Views of non-Western trainee or recently-qualified practitioner psychologists on the import of Western psychology into their indigenous non-Western cultures

Abstract

Despite recent global mental health movements rooted in Western mental health frameworks, there appears to be a paucity of research that directly gathers the perspectives of non-Western psychological practitioners who would be implementing such frameworks within non-Western cultures. This study aimed to gather the perspectives of non-Western trainee and recently qualified psychologists through online questionnaires and interviews. These were then analyzed using thematic analysis. Analysis generated five themes: (1) Western psychology is Euro-centrically diverse; (2) Western psychology has a (limited) role; (3) We are diverse; (4) Western psychology needs to account for unique cultural worldviews and practices; and (5) Address the power imbalance. The analysis suggested that Western psychology has a role within non-Western cultures, however its limited use should be as a framework integrated in line with indigenous local practices and values, whilst redressing and addressing the power imbalance Western psychology holds, that this should not be an importing of Western knowledge, but rather knowledge exchange. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Keywords:

• Global mental health
• clinical psychology
• culture
• western psychology
• practitioner psychologists
• international psychology
• indigenous psychology