GROUP THERAPY AS TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSED LATINO WOMEN: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract

Group therapy has been recommended as a treatment for depression among Latino women. Thus, the literature published between 1980 and 2004 was systematically reviewed to explore cultural and therapeutic factors relevant to group therapy for depressed Latino women. The specific aims were to: (1) determine the type of studies on this topic, (2) identify successful forms of group therapy for this population, (3) identify therapeutic factors to consider while dealing with this population in group therapy, and (4) explore guidelines for conducting culturally sensitive groups for this population. Cognitive behavioral group therapy is recommended, yet few experimental studies have explored culturally relevant variations of this treatment. Culturally relevant therapeutic factors were mentioned in all studies.

Notes

¹Latino and Hispanic are often used interchangeably to refer to the same ethnic group. In this article, the term Latino will be used to refer to individuals with personal and family roots in Latin American countries.