Why Cultural Compatibility Matters in Therapy?

Sometimes, someone to listen and to understand is all people need. ‘Understand’ is important in this statement as even without us realising, we may speak more or less based on how much we think the other person is actually understanding.

Ever wondered why we tend to look for ‘Indian psychologists near me’ while searching for mental health services?

 

It hits different when we talk to people who have gone through issues similar to us. When we feel that they can relate, or they ‘know’, it makes it a whole lot easier to let ourselves go in recounting our experiences, and expressing our thoughts and feelings.

 

How many of us will bother explaining our difficulties to a person, who we know wouldn't be able to understand where we come from? 

That is why it is important to maintain cultural sensitivity in therapies as well.

Culture and Mental Health

If we read about the causal factors of mental disorders, in most of them, there will be a number of causes under the heading of sociocultural factors. In addition to biological and psychological factors, cultural factors also play a role in the development, maintaining, or worsening, of mental issues. Some might also act as protective factors.

That is why everything in psychology is studied with special consideration to culture. There are special fields of psychology itself like cultural psychology, cross-cultural psychology, and indigenous psychology that studies these aspects in particular.

In the case of mental health issues, culture influences:

• The way symptoms are expressed
• The factors that might have led to symptom expression 
• The presence or absence of risk factors and protective factors
• Patients view on their condition, and seeking help
• The way people deal with their condition
• Stigma and treatment seeking
• Effective treatment techniques and so on

 

With such an apparent impact of culture on mental health, therapy should also be culturally sensitive. 

 

Culturally Sensitive Therapy

It is a specific approach to psychotherapy that gives the needed attention to cultural specific factors in mental health settings. With increasing immigration and high cross-cultural integration and interaction, it is important to provide inclusive therapeutic services that are appropriately tailored for each individual with awareness and acceptance of their cultural background.

 

In India, the land of such wonderful diversity, where each area has such elaborate cultural differences let alone states, our talk on being culturally sensitive becomes even more relevant. Indian psychologists near me in Gurgaon might not be the best for you in Bangalore. Why? Because suddenly everything changes. The language, food, the values, customs, lifestyle, and whatnot. That is why the compatibility between psychologist and patient is important.

 

Cultural Compatibility? What even is that?

Thinking, “What is this big, tough, term that seems flashy?” It's just the word for all that was said above. 

 

It is how much the values, beliefs and backgrounds of two parties are the same or similar. Simply put, cultural compatibility in therapy refers to how much the cultural background of the client and therapist match. 

 

The cultural compatibility between the client and therapist also affects the trust the client has on the therapist. When we feel like the therapist understands where we are coming from, it makes it easier to trust them and the treatment process.

 

It's a generally seen pattern that even without giving much thought to it, while typing in the words in the search bar to find a therapist we tend to type ‘Indian psychologists near me’. Why not just ‘psychologists’? Because, consciously or unconsciously, we want someone who is ‘like us’. With whom we can speak in our language, someone who will understand the slangs we use, who will know the places and famous people and incidents we might mention and what not. All these contribute to the level of comfort we feel with the therapist, and that strongly affects the therapeutic relationship, in turn the entire processes of diagnosis and treatment as well.

 

Slowly getting the importance, huh?

 

Advantages and Outcomes

Not all therapists turn out the perfect fit for everyone. Compatibility between client and psychologists, in many aspects, is important for a successful therapeutic process. There are many Indian psychologists near me and you, which you can find with information available at your fingertips so that you can select the psychologists most suitable to you.

 

Some of the major aspects of cultural compatibility when it comes to mental healthcare are,

• Avoid misinterpretations by the psychologist or therapist of any information shared
• Improved trust and cooperation from patient
• Identifying culture specific risk and protective factors for accurate diagnosis
• Formulation and implementation of appropriate management plans
• Better mental health outcomes

 

So next time, when you search for ‘Indian psychologists near me’, remember this so that you can find the best psychologist for you.

 

Why CoachForMind?

• Experienced Psychologists: We are a team of licensed RCI-registered clinical psychologists. Our team is well-experienced in various forms of therapy such as CBT, DBT, Narrative Therapy, and other therapeutic techniques used by Indian psychologists online and offline.
• Personalized Approach: We are dedicated to treating our clients in the best-suited way, carefully curated as per the client's needs, and adhering to one-on-one, client-centered therapy. 
• Scientific Techniques: Our treatment plans and therapeutic methods are based on highly researched scientific findings such as CBT, DBT, and Narrative Therapy among many other therapeutic techniques used that are used by Indian psychologists.
• Quality service: We at CoachForMind ensure quality services in our treatment regime and therapeutic approaches. Our clients hold most value to us, so we ground our techniques in empathy while maintaining professionalism.

 

For more information, please visit our website or contact us directly at coachformind@gmail.com