Ethnocultural studies in Siberia and the Far East (25 years of the International Association of Ethnopsychologists and Ethnopsychotherapists)

The etiology, pathogenesis, clinical dynamics and prognosis of mental pathology in modern Russian psychiatry are considered from the standpoint of the biopsychosocial model as the leading paradigm in medical research. From this perspective, the authors examine issues of the formation and development of ethnocultural research in the region of Siberia and the Far East. The creation of the International Association of Ethnopsychologists and Ethnopsychotherapists contributed to the integration of the developed innovative clinical-psychiatric and psychosocial technologies into world psychiatry, and made it possible to affiliate with the World Psychiatric Association and the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry. The results of the research of the mental health of small nationalities of Siberia are presented with the aim of modernizing mental health care programs taking into account the ethnocultural aspect. The importance of joint projects on mental health care with Kazakhstan and China is shown. The possibilities of ethnoculturally based approaches to the system of providing psychiatric and psychotherapeutic care are discussed.