Citation

Zayfert C. Clin. Psychol. Sci. Pract. 2008; 15(1): 68-73.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-2850.2008.00111.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Cultural context is a relevant factor in understanding the development, maintenance, and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Evidence suggests that the reexperiencing and arousal symptoms of PTSD represent a universal response to trauma observable across many ethnocultural groups. Variation in the expression of this response may be related to the influence of culture on the avoidance and numbing reactions to trauma. Thus, a central challenge for culturally competent treatment of PTSD does not appear to be whether to utilize empirically supported treatments for PTSD, but rather how to effectively engage individuals of various cultures in these interventions and how to address ethnocultural sources of avoidance in the maintenance of PTSD. The enormity of cultural diversity, however, presents a challenge to the task of adapting and empirically testing empirically supported treatments. An ideographic transcultural approach to cultural competency is proposed.