Psychodynamic therapy can be adapted to and implemented in non-western cultures – a comment on the WHO treatment guideline for mental disorders

The WHO recently updated the guidelines for treating mental health conditions in low- and middle-income countries, emphasizing evidence-based manual-guided psychotherapeutic treatments. As a limitation, these recommendations predominantly endorse cognitive-behavior therapy for both adults and young people. In a comment, we emphasized that the WHO overlooked the significant evidence supporting other therapeutic approaches, including but not limited to psychodynamic therapy. The WHO responded to our comment in a reply by Carswell and colleagues. However, several statements made by the authors are debatable. In this short communication, we critically address these statements, showing that they are not tenable. As a conclusion we emphasize that it is necessary to embrace a broader array of empirical supported therapeutic methods to elevate the overall quality and efficacy of global mental health care. High-quality psychotherapy research in low- and middle-income countries is required, focusing not only on the narrow area of symptoms, but transdiagnostically on general psychopathology and psychosocial functioning, which are areas addressed in psychodynamic therapy.