Enhancing Mental Health for Hispanic and Latinx Persons

Summary/Advice to Counselors - Provide bilingual services. - Use family therapy as a primary method of treatment. - Assess cultural identity and acculturation level for each family member. - Determine the family's level of belief in traditional and complementary healing practices; integrate these as appropriate. - Discuss the family's beliefs, history, and experiences with standard American behavioral health services. - Explore migration and immigration experiences, if appropriate. - Provide additional respect to the father or father figure in the family. Summary/Advice to Counselors - Interview family members or groups of family members (e.g., children) separately to allow them to voice concerns. - Generate solutions with the family. Do not force changes in family relationships. - Provide specific, concrete suggestions for change that can be quickly implemented. - Focus on engaging the family in the first session using warmth and personalismo - Group leaders should allow members to learn from each other and resist functioning as a content expert or a representative of the rules of the system. Otherwise, members could see group therapy as oppressive