Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings
June 1, 2026
Tony V Pham, Kozbi Bayne, Defne Yucebas et al.
Older Black adults experience disproportionately high rates of chronic pain (CP) and depression, yet inequities in access, recognition, and culturally resonant treatment persist. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is an evidence-based group intervention for depression with emerging promise for CP. However, adaptations for older Black adults with comorbid CP-depression remain...
Innovation in Aging
December 1, 2025
Tony V Pham
Abstract Up to 78% of older Black individuals experience chronic musculoskeletal pain. Among older Black individuals, chronic pain co-occurs with depression and early cognitive decline, and these co-morbidities worsen physical function. Addressing chronic pain and its co-morbidities among older Black adults is a public health priority. We utilized the Community Engagement (CE) Studio Toolkit to...
Community Mental Health Journal
May 2021
Tony V Pham, Rishav Koirala, Milton L Wainberg et al.
In this Fresh Focus, we reassess what the mental health treatment gap may mean if we consider the role of traditional healing. Based on systematic reviews, patients can use traditional healers and qualitatively report improvement from general psychological distress and symptom reduction for common mental disorders. Given these clinical implications, some high-income countries have scaled up...
Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry
March 1, 2021
Tony V Pham, Bonnie N. Kaiser, Rishav Koirala et al.
Despite extensive ethnographic and qualitative research on traditional healers in Nepal, the role of traditional healers in relation to mental health has not been synthesized. We focused on the following clinically based research question, "What are the processes by which Nepali traditional healers address mental well-being?" We adopted a scoping review methodology to maximize the available...
International journal of mental health systems
January 7, 2021
Tony V Pham, Rishav Koirala, Brandon A Kohrt
There is increasing access to mental health services in biomedical settings (e.g., primary care and specialty clinics) in low- and middle-income countries. Traditional healing continues to be widely available and used in these settings as well. Our goal was to explore how the general public, traditional healers, and biomedical clinicians perceive the different types of services and make...
Ethos
March 2020
Tony V Pham, Rishav Koirala, Brandon A Kohrt
To explore the relationship between traditional healers and conventional psychotherapy, we conducted a combined ethnographic study and structured observational rating of healers in the middle hill region of central Nepal. We conducted in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations of healing with 84 participants comprising 29 traditional healers and 55 other community members. Overall, our...
Advances in mind-body medicine
Tony V Pham, Michael Kincade, Ana-Maria Vranceanu
Compared to non-Hispanic White individuals, non-Hispanic Black Individuals report worse chronic pain from a variety of medical issues. Among the options for non-pharmacological pain treatment, mind-body interventions (MBI) are a promising modality to help Black individuals manage their chronic pain effectively. MBIs such as mindfulness meditation improve chronic pain and chronic pain-related...