Generalized James' effective Hamiltonian method

James' effective Hamiltonian method has been extensively adopted to investigate largely detuned interacting quantum systems. This method only corresponds to the second-order perturbation theory and cannot be exploited to treat problems which should be solved by using the third- or higher-order perturbation theory. In this paper, we generalize James' effective Hamiltonian method to the higher-order case. Using the method developed here, we reexamine two recently published examples [L. Garziano et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 043601 (2016); Ken K. W. Ma and C. K. Law, Phys. Rev. A 92, 023842 (2015)]; our results turn out to be the same as the original ones derived from the third-order perturbation theory and adiabatic elimination method, respectively. For some specific problems, this method can simplify the calculating procedure and the resultant effective Hamiltonian is more general.