Cultural Considerations for Conducting Trauma-Focused Treatment with Latinx Patients

Natalia Garcia Gonzalez, PhD and Agustina Colombo Eiff, MSW

Wednesday, September 15 at 2:00pm ET

There is growing interest in the implementation of culturally responsive mental health care that balances treatment fidelity and cultural fit. Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) are first-line, evidence-based treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and have been successfully implemented in low-income and ethnoracial minority samples, and with Latinx individuals specifically. However, cultural and systemic factors may interfere with effective treatment delivery. This presentation will propose several culturally responsive strategies for therapists to consider when conducting PE or CPT with Latinx patients to improve clinical outcomes, such as building trust and rapport early on, conducting culturally-informed assessment, investing in psychoeducation, optimizing exposures, challenging beliefs with cultural humility, and problem-solving common barriers to treatment engagement.