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Cultural Competence in Psychotherapy

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Intercultural Psychotherapy

Abstract

In the face of increasingly culturally diversity, clinicians are challenged to treat patients who may not respond to traditional psychotherapeutic approaches. Cultural competence is presented as a metatheory that purports to help clinicians overcome the various barriers that impede the provision of quality psychotherapy to culturally, religiously and racially diverse patients. This chapter presents a model of cultural competence that is predicated on the understanding that both cultural and racial differences can impede the provision of quality psychotherapy. As a metatheoretical approach, it is offered as a means to adapt existing treatment strategies in the face of both racial bias and cultural difference. It is also suggested that cultural differences may be such that what we commonly understand as psychotherapy may simply not be effective with selves that derive from rather distinct epistemic backgrounds. The chapter ends with a few strategies that therapists can adopt to respond to some of the challenges they face.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Servei de Psiquiatria, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain

    Adil Qureshi

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  1. Adil Qureshi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Psychiatric University Clinic of Charité at St. Hedwig Hospital, Berlin, Germany

    Meryam Schouler-Ocak

  2. Copenhagen, Denmark

    Marianne C. Kastrup

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Qureshi, A. (2020). Cultural Competence in Psychotherapy. In: Schouler-Ocak, M., Kastrup, M. (eds) Intercultural Psychotherapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24082-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24082-0_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-24082-0

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