SUZANNE WOMACK STRISIK

University of Alaska Anchorage

BARBARA J. FLEEK

University of Alaska Anchorage

Non-Traditional Clinical Approaches to The Treatment of Depression

The efficacy of mainstream (e.g., traditional) clinical approaches to treating depression have been established in the literature. Because these clinical approaches have been developed, implemented, and studied within mainstream White-European culture, they work best in urban or suburban settings in which regular and frequent contact with a therapist or physician is possible. Although the mainstream clinical methods of treating depression can be provided in villages by local mental health professionals and paraprofessionals, there is a shortage of these professionals. Treatment may be depend on or be augmented by outsiders, usually non-native psychiatrists and psychologists, who make brief visits to village clinics. The presenters will describe non-traditional treatments of depression and their applicability to Alaska Natives and non-Natives in rural settings. Ways in which these non-traditional treatments will shape the future of mental health treatment in Alaska will be discussed.