Critical Psychiatry and Mental Health: Exploring the Work of Suman Fernando in Clinical Practice

Critical Psychiatry and Mental Health critically explores the current theory and practice of ethno-psychiatry and multicultural mental health practices and policies. Through an in-depth discussion of the work of Suman Fernando, one of the world’s leading scholars and researchers in race, culture and mental health, an international selection of contributors discuss and debate issues affecting mental health and minority ethnic individuals and groups.

The book offers a new approach to global mental health, arguing that the use of outdated and outmoded ways in which psychiatry is researched and practiced is a thing of the past, that social justice can only be achieved through a more democratic approach to mental health care and emphasising that the inclusion of cultural and traditional healing methods and practices are vital to meeting diverse needs. Split into five parts, the book covers:

Critique of Western Psychiatry and Mental Health

Challenges and Opportunities in Mental Health Care

Training and Development in Mental Health Practice

Transnational Contexts: Engaging the work of Suman Fernando

Personal Reflections on Suman Fernando’s Life and Work

Critical Psychiatry and Mental Health is ideal for researchers and practitioners in health and mental health, psychiatry, counselling and psychotherapy and anyone interested in the intersection of race, culture and mental health.

Roy Moodley, PhD, is Associate Professor of Counselling Psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada, and Director of the University of Toronto's Centre for Diversity in Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Martha Ocampo is a long-standing community activist, promoting anti-racist action in the mental health field in Toronto, and a founding member of Across Boundaries: An Ethnoracial Mental Health Centre, a community agency for racialised communities. She now works as a freelance consultant and trainer.