EDITORS' INTRODUCTION

Psychotherapy has been a major part of therapeutic armentatrium in managing patients with mental illness. Often seen as a product of Western Eurocentric tradition, it is argued that not all psychotherapies are suitable for all cultural groups. Cultural norms of different psychotherapeutic interventions are often indigenous but these get ignored when groups move to other cultures. Tantam in this chapter emphasizes that there are clear ethnic and cultural values that are important in determining therapeutic needs and interventions. A person is immersed in a culture but is consigned to a class or ethnic group. Members of a class have specified status, social influence, health and opportunities for wealth creation. Ethnicity and religion are related to organizing principles of status in society. Western psychotherapists and psychotherapy draw on two cultural traditions which are intertwined within Western psychotherapists, and psychotherapy draws on two cultural traditions which are intertwined within Western European thought. The success of causal explanations in aetiology and in therapy has secured their pre-eminence. Personal identity is a common issue in psychotherapy and this varies across cultures as do the concepts of self. Tantam emphasizes that cultural values are affect laden, which must be taken into account in any intervention. Provision of psychotherapy across cultures means that the therapist not only has to deal with unfamiliarity and uncertainty created by novel ideas or situations, but also means dealing with the emotional flavour of the novelties. This will be further affected by the way in which culture transmits emotional flavours.