Chapter 4 - Indigenous Approaches to Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Mental Disorders

Abstract

Indigenous psychology (IP) shares with critical health psychology a discontent with mainstream psychology and the endeavor to offer alternative formulations of health and illness. As an alternative to the individualistic framework of health in mainstream psychology, we propose a model of the self as a multilayered concentric system. For illustration, we present a variety of indigenous traditions, with special focus on the health-related beliefs and practices in India. Implications of this alternative model of culture and self for the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders are explored. Relevance of this framework to health psychology is discussed, with special focus on the DSM-V controversy, A. E. Kazdin’s call for health reform, and visions of hybridization in the global community.