Could an Outsider Recieve and Benefit From Culturally-Specific Therapy?

@chibam, I fully understand the concept of finding therapists from another culture who may be a better match.

I have personally had great respect for the values of our aboriginal culture. Their cultural values and traditions, respect for elders, kinship links, love of country and preservation of it etc. Perhaps I also identify with their downtrodden condition, and their rising from the almost obliteration of their culture.

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@Gwynn wrote:
You might also be interested in reading about decolonising therapy ( e.g. https://www.rewire.org/decolonizing-therapy-mental-health/ ), when you're talking about culture coming into conflict with 'the rules of therapy'.

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Frankly, that article seems to indicate a rather disappointing vision for the future in that regard. It starts off well enough, acknowledging that an ethnic minority patient's anger/depression may be caused by racial descrimination rather then any sort of mental illness. But then instead of actually fixing the problem, the article goes in to how they want to focus on the patient's past traumas, instead of dealing with the here-and-now problem.

That's practically a carbon copy of the traditional mental health system.

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@Gwynn wrote:
For me, the key point is that 'therapy', as we know it, could be considered culture-bound, a product of 'white people's culture', and the solution is to decolonise therapy and politically advocate for change.

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I don't know if I'd characterize it being so much a product of "white people's culture" as a product of "new age culture". But then again, it's probably too complex an issue to pin down simply to a single origin point.

Politically advocating for change is certainly a step in the right direction. But I get the impression that therapists still aren't all that interested in taking such a meaningful approach towards solving their patients' problems.

@chibam

I hear where you are coming from ... about gaining benefit from different cultures. I have felt a misfit in my own "culture" but have had wonderful connections with people from other cultures. There could also be issues in understanding the challenges faced, when there is not a shared background, but if people are passionate and open there could be many therapeutic gains ...

@Gwynn Well, as I say, it's probably too complex to trace back to a single source. It's obviously grown out of the societal compulsion of the many (or the powerful) to control the problematic outliers, and there isn't a culture on earth who hasn't tried to do that. The few exceptions (if any) that had no interest in controlling their outliers would've probably just jumped to exile or execution, which, admittedly, is probably more merciful.

But generally, I would say that psychology as we know it largely arose from the scientific revolution, and when science first tried to replace Christianity as the governing ideology of society; Christianity being the traditional governing ideology of (most of) white culture. When it became apparent that science could never replace Christianity without offering a moral code to direct peoples' lives and shape social norms. So psychology arose from the great rationality of science, to decide for the people what was "right though & action", and what was "wrong thought and action". Unsurprisingly, it cowardly bent itself to whatever cause would allow it to ingratiate itself to society and thereby increase it's prestige and power. So if society needed a way to better control it's slaves, psychiatry was all to willing to help with that. And it's been making those power plays ever since. It stands for nothing; it has never stood for anything. It is the religion of self-preservation and survival.

So even though it may have originated predominantly in Europe, it is more a new-age phenomenon then an expression of traditional white culture. It arose primarily out of a desire to overthrow traditional European Christian thinking, and, in it's currant form, it is predominantly shaped by very recent ideas that come almost entirely out of modern colleges, which are dominated by new-age ideology.

In fact, it is so starkly contrasted with white culture that it has had to opperate in the shadows throughout it's entire existance, because if the reigning culture truly understood what it does and how it works, they would never have stood for it. One can't help but wonder if the longstanding aura of shame and taboo surrounding the so-called "mentally ill" was actually created or encouraged by the leaders of psychiatry, to conceal the reality of the diagnosis and treatment moreso then to conceal the condition of the patient. If you don't want wider society to scrutinize your grievous mis-labelling and mis-treatment of Mrs. Smith's son, then isn't it jolly convienient that Mrs. Smith feels too ashamed to admit to the neighbors that her son's been sent off to an asylum?

That's just my 2 cents, anyway.

I experienced an example once. I was talking to a counselor once and got a vibe that they were of a particular faith. I asked because and said i was interested in that sort of stuff. They responded by keeping their religion to themselves, but, offered to work with any religious position that I was into. Seemed like a good option for both of us. Thought my question was handled very gracefully.