Enhancing the Responsiveness of Family-Based CBT Through Culturally Informed Case Conceptualization and Treatment Planning. Issue 4 (November 2022) - Sanchez, Amanda L.
Highlights: Family-based CBT is well supported for multiple mental health difficulties. Disparities in reception of quality of care for cultural minority youth remain. Incorporation of cultural assessment information into case conceptualization can help improve care. Culturally informed case conceptualization can yield more equitable therapeutic services. Abstract: Family-based CBT has been shown to be effective in controlled settings for an array of youth mental health difficulties, yet disparities in treatment engagement and outcomes across culturally diverse groups remain. In practice, cultural minority families are less likely to reap the demonstrated benefits of supported programs. Although there have been tremendous advances in case conceptualization, leading models have largely ignored cultural factors, contributing to observed disparities. The present paper reviews recent advances in science-informed case conceptualization and highlights how such advances nonetheless have failed to provide guidance on systematically incorporating cultural formulation into assessment and treatment planning. We then build upon Christon et al. (2015) useful 5-stage model of science-based case conceptualization in an effort to move the field toward culturally informed case conceptualization . We highlight how leveraging cultural assessment—such as with the use of the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI)—can facilitate the incorporation of cultural factors into each of the five stages of science-based case conceptualization. A case example is utilized to illustrate key opportunities for strategically incorporating relevant information gleaned from the CFI into culturally responsive care with youth and families.