Are talking therapies culturally relevant for the British South-Asian community?: a look into the views and experiences of British South-Asians

Abstract

The personal experiences of South-Asians who have accessed talking therapy have been widely overlooked in the development of culturally adapted therapies for ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom (Naeem et al., 2015). This research aimed to gain an understanding into the experiences of British South-Asian service users, discovering the views held towards existing mental health services and exploring how their experiences shaped these. Additionally, the experiences of community members and professionals were also explored, with all three groups being sought to discover whether talking therapies were culturally relevant for the British South Asian community in England. This qualitative study consisted of 20 semi-structured interviews carried out with British South-Asian service users (n=4), British South-Asian community members (n=5) and mental health professionals (n=11) who had experience of providing therapy to the South-Asian community. Interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis, with four key themes arising within each group. There was consensus among the three groups that specific barriers caused difficulty when accessing services, including cultural norms and perceptions towards mental health, English as a second language and limited cultural understanding within existing services. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research into minority communities and recommendations for future research are made.