ABSTRACT
Prior to planning and implementing the most appropriate treatment it is crucial to conduct a full assessment of trauma history within a culturally informed framework, taking into consideration the recipient’s beliefs in relation to their culture of care. Failure to assess traumatic experiences via the proper cultural lens and within individual contexts may lead to over-diagnosis, under-diagnosis, and/or misdiagnosis ( Joyce & Berger, 2007), and pathologizing of behaviors that were originally used for coping with trauma exposure (such as the use of drugs).
