What does the term ‘transcultural’ mean?

Transcultural psychology is encompassed within the science of transculturalism, providing a prospective that is transdisciplinary in the experience of life, the development of identity, well-being and the types of manifestations and experiences of human suffering. The transcultural process refers to the dynamics that numerous professionals in the field of mental health define as necessary in the modern mind, in order to elaborate new stimuli and cultural avenues in a society where the phenomenon of globalization and technology are ever present. The development of transcultural competencies allows individuals to transcend culture beyond the bounds of time and space with the knowledge that their own perspective is deeply rooted within the confines of their own personal experiences which have been shaped by the culture to which they pertain.
The transcultural approach places the emphasis on the individual in terms of their ‘cultural self’ (Rosalba Terranova-Cecchini, 1991), a mind molded by the culture to which they belong, by way of norms passed down from family and community, giving meaning to experiences based on a effective set of cultural ‘coordinates’ that help navigate and respond within our personal context.
Intercultural communication is an excellent example of how these ‘instruments’ modify our ways of interpreting realities which we may take for granted and deem unique, until we are confronted with those of others, revealing our own effectiveness or ineffectiveness and at times creating uncomfortable or even conflictual situations between individuals.

Why a transcultural clinical approach?

This integrated model has overwhelming relevance in our modern day society, revealing itself as highly effective in facing the growing complexities related to the experience of crisis and suffering of today. . In particular, the transcultural approach favors the concept of ‘empowerment’ which allows the individual to gain insight and greater awareness into their own personal dynamics as well as fostering a greater sense of control over their own existence without resentment, favoring a growing bridge of communication that extends between the incongruencies of culture and thus, facilitating the healing process itself.

Who is it intended for?

Each individual possesses an identity that is formed by cultural information which is handed down through the immersion of their own life context, such as within educational institutions. Each individual is subject to the transformation of their own culture, by way of choices and daily actions that day after day result in the interaction within the mutating context.
The transcultural approach is intended for anyone, individually or collectively, families and/or institutions which share the objective of finding a more complete and articulated meaning to their own discomfort and questions about care. It is a methodology which values and helps each individual to rebuild the continuous flow between their roots and their present, sustaining their culture as a possible source of nutriment rather than a suffocating element.
The modern day family continues to manifest conflicts relating to a sense of suppression or cultural ‘betrayal’ by way of conflicting hopes and dreams between parents and their modern day children. Language mutates more quickly than ever before. A sense of belongingness conserves its emotive, identity-related, and motivational characteristics, sustaining families and reassuring them. Nonetheless, new questions are posed in the face of phenomenon such as migratory fluxes, mixed couples and children, relocation issues and children of first or second generations.
Each one of us is subject to cross cultures, posing a significant choice of conservation or change. The transcultural approach assists individuals in the process of reconciling their own origins in the face divergent or innovative events.

The process of Adjustment

This process refers to a psychological function linked to the transcultural process between the culture to which an individual belongs to and the new culture. This process is set off by change; change to a new city, a new job, a new country and so forth. The process of Adjustment is particularly significant in instances of immigration or in high mobility scenarios, particularly present in modern society where new behaviors and ways of doing things may quickly change and require much adaptation.
That which is new can overcome an individual and their families like a ‘hurricane’ in the development of the cultural ‘Self’. This can set off a psychological reaction preceded by resistance or difficulty in accepting different cultural approaches to ones own. In this situation, psychological discomfort can arise, linked to a sense of disorientation, rootlessness and an incapacity to carry out daily tasks and responsibilities.

Prevention, care and development of intercultural sensitivity

A transcultural approach favors a greater sense of awareness in the face of experiencing diversity. Intercultural sensitivity, as described by Milton Bennett, can develop through ethnorelative stages. This entails ways in which ones own culture is perceived and the notion that this is one possible way of organizing the human experience.
This process can undergo moments of stagnation as well moments of greater flow, of which a transcultural approach can serve to highlight, providing the individual with effective tools for coping as well as creating new perspectives on problem solving based on creative conflict resolution. This approach results in a protective factor of great importance in the light of relational situations and changes which can create feelings of anxiety or depression, or which can exacerbate pre-existing pathological pictures.

The transcultural approach and the experience of suffering

Transcultural psychotherapy is immersed in a continuous juxtaposition with the social sciences, anthropology and neuroscience, placing great importance to the individual’s experience of discomfort or their pathology. Examples of clinical practice within the framework of this type of approach are the following types of questions posed and elaborated by Arthur Kleinman:

• How would you define your problem?
• What do you think caused your problem?
• Why do you think the onset of the problem began when it did?
• What effects has this problem had on you?
• How severe would say your problem is?
• What is your greatest fear with respect to your problem?
• What are some of the difficulties that this problem has caused you?
• What kind of care do you think you need?

New Challenges posed by globalization in the field of clinical practice

• Increase of users with a diverse cultural background or ethnic group than that of their therapist
• Greater presence of practitioners with a diverse cultural background or ethnic group than that of the user
• A greater migration flux and manifestations of psychological discomfort related to the process of adjustment in highly industrialized countries
• A greater degree of psychological discomfort in developing countries due to changes in social and economic changes
• AD (Adjustment Disorder) reflects a significant risk factor in groups from highly industrialized areas and with a high socio-economic profile.