping and recovery. Religious identity and practice can als…
View article: Decolonizing mental health practice through traditional healing frameworks: Insights from Canada, China, Singapore, and the United States.
Decolonizing mental health practice through traditional healing frameworks: Insights from Canada, China, Singapore, and the United States. Open
Decolonial and liberation psychology aims to understand and address the social and epistemic injustices in our mental health systems, practices, and research agenda. To advance this goal, we advocate for deeper engagement with traditional …
View article: <i>Science and sanity</i>: A social epistemology of misinformation, disinformation, and the limits of knowledge
<i>Science and sanity</i>: A social epistemology of misinformation, disinformation, and the limits of knowledge Open
Recent challenges to scientific authority in relation to the COVID pandemic, climate change, and the proliferation of conspiracy theories raise questions about the nature of knowledge and conviction. This article considers problems of soci…
View article: Examination of self patterns: framing an alternative phenomenological interview for use in mental health research and clinical practice
Examination of self patterns: framing an alternative phenomenological interview for use in mental health research and clinical practice Open
Mental disorders are increasingly understood as involving complex alterations of self that emerge from dynamical interactions of constituent elements, including cognitive, bodily, affective, social, narrative, cultural and normative aspect…
View article: Narrative as active inference: an integrative account of cognitive and social functions in adaptation
Narrative as active inference: an integrative account of cognitive and social functions in adaptation Open
While the ubiquity and importance of narratives for human adaptation is widely recognized, there is no integrative framework for understanding the roles of narrative in human adaptation. Research has identified several cognitive and social…
View article: Cultural continuity, identity, and resilience among Indigenous youth: Honoring the legacies of Michael Chandler and Christopher Lalonde
Cultural continuity, identity, and resilience among Indigenous youth: Honoring the legacies of Michael Chandler and Christopher Lalonde Open
This essay is an introduction to the thematic issue of Transcultural Psychiatry in honor of the work of Michael Chandler and Christopher Lalonde, developmental psychologists who made essential contributions to the study of identity and wel…
View article: Mental health implementation research in Indigenous communities: creating culturally safe space to enhance collective strengths
Mental health implementation research in Indigenous communities: creating culturally safe space to enhance collective strengths Open
In this article, we discuss the construct of cultural safety in relation to the ethics, politics, and practice of implementation research in Indigenous communities. We convened a 3-day workshop, bringing together 23 Indigenous and non-Indi…
View article: Cultural poetics of illness and healing
Cultural poetics of illness and healing Open
This issue of Transcultural Psychiatry presents selected papers from the McGill Advanced Study Institute on “Cultural Poetics of Illness and Healing.” The meeting addressed the cognitive science of language, metaphor, and poiesis from embo…
View article: Brain health and mental health: Common vascular risk factors and practical implications
Brain health and mental health: Common vascular risk factors and practical implications Open
The pandemic dramatized the close links among cognitive, mental, and social health; a change in one reflects others. This realization offers the opportunity to bridge the artificial separation of brain and mental health, as brain disorders…
View article: Taking Action on Racism and Structural Violence in Psychiatric Training and Clinical Practice
Taking Action on Racism and Structural Violence in Psychiatric Training and Clinical Practice Open
View article: Help-seeking for moderate to severe perinatal depression in Nigeria: Implications for a cultural-ecosocial approach to global mental health
Help-seeking for moderate to severe perinatal depression in Nigeria: Implications for a cultural-ecosocial approach to global mental health Open
Perinatal depression is a major public health problem that is under-treated in low- and middle-income countries, with negative community attitudes often cited as a major barrier to help-seeking and treatment. In this paper, we investigate …
View article: A cultural-ecosocial systems view for psychiatry
A cultural-ecosocial systems view for psychiatry Open
While contemporary psychiatry seeks the mechanisms of mental disorders in neurobiology, mental health problems clearly depend on developmental processes of learning and adaptation through ongoing interactions with the social environment. S…
View article: Restoring the missing person to personalized medicine and precision psychiatry
Restoring the missing person to personalized medicine and precision psychiatry Open
Precision psychiatry has emerged as part of the shift to personalized medicine and builds on frameworks such as the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), multilevel biological “omics” data and, most rece…
View article: Help-seeking strategies and treatment experiences among individuals diagnosed with Bipolar Spectrum Disorder in Iran: A qualitative study
Help-seeking strategies and treatment experiences among individuals diagnosed with Bipolar Spectrum Disorder in Iran: A qualitative study Open
Social, cultural, and structural factors are associated with delays in seeking help from mental health professionals and poor treatment adherence among patients with mood disorders. This qualitative study examined the perspectives on the s…
View article: Psychedelic medicine at a crossroads: Advancing an integrative approach to research and practice
