Abstract:This article offers a contribution to systemic thinking and practice in relation to emotions. It suggests that emotions are crucial in considering the relationship between individuals and social systems, patterns and relationships, including those between therapists and clients. Seeking to establish a balance between systemic and constructionist approaches, the article summarizes Bateson's description of schismogenesis in naven. Two sequences of clinical work, which were inspired by Bateson's ethnography and w… Show more
“…In a context in which questions about culture are front stage in the public debate, more reflection is needed on ways to deal with cultural differences in the field of family therapy. However, in our field we already have an excellent track record in promoting cultural sensitivity, cultural competency and culturally informed therapy (for example, Abu Baker, ; Bean et al ., ; Falicov, ; Krause ; Weisman, et al ., ;). Being culturally competent is highly valued in our field.…”
Section: A Critical Reflection On the Cultural Competency Frameworkmentioning
Working with a family from a cultural background other than one's own is considered to be challenging for the therapist. Influenced by social constructionism, the family therapy field highlights the importance of contingency and cultural differences and therapists are encouraged to develop their cultural competency in order to deal with these differences. In this article, starting from contemporary critiques of notions of Western societies' cultural diversity, we address the way in which the cultural competency framework, by highlighting the importance of cultural differences and the therapist's culture‐specific knowledge, may underestimate the importance of the social dimensions of the issues involved. Furthermore, highlighting cultural differences may obscure the shared humanity present in a transcultural encounter. In this article, as an alternative to the cultural competency framework, we propose a view of intercultural family therapy in which the unresolvable dialectical tension between differences and universalities is central.
Practitioner points
The article addresses the challenge of working with families from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The traditional framework of cultural competence is critically reviewed.
Family therapists should not only be open for cultural differences, but also for universalities and especially for the never‐ending tension between differences and universalities.
“…In a context in which questions about culture are front stage in the public debate, more reflection is needed on ways to deal with cultural differences in the field of family therapy. However, in our field we already have an excellent track record in promoting cultural sensitivity, cultural competency and culturally informed therapy (for example, Abu Baker, ; Bean et al ., ; Falicov, ; Krause ; Weisman, et al ., ;). Being culturally competent is highly valued in our field.…”
Section: A Critical Reflection On the Cultural Competency Frameworkmentioning
Working with a family from a cultural background other than one's own is considered to be challenging for the therapist. Influenced by social constructionism, the family therapy field highlights the importance of contingency and cultural differences and therapists are encouraged to develop their cultural competency in order to deal with these differences. In this article, starting from contemporary critiques of notions of Western societies' cultural diversity, we address the way in which the cultural competency framework, by highlighting the importance of cultural differences and the therapist's culture‐specific knowledge, may underestimate the importance of the social dimensions of the issues involved. Furthermore, highlighting cultural differences may obscure the shared humanity present in a transcultural encounter. In this article, as an alternative to the cultural competency framework, we propose a view of intercultural family therapy in which the unresolvable dialectical tension between differences and universalities is central.
Practitioner points
The article addresses the challenge of working with families from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The traditional framework of cultural competence is critically reviewed.
Family therapists should not only be open for cultural differences, but also for universalities and especially for the never‐ending tension between differences and universalities.
“…There is an ongoing question in the field as to whether action can be ‘jointly created’. This includes Krause’s argument that we can only respond to others in the moment with respect to what, for example, their emotional expression calls us to understand from our knowledge and experience of context (Krause, ). Nevertheless, using CA literature as a lens through which to present the findings can be seen as a reminder of the centrality of ‘talk as action’ (ten Have, ) and this may be helpful to systemic psychotherapy.…”
Social care settings provide a complex landscape for systemic psychotherapists, particularly in relation to issues of power that are particularly pervasive. Conversation Analysis (CA) was used as a research method to understand the detail of how systemic psychotherapists and parents work together in the safeguarding context. The study aimed to examine the power issues arising, and how they were being managed. CA literature, seen as a reminder of the centrality of ‘talk as action’, is used as a lens through which to present the findings, and the concept of authority as joint action is introduced. The findings of the study showed how systemic approaches, put to use through systemic techniques, can uniquely contribute to safeguarding work in contexts where issues of power prevail, with a particular emphasis on the importance of the concept of self‐reflexivity.
Practitioner points
Notice and work with the complex circular ways that power issues arise in relationships in social care settings
Use the concept of Jointly Created Authority to provide a relational frame for managing issues of power
Revisit the concept of self‐reflexivity which is of primary importance to effective working in this context
Develop understanding of how, using reflexive practice, adjusting responses in the moment can invite agency in clients
“…Krause (2010) draws upon Bateson’s ethnographic work in her exploration of culture:Culture, then, is another way of talking about expectations and about context as involving not just the present but the past and the future. (p. 393)…”
Section: Culture: What It Is and What It Is Notmentioning
Family therapy practice in the UK, as elsewhere in the world, takes place within the context of structural and systemic racism. Hence the practice of family therapy has the potential to mirror racist and colonialist tropes found within society. There are low levels of satisfaction by people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds to the level of sensitivity to culture and racism that takes place in therapy. This paper explores ways a systemic psychotherapy might be more sensitive to differences in race and culture. Drawing upon systemic and anthropological constructions of culture, suggestions are made for practice that is more questioning of the barely conscious or unconscious assumptions made by the therapist, which can then lead to open scrutiny of these assumptions. In doing so, I draw upon my own experiences, and those of my own family, of racism, of culture and of movement across cultures.
Structural racism in society will find its way into the therapy room unless therapists are open to an examination of their own prejudices and often unconscious assumptions.
Such an examination then opens the way to forms of practice that are more sensitive to differences of race and culture.
A form of practice more sensitive to race and culture is proposed as a systemic response to racism, whilst keeping in mind the need for change at a social and political level.
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