Many Government directives and publications have pointed to the need for equitable mental health services and the necessity for cultural competence, yet few mainstream mental health trainings substantially incorporate and integrate race culture and equity in their curriculum. This course is aimed at giving mental health professionals a more detailed comprehensive overview and approach to working with particular minority ethnic groups and embedding equality and diversity into mainstream practice.
The course will draw on multidisciplinary literature from cross cultural psychiatry, psychology, social anthropology, sociology and epidemiology and will aim to help develop generic knowledge about different cultures as well as practical skills in working with ‘difference’. The emphasis will be on culture as a dynamic process and helping practitioners think reflexively about their relationship to their own culture of origin and how they relate to those of different cultural backgrounds.
Aims
- To develop curiosity and knowledge about a range of BME communities
- To develop an understanding of culture, as a backdrop to peoples lives but also as dynamic and changing
- To develop an understanding of the dynamics of minority ethnic communities living in a majority context, such as power difference and its impact on mental health care
- To develop expertise, skills and competence in cross cultural work
- To develop anti discriminatory practice
Course Requirements and Fees
The course will be free for mental health professionals working with children and families in CNWL Mental Health Trust who want to develop cultural expertise in working with BME clients. There will also be a few places available for professionals from external mental health or voluntary organisations. For professionals external to CNWL Mental Health Trust there will be a fee of £250 for the full course.
A commitment to all ten weeks of the course is essential.
Participants will be asked to present a reflexive account of their learning and developments in working with BME clients.
Course Design
The course will run for three hours once a week on a Wednesday afternoon (2 – 5pm) over a 10 week period at the Marlborough Family Service. It will take the form of a one hour lecture from staff on the Asian and Arab Families Counselling Service or outside speakers, followed by an hour and half workshop based on readings, self reflection, case discussion and skills development.
Course Convenors
The course will commence in April 2005 and will be lead by the Asian & Arab Families Counselling Service at the Marlborough Family Service. The course director and co-ordinator will be Dr Rabia Malik who is a Senior Family Therapist and has extensive teaching and research experience in race, culture and mental health.
Course Content
Week 1 April 6th
Setting The Context: Multicultural Britain, Approaches to Equality and Diversity, Review of the Mental Health of BEM communities, the NHS and Organisational contexts
Week 2 April 13th
Conceptual Frameworks I: Cultural construction of self: beliefs about health, Illness and healing. The cultural self of the therapist.
Week 3 April 20th
Conceptual Frameworks II: A Systemic Approach to Culture, relationships and kinship. Therapeutic relationship across cultures
Week 4 April 27th
Child Development in Cultural Context
Week 5 May 4th
Experiences of working with the African & Caribbean Communities
Week 6 May 11th
Experiences of working with the Pakistani and Indian Communities
Week 7 May 18th
Experiences of working with the Bangladeshi Community
Week 8 May 25th
Experiences of working with the Chinese Community
1st June Half term
Week 9 8th June
Experiences of working with the Arab Community
Week 10 15th June
Future directions - Embedding diversity in the organisational context and developing culturally sensitive and collaborative services -
Course Presenters
Inga-Britt Krause, Begum Maitra, Sami Timimi, Ann Miller, and therapists from the Asian and Arab Families Counselling Service and CNWL Trust.
Future Developments
Pending the pilot of the course in 2005, the course will be submitted for accreditation to University of East London for certificate status. It will be re-run on an annual basis for mental health professionals from children and families and adult services both within and external to CNWL trust, as well as those from the voluntary sector.