Transforming Therapy: Mental Health Practice and Cultural Change in Mexico (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780826521972)

Oaxaca is known for many things--its indigenous groups, archaeological sites, crafts, and textiles--but not for mental health care. When one talks with Oaxacans about mental health, most say it's a taboo topic and that people there think you "have to be crazy to go to a psychologist." Yet throughout Oaxaca are signs advertising the services of psicogos; there are prominent conferences of mental health professionals; and self-help groups like Neurotics Anonymous thrive, where participants rise to say, "Hola, mi nombre es Raquel, y soy neurica."

How does one explain the recent growth of Euroamerican-style therapies in the region? Author Whitney L. Duncan analyzes this phenomenon of "psy-globalization" and develops a rich ethnography of its effects on Oaxacans' understandings of themselves and their emotions, ultimately showing how globalizing forms of care are transformative for and transformed by the local context. She also delves into the mental health impacts of migration from Mexico to the United States, both for migrants who return and for the family members they leave behind.

This book is a recipient of the Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize from Vanderbilt University Press for the best book in the area of medicine.

Author: Whitney L. Duncan
ISBN-10: 0826521975
ISBN-13: 9780826521972
Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Language: English
Published: 07/24/2018
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 9.48h x 7.66w x 0.93d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 01/01/2019