Psychedelic medicine at a crossroads: Advancing an integrative approach to research and practice Open
Psychedelics have been already used by human societies for more than 3000 years, mostly in religious and healing context. The renewed interest in the potential application of psychedelic compounds as novel therapeutics has led to promising…
View article: Integrating Evolutionary, Cultural, and Computational Psychiatry: A Multilevel Systemic Approach
Integrating Evolutionary, Cultural, and Computational Psychiatry: A Multilevel Systemic Approach Open
This paper proposes an integrative perspective on evolutionary, cultural and computational approaches to psychiatry. These three approaches attempt to frame mental disorders as multiscale entities and offer modes of explanations and modeli…
View article: The Importance of Religion and Spirituality in Cultural Psychiatry: Reply to Drs Persad and Oyewumi
The Importance of Religion and Spirituality in Cultural Psychiatry: Reply to Drs Persad and Oyewumi Open
View article: Suicide in cultural context: An ecosocial approach
Suicide in cultural context: An ecosocial approach Open
This article introduces a thematic issue of Transcultural Psychiatry on suicide in cultural context. Developmental and social structural factors including exposure to violence, childhood abuse and privation, as well as intractable social p…
View article: Play the Pain: A Digital Strategy for Play-Oriented Research and Action
Play the Pain: A Digital Strategy for Play-Oriented Research and Action Open
The value of understanding patients' illness experience and social contexts for advancing medicine and clinical care is widely acknowledged. However, methodologies for rigorous and inclusive data gathering and integrative analysis of biome…
View article: Correction to: “Women as Troublemakers”: The Hard Sociopolitical Context of Soft Bipolar Disorder in Iran
Correction to: “Women as Troublemakers”: The Hard Sociopolitical Context of Soft Bipolar Disorder in Iran Open
View article: Tackling the global problem of traumatic stress in low-income countries: a pilot clinical trial comparing reconsolidation therapy to paroxetine in Nepal
Tackling the global problem of traumatic stress in low-income countries: a pilot clinical trial comparing reconsolidation therapy to paroxetine in Nepal Open
View article: Characteristics of Adolescents Affected by Mass Psychogenic Illness Outbreaks in Schools in Nepal: A Case-Control Study
Characteristics of Adolescents Affected by Mass Psychogenic Illness Outbreaks in Schools in Nepal: A Case-Control Study Open
This paper presents the first systematic case-control study of correlates of mass psychogenic illness (MPI) in an adolescent school population. MPI is generally construed as a dissociative phenomenon spread by social contagion to individua…
View article: A Call to Action on Racism and Social Justice in Mental Health: Un appel à l’action en matière de racisme et de justice sociale en santé mentale
A Call to Action on Racism and Social Justice in Mental Health: Un appel à l’action en matière de racisme et de justice sociale en santé mentale Open
We write as academics who study the impact of culture on mental health, clinicians who strive to provide equitable mental health care and representatives of organizations devoted to advancing the field of cultural psychiatry. We join our v…
View article: Engaging culture and context in mhGAP implementation: fostering reflexive deliberation in practice
Engaging culture and context in mhGAP implementation: fostering reflexive deliberation in practice Open
In 2002, WHO launched the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) as a strategy to help member states scale up services to address the growing burden of mental, neurological and substance use disorders globally, especially in countries …
View article: Progress or Pathology? Differential Diagnosis and Intervention Criteria for Meditation-Related Challenges: Perspectives From Buddhist Meditation Teachers and Practitioners
Progress or Pathology? Differential Diagnosis and Intervention Criteria for Meditation-Related Challenges: Perspectives From Buddhist Meditation Teachers and Practitioners Open
Studies in the psychology and phenomenology of religious experience have long acknowledged similarities with various forms of psychopathology. Consequently, it has been important for religious practitioners and mental health professionals …
View article: Narrative as active inference
Narrative as active inference Open
The ubiquity and importance of narratives in human adaptation has been recognized by many scholars. Research has identified several functions of narratives that are conducive to individuals’ well-being and adaptation as well as to coordina…
View article: Inuit Youth Transitioning out of Residential Care: Obstacles to Re-integration and Challenges to Wellness
Inuit Youth Transitioning out of Residential Care: Obstacles to Re-integration and Challenges to Wellness Open
For youth under child welfare, transitioning out of residential care and reintegrating into their community can be a difficult process. This may be especially true for Inuit youth who, because they are away from their communities, cannot d…
View article: Guidelines for Training in Cultural Psychiatry
Guidelines for Training in Cultural Psychiatry Open
This position paper has been substantially revised by the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA)’s Section on Transcultural Psychiatry and the Standing Committee on Education and approved for republication by the CPA’s Board of Directors o…
View article: Advancing Indigenous Mental Health Research
Advancing Indigenous Mental Health Research Open
The articles in this issue of Transcultural Psychiatry point the way toward meaningful advances in mental health research pertaining to Indigenous peoples, illuminating the distinctive problems and predicaments that confront these communit…