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Psychological therapy with C hinese patients
Author(s) -
Feng Lei,
Cao Yuping,
Zhang Yalin,
Wee SinTho,
Kua EeHeok
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
asia‐pacific psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.654
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1758-5872
pISSN - 1758-5864
DOI - 10.1111/j.1758-5872.2011.00148.x
Subject(s) - meditation , anxiety , mindfulness , psychotherapist , art therapy , psychology , coping (psychology) , clinical psychology , cognitive therapy , medicine , psychiatry , cognition , philosophy , theology
There is a growing interest about psychological therapy and training in A sian countries. However, there is a paucity of information on how psychological therapy is practiced in Asia. In this article, we discussed 3 methods of psychological therapy in the management of anxiety and depression in C hinese patients – mindfulness meditation, C hinese T aoist cognitive psychotherapy ( CTCP ) and brief integrative psychological therapy ( BIPT ). The CTCP for generalized anxiety disorders was a multi‐site randomized study conducted in C hina. It was found that CTCP reduced symptoms more slowly than anxiolytics but the effect of CTCP was still significant at 6‐month follow‐up. The mindfulness meditation study examined the outcome of a community training program on the management of mild anxiety. We found that overall mental well‐being and anxiety symptoms were significantly improved during the period of the training course. The BIPT project was a naturalistic study of elderly people with depression at an outpatient psychiatric clinic. Results from this study indicated that BIPT was as effective although the onset of recovery was slower compared with BIPT combined with an antidepressant. In the 3 methods discussed, cultural issues are explored with affirmation of cultural values and reinforcement of culturally sanctioned coping pattern. Brief therapy and integration are the psychotherapeutic zeitgeist of the 21st century in A sia and we hope that there will be more studies on psychological therapy from different A sian countries in the future.