Encounter with an african healer: Thinking about the possibilities and limits of cross-cultural psychotherapy

Abstract

The report of the work of an African healer, in which the method of treatment of a patient with a psychotic breakdown is described to the author, a Western-trained psychotherapist, gives rise to considerations about similarities and differences in the use and function of therapeutic tools. The role of culture in the development both of psychic identity and illness is examined, as well as culture-specific aspects, not only in treatment methods, but also in psychotherapeutic training. Both psychoanalytic theory and practice arc seen against the background of the culture that produced them Particular attention is given to the different role of verbal language in the African and Western approach to the treatment of psychic distress.

Key Words:

• Culture and identity;
• culture and illness;
• psychoanalysis and culture;
• verbal and non-verbal communication;
• add psychotherapy.