Challenges and strategies in the psychiatric care of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population: A thematic analysis of 18 psychiatrist interviews.

Despite the importance of accessible psychiatric care for the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, prior research has characterized how stigma and suspicion of secular institutions limit mental healthcare utilization by this population. No study, however, has interviewed a cohort of psychiatrists to identify commonly encountered challenges or successfully employed strategies in the care of ultra-Orthodox Jewish psychiatric patients who have overcome these barriers to present for care. We recruited by snowball sampling from a sample of convenience 18 psychiatrists affiliated with the Weill Cornell Department of Psychiatry, experienced in the care of ultra-Orthodox Jewish patients.

Psychiatry, Cultural Competency, and the Care of Ultra-Orthodox Jews: Achieving Secular and Theocentric Convergence Through Introspection.

Several socio-cultural factors complicate mental health care in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population. These include societal stigma, fear of the influence of secular ideas, the need for rabbinic approval of the method and provider, and the notion that excessive concern with the self is counter-productive to religious growth. Little is known about how the religious beliefs of this population might be employed in therapeutic contexts.