The value of this book lies in its nuanced and sophisticated exploration of ways to culturally adapt cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for severe mental illness. The text goes beyond a standard CBT framework and recommends a comprehensive approach involving pre-engagement strategies and practical advice on developing therapeutic relationships. The book also highlights that within a particular cultural group, there are individual differences in areas like help-seeking behaviours, attitudes towards psychotherapy, family involvement and coping strategies. All of these factors are considered through numerous case examples to illustrate ways of individualizing the assessment, formulation and treatment of mental health problems.

As the text progresses, novel strategies are provided to assist clinicians with breaking down cultural barriers in order to deliver the most effective, evidence-based treatment. For each strategy, the authors explain how to use therapy micro-skills to maximize the patient's commitment to sessions. Furthermore, the book is wonderfully interactive, with each chapter containing exercises that ask the reader to reflect on their own practice with clients from diverse cultural backgrounds. The accessibility of the information provided is enhanced through the use of summary tables, tips and diagrams interspersed throughout the text.

The first three chapters provide a comprehensive review of the most up-to-date research on practical ways to adapt CBT for different cultural groups. Key terminologies are introduced and referred to in subsequent chapters, facilitating the reader's understanding of common cultural themes in therapy. Chapter 4 explores the therapeutic alliance and provides unique insights into culturally specific adjustments that can be made to promote the engagement of individuals from minority groups. Chapter 5 introduces the idea of the therapist developing ‘cultural neutrality’ through reflecting on and correcting their own biases towards different cultural groups. Through case examples and therapeutic transcripts, chapters 6 and 7 discuss ways of integrating different social and cultural factors such as an individual's level of acculturation and religiousness into the case formulation and treatment planning process.

Chapters 8–10 shift the focus of the text by examining how previously described techniques can be applied to specific psychological disorders, namely psychosis (chapter 8), depression (chapter 9) and bipolar affective disorders (chapter 10). For each disorder, the included case discussions and therapeutic transcripts are complemented by worksheets provided in the appendix, such that the material is easy to translate for therapists working with individuals from cultural minorities. In chapter 11, the focus is redirected to a more general approach to recovery and relapse prevention. The effects of culture on relapse likelihood are discussed, with clear and concrete components of relapse prevention planning identified.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the text is its expansion of focus in chapter 12 to explore policy and training implications when adapting CBT in a multicultural context. Importantly, the authors provide an honest account of the main barriers to developing and delivering evidence-based treatments to individuals from a cultural minority, and the reader is left with a sense of responsibility to address these barriers at the individual, group and health care systems levels.

Given the scope of this text, one potential limitation might be the absence of ways to culturally adapt CBT for different age groups, and it would be interesting to explore how each of the strategies provided might be altered when working with children and adolescents, as well as older adults.

Overall, the text marries research and clinical practice exceptionally well. The adaptations described reach out to a broad audience of mental health clinicians and researchers from various training backgrounds. The authors are clearly very experienced in working with individuals from cultural minorities, and this is highlighted by their impressive explanation of CBT strategies as well as the integration of schema work and psychoanalytic techniques throughout. This book provides a highly valuable contribution to the existing, albeit small, literature on clinical psychology practice in various cultural groups.