Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Importance of Cultural Sensitivity in Therapeutic Transactions

Considerations for Healthcare Providers

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Disease Management & Health Outcomes

Abstract

Culture influences all spheres of human life. It defines health, illness, and the search for relief from disease or distress. With increased mobilization of people across geographical and national borders, multicultural trends are emerging in many countries. This is reflected in the cultural diversity presenting to clinicians in their daily practice. With these presentations, patients bring their own world views, expectations, norms and taboos to the clinical transaction. Cross-cultural transactions occur when two or more of the participants are culturally different.

Although it is impossible to be conversant with all cultures, clinicians should be sensitive to the role culture plays in their practice without stereotyping patients. Culture influences help-seeking or care pathways, and may bias the process of assessment and choice of management. The interplay of patient culture, clinical setting and clinician culture can pose significant challenges experienced against a backdrop of other factors such as age, gender, religion, and acculturation.

Language, even when shared, does not ensure skillful clinician—patient communications as there are different culture codes for interpersonal relationships, disclosure, privacy, and non-verbal communication. Linguistic difficulties can be partially overcome with the use of an interpreter, a triangular relationship with its own dynamics requiring skill and sensitivity.

The cultural matching of patient and therapist is complex and may be complicated by the emergence of other differences that may be equally challenging. However, awareness of this should serve to reduce the number of differences.

Cultural sensitivity in patient care is associated with a number of positive health outcomes, including improved patient satisfaction.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Table I
Fig. 1
Table II
Table III
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. McGoldrick M, Giodarno J, Pearce B. Ethnicity and family therapy. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Kleinman A, Eisenberg L, Good B. Culture, illness, and care: clinical lessons from anthropologic and cross-cultural research. Ann Intern Med 1978; 88: 251–8.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition, text revision. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. CG Helman. Cross-cultural psychiatry. In: CG Helman, editor. Culture, health and illness: an introduction for health professionals. Oxford: Butterworth-Heine-mann Medical, 1994: 246–95.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Frank JD, Frank JB. Persuasion and healing. 3rd ed. Baltimore (MD): John Hopkins Press, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Robinson L. Intercultural communication in a therapeutic setting. In: Coker N, editor. Racism in medicine: an agenda for change. London: Kings Fund, 2001: 191–210.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Goldstein MZ, Griswold K. Cultural sensitivity and aging. Psychiatr Serv 1998; 49 (6): 769–71.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Green RJ. Race and the field of family therapy. In: McGoldrick M, editor. Revisioning family therapy: race, culture, and gender in clinical practice. New York: Guilford, 1998: 93–110.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Prince R. The Brain Fag Syndrome in Nigerian students. J Mental Sci 1960; 106: 599–70.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Nichols MP, Schwartz RC. Family therapy: concepts and methods. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Ayonrinde O. Black, white or shades of grey: the challenges of ethnic difference (or similarity) in the therapeutic process. Int Rev Psychiatry 1999; 11: 191–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Galanti G. An introduction to cultural differences. West J Med 2000; 172 (5): 335–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Dyche L, Zayas LH. The value of curiosity and naivete for the cross-cultural psychotherapist. Fam Process 1995; 34: 389–99.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Hinton P. The psychology of interpersonal perception. London: Routledge, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Bowler I. They’re not just the same as us: midwive’s stereotypes of South Asian descent maternity patients. Sociol Health Illn 1993; 15 (2): 157–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lin K, Inui TS, Kleinman A, et al. Sociocultural determinants of the help-seeking behavior of patients with mental illness. J Nerv Ment Dis 1982; 170: 78–85.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Yazar J, Littlewood R. Against over-interpretation: the understanding of pain amongst Turkish and Kurdish speakers in London. Int J Soc Psychiatry 2001; 47 (2): 20–33.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Burnett R, Mallett R, Bhugra D, et al. The first contact of patients with schizophrenia with psychiatric services: social factors and pathways to care in a multiethnic population. Psychol Med 1999; 29 (2): 475–83.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Chow JC, Jaffee KD, Choi DY. Use of public mental health services by Russian refugees. Psychiatr Serv 1999 Jul; 50 (7): 936–40.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Lin K-M, Cheung F. Mental health issues for Asian-Americans. Psychiatr Serv 1999; 50: 774–80.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Al-Krenauri A. Mental health service utilization among the Arabs in Israel. Social Work Health Care 2002; 35 (1–2): 577–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Phan T, Silove D. The influence of culture on psychiatric assessment: the Vietnamese refugee. Psychiatr Serv 1997; 48: 86–90.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Lee MM, Lin SS, Wrensch MR, et al. Alternative therapies used by women with breast cancer in four ethnic populations. J Natl Cancer Inst 2000; 92 (1): 42–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Okazaki S. Treatment delay among Asian-American patients with severe mental illness. Am J Orthopsychiatry 2000; 70 (1): 58–64.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Coker N, editor. Racism in medicine: an agenda for change. London: Kings Fund, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Akutsu PD, Snowden LR, Organista KC. Referral patterns in ethnic-specific and mainstream programs for ethnic minorities and whites. J Couns Psychol 1996; 43: 56–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Littlewood R, Lipsedge M. Aliens and alienists: ethnic minorities and psychiatry. London: Routledge, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Cooper H, Smaje C, Arber S. Use of health services by children and young people according to ethnicity and social class: secondary analysis of a national survey. BMJ 1998; 317: 1047–51.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Flaskerud JH, Hu L. Relationship of ethnicity to psychiatric diagnosis. J Nerv Ment Dis 1992; 180: 296–303.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Borkan JM, Morad M, Shvarts S. Universal health care?. The views of Negev Bedouin Arabs on health services. Health Policy Plan 2000 Jun; 15 (2): 207–16.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Rashid A, Jagger C. Attitudes to and perceived use of health care services among Asian and non-Asian patients in Leicester. Br J Gen Pract 1992; 42 (358): 197–201.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Maxwell K, Streetly A, Bevan D. Experiences of hospital care and treatment seeking for pain from sickle cell disease: qualitative study. BMJ 1999; 318: 1585–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Todd KH, Samaroo N, Hoffman JR. Ethnicity as a risk factor for inadequate emergency department analgesia. JAMA 1993; 269: 1537–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Sublette E, Trappler B. Cultural sensitivity training in mental health: treatment of Orthodox Jewish psychiatric inpatients. Int J Soc Psychiatry 2000; 46 (2): 122–34.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Balabil S, Dolan B. A cross-cultural evaluation of expectations about psychological counselling. Br J Med Psychol 1992; 65: 305–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Harris MI. Racial and ethnic differences in health care access and health outcomes for adults with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2001; 24 (3): 454–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Perez Foster R. When immigration is trauma: guidelines for the individual and family clinician. Am J Orthopsychiatry 2001; 71 (2): 153–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Khisty K. Transcultural differentiation: a model for therapy with ethno-culturally diverse families. Aust N Z J Fam Ther 2001; 22 (1): 17–24.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Wali R. Working therapeutically with Indian families within a New Zealand context. Aust N Z J Fam Ther 2001; 22 (1): 10–7.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Ruiz P. New clinical perspectives in cultural psychiatry. J Pract Psychiatry Behