Culturally-Competent Treatments for Asian Americans: The Relevance of Mindfulness and Acceptance-Based Psychotherapies.

Mindfulness and acceptance-based psychotherapies, rooted in East Asian philosophies, are often seen as culturally appropriate for Asian Americans, yet in practice they typically reflect Western conceptions of mental health. This review examines where these therapies align with and diverge from Asian American cultural values. The authors propose a culturally syntonic approach that emphasizes certain components of these therapies while adapting others to better fit Asian American values, aiming to reduce mental health treatment disparities for this population.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The development of effective treatments for Asian Americans is important because treatment disparities continue to exist for this population. Because of their theoretical grounding in East Asian philosophies, mindfulness and acceptance-based psychotherapies appear to constitute promising ways to provide culturally responsive mental health care to Asian Americans. However, in practice these approaches often reflect conceptions of mental health that are more consistent with Western world views. We review points of intersection and divergence between Western-based mindfulness and acceptance psychotherapies and Asian American cultural values. We then propose a culturally syntonic approach that accentuates certain components of mindfulness and acceptance psychotherapies and adapts other components of these approaches to be more consistent with Asian American cultural values.