ADAPTATIONS OF TWO PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES IN THE CULTURAL DYNAMICS OF THE TREATMENT OF POSTNATAL DEPRESSIVE WOMEN ATTENDING A POST-ANTENATAL CLINIC IN A TEACHING HOSPITAL IN AWKA NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the adaptation of two Psychotherapeutic techniques namely Meseron therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy in the cultural dynamics of the treatment of postnatal depressive women attending a post-antenatal clinic in a Teaching Hospital in Nigeria. 200 participants were randomly selected among Igbo nursing mothers from South-East Nigeria suffering from postnatal depression. MT and CBT were used as psychotherapeutic interventions to alleviate the mental health condition of the women. The treatment modalities were modified in line with the cultural context of the study, across three domains for MT and eight domains for CBT, ranging from the patients’ cultural factors in the Igbo communities. The study is a survey, adopting a mixed design and the data was analysed with a one-way analysis of variance and linear regression analysis. The result revealed that the culturally adapted MT was more effective than CBT in the treatment of nursing mothers suffering from postnatal depression. Further results confirmed that MT reduced PND more than CBT.The study concluded that psychotherapists and mental healthcare practitioners should adopt these psychotherapeutic approaches to the treatment of PND in relation to the cultural dynamics of their patients.   Keywords: Adaptations, Psychotherapeutic techniques, cultural dynamics, Awka, Nigeria.