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Published on: February 16, 2011
Trauma-Informed Care Adapted for Indian LGBTQ+ Community: A Narrative Review
Vasudha Sharma1, Ravleen Kaur Suri2,3, Gurnoor Kaur Suri4
1Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, India. poster_de_vasu@outlook.com.
Background:
India has a complex relation with concepts of gender and sexuality. Existing stigma in Indian society results in complex trauma and high psychiatric morbidity. We suggest adaptations to trauma and dissociation-informed therapy to ideally support the Indian queer community.
Method:
We searched PubMed using the keywords "LGBT India mental health", "LGBT Trauma psychotherapy", and "LGBT India", yielding 174 studies.
Inclusion Criteria:
relevant English original or meta-analytic studies from India.
Exclusion Criteria:
non-English, non-Indian, inaccessible studies. After duplicate removal, abstract screening and full text analysis, a total of 37 studies (6 studies-LGBT statistics, 13 studies-struggles of LGBT Indian community, 11 studies-mental health impact, 9 studies-available resources, and 7 studies-trauma and dissociation-informed therapy) were included for this narrative review.
Results:
Familial, communal, and police violence against the LGBTQ+ still exists in India. Stigma, microaggressions, homophobia, and re-traumatization in healthcare cause complex PTSD and other psychiatric disorders. Government, non-profit, and community-based interventions are lacking.
Discussion:
Individually tailored, socially sensitive trauma-informed therapy would be ideal for the Indian queer community. "Narrative exposure therapy" creating culturally empowering narratives, "Mentalization-based therapy" reducing internalized stigma, "Prolonged exposure group therapy" building a support system, "Milan family therapy" combating negative stigma, and "somatic therapy" reclaiming one's body would help adapt existing Western trauma and dissociation-informed therapy models for the LGBTQ+ population in India.
Conclusion:
By adapting a model of trauma-informed therapy for the Indian LGBTQ+ community, we provide culturally and ethically sensitive recommendations for mental health professionals through this narrative review.
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