Considering Culture One Client at a Time: Maximizing the Cultural Exchange

Abstract

Cultural competency is a process that requires knowledge, diligence, and availability of resources. For the individual practitioner, it may be unfeasible to expect expert-level knowledge of any more than a few cultural groups. This commentary provides a general approach that clinicians can use to become oriented to a culture, make use of evidence-based frameworks, and treat the therapy as an ongoing cultural exchange. Using this approach a clinician may be able to flexibly adapt his or her individual case formulation approach to match the needs of a diverse set of clientele. Examples from the case of TC are used to illustrate the model and to highlight the cultural competence of the therapist.