Culturally Sensitive Treatments: Need for an Organizing Framework

To date, descriptions of culturally sensitive therapies have insufficiently acknowledged the heterogeneity of perspectives on the role of culture in therapy. The generally homogeneous manner in which advocates of culturally sensitive therapies have described this work has likely contributed to the mainstream’s slow acceptance of the importance of culture. In this article, I propose an organizing framework that may help recognize the diversity of viewpoints regarding what constitutes culturally sensitive therapy. It is my hope that this framework, along with critical self-evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the various perspectives, will lead to more rapid incorporation of culture across treatments.