Training of Cross-cultural Competencies in Psychotherapists

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Healthy Volunteers

• Registration Number: NCT03038347
• Lead Sponsor: Philipps University Marburg Medical Center

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a web-based training program with text-based information as well as practical exercises can improve cross-cultural competencies in therapists.

Detailed Description

As the number of patients from diverse cultures increases in psychotherapeutic care, cross-cultural competencies of therapists become increasingly important. In particular, mental health care of patients with immigration background needs to be improved as studies show that these patients drop out of treatment more often and benefit less from therapy. In addition, patients with immigration background and refugees show higher prevalences in mental illnesses. Nevertheless, evaluated training programs to improve cross-cultural competencies in psychotherapists are lacking. In particular, web-based training programs, which allow therapists to work time-flexible and at their own pace on a training, are, to date, missing completely.

For the current study, a web-based training program to improve therapists' cross-cultural competencies was developed. It is based on existing conceptions of cross-cultural competencies. The developed program consists of six modules with the following contents: definitions and conceptions of culture, the role of cross-cultural competencies in psychotherapy, the influence of prejudices and discrimination as well as the role of migration and acculturation, and culturally sensitive diagnostics. The modules contain PDF-files with text-based information, video files, case studies with associated questions as well as practical exercises. The main focus of the training is the participants' self-reflection concerning their conceptions of (their own) culture and their beliefs about culturally diverse patients. The training group will be compared to two other groups, i.e. an education only and a waitlist control group. Whereas the waitlist control group will not receive any training materials, the education only group will receive a slimmed down version of the training consisting only of text-based information files.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2017-01-17
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-01-27
• Study First Posted: 2017-01-31
• Study Start: 2020-09-15
• Primary Completion: 2021-12-31
• Study Completion: 2022-08-31
• Status Verified: 2022-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-11-06
• Last Update Posted: 2022-11-08

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 173

Inclusion Criteria

• current psychotherapeutic work
• Internet access
• sufficient German language skills
• ongoing or completed training in Psychotherapy

Exclusion Criteria

• too much previous knowledge about cross-cultural competencies (> 10h training)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Transcultural Competencies of Psychotherapists Questionnaire (TKKP; Reichardt et. al., in prep.)	pre-training, post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training); follow up (6 month after training completion)	Change in cross-cultural psychotherapeutic competencies
Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI; Sodowsky, 1994)	pre-training, post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training); follow-up (6 month after training completion)	Change in cross-cultural psychotherapeutic competencies

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Knowledge regarding the provision of cross-cultural psychotherapy	post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training)	Test of specific knowledge gained during the training (knowledge test in multiple choice answer format)
Cultural sensitivity in actual psychotherapeutic work I	pre-training, post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training), follow-up (6 month after training completion)	Percentage of culturally diverse patients currently in treatment in own actual psychotherapeutic work
Cultural sensitivity in actual psychotherapeutic work II	pre-training, post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training), follow-up (6 month after training completion)	Willingness to treat culturally diverse patients in own actual psychotherapeutic work (rating scale)
Cultural sensitivity in actual psychotherapeutic work III	pre-training, post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training), follow-up (6 month after training completion)	Satisfaction with cross-cultural therapies provided in actual psychotherapeutic work (rating scale)
Cultural sensitivity in actual psychotherapeutic work IV	pre-training, post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training), follow-up (6 month after training completion)	Perceived competence in the currently provided cross-cultural therapies (rating scale)
Training satisfaction scale	post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training); follow-up (6 month after training completion)	Satisfaction with the training (rating scale; items assessing satisfaction with contents and structure of the developed training)
Learning success scale	post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training); follow-up (6 month after training completion)	Rating of competencies achieved through the training for the treatment of culturally diverse patients (rating scale, rating of the degree to which certain competencies have been achieved)
Cultural sensitivity in psychotherapeutic work (Behavioural change measure)	post-training (6 weeks after the start of the training), 2 months after training completion; follow-up (6 month after training completion)	Rating of different case examples with focus on expected difficulty and effectiveness of psychotherapy (given different cases with different disorders, severity levels, and cultural backgrounds)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Philipps University Marburg; 🇩🇪 Marburg, Hessen, Germany