Abstract
The aim of this pilot study was to test the feasibility of tailoring a religiously/spiritually integrated, culturally informed therapy for schizophrenia (CIT-S) to a broader group of individuals who may be experiencing a range of common and uncommon psychological concerns. CIT is a cognitive behavioral intervention that is considered "culturally informed" because therapists use structured exercises and techniques to extract beliefs, behaviors, metaphors, scriptures, and traditions from participants' own ethnic, cultural, and religious/spiritual (R/S) backgrounds and use these to help them cope with their presenting mental health concerns. In this pilot study, 24 participants with general mental health concerns or serious mental illness completed the group intervention and a pre- and post-session psychological assessment battery. In line with study hypotheses, at treatment termination, relative to treatment entry, participants endorsed significantly improved quality of life (rated from the Quality of Life Scale) and greater usage of R/S coping techniques (rated from the Religious Coping Activities Scale). Although not significant, trends toward greater engagement in collectivistic activities were observed. Finally, participants reported a high degree of satisfaction with the intervention, with a mean satisfaction score of 6.39 out of 7 (7 = very satisfied). Results of this feasibility study are promising and suggest that CIT may be helpful in improving the quality of life of individuals suffering from a broad range of psychological disorders and symptoms. Given these findings, a full-scale, follow-up, randomized clinical trial to more rigorously examine the efficacy of CIT appears warranted.
