Transforming Therapy: Mental Health Practice and Cultural Change in Mexico. By Whitney L. Duncan,. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2018. Pp. 272. $69.95 cloth; $29.95 paper.

Transforming Therapy: Mental Health Practice and Cultural Change in Mexico. By Whitney L. Duncan. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2018. Pp. 272. $69.95 cloth; $29.95 paper.

Thoughtfully written and carefully researched, this rich ethnography studies the changing landscapes of mental health in Mexico, specifically the “relatively recent growth of Euroamerican-style psychology, psychiatry, and other forms of emotional therapeutics in Oaxaca” (2). Known for its ethnic and linguistic diversity, this southern state of Mexico is also marked by social and economic inequality, political discord, and marginalization of indigenous populations (18). In this context of social change, the author affirms, psy––mental health services and therapeutic practices––has taken hold. Investigating how transnational forms of mental and emotional health care are implemented and transformed, Duncan shows how psy-globalization—the spread of ‘Western’ ways of knowing and working on the self––are part of therapeutic practices that have been adapted and transformed by local populations.

Each chapter links detailed fieldwork experiences, practices, and concepts to show the tensions between these transformative processes at the...