Date of Submission

2007

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

Department Chair

Robert A. DiTomasso, Ph.D., ABPP

First Advisor

Bruce Zahn, Ed.D., ABPP, Chairperson

Second Advisor

Virginia Salzer, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Wilfredo Rodriguez, Ph.D.

Abstract

This study explores the mental health beliefs of Latinos through the eyes of Latino Mental Health Providers. Many Latinos have a view of psychologists as a "healer." This view was explored relative to that of the cognitive behavioral approach, which has a strong emphasis on its self-help approach to therapy. In addition to its self-help qualities, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is recognized for its effectiveness in the mental health treatment of diverse ethnic/cultural populations. However, the CBT philosophy may seem at times, to be contradictory to many Latinos' beliefs that the therapist's role is as a "healer." A five item semi-structured questionnaire was developed, and was used to interview nine Latino Mental Health Providers. The questionnaire was geared toward eliciting Latino Mental Health Providers' beliefs, based on their therapeutic encounters with Latino clients. The goal of the study was to report collected data pertaining to the mental health beliefs of Latinos and the ways in which clinicians can use the data to bridge the gap between the mental health beliefs of Latinos and empirically based models of therapy rooted in the cognitive behavioral tradition.

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