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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy pp 1–7Cite as

Global Mental Health with Couples and Families

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Name of Concept

Global Mental Health

Introduction

Global Mental Health (GMH) is an emerging field that focuses on the need for culturally sensitive mental health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While new initiatives have been established worldwide to understand GMH needs and to provide care in LMICs, family therapists have historically worked with families in high-income countries. Family-based initiatives in GMH often focus on psychoeducation and are often not based on general systems theory. However, emerging trends in family therapy may enable family therapists to impact mental health issues in LMICs. These trends, which are shared interests of both family therapy and GMH, include collaborative care, a growing emphasis on the importance of culture in understanding and treating mental health issues, recognition of the ability of families to support or impede recovery from mental illness, and the use of strength-based and evidence-based treatments.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Jo Ellen Patterson

  2. Marital and Family Therapy Program, University of San Diego, 5998 Alcala Park, Mother Rosalie Hill Hall #225F, San Diego, CA, 92110, USA

    Todd Edwards

  3. Department of Psychiatry, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    James Griffith

  4. Azuza Pacific University; Apple, Azusa, CA, USA

    Gabriel Lee

Authors
  1. Jo Ellen Patterson
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  2. Todd Edwards
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  3. James Griffith
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  4. Gabriel Lee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jo Ellen Patterson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Jay Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Anthony Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. University of Saint Joseph, 1678 Asylum Ave., West Hartford, CT, USA

    Rachel M. Diamond Ph.D.

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Patterson, J.E., Edwards, T., Griffith, J., Lee, G. (2017). Global Mental Health with Couples and Families. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_874-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_874-1

  • Received:

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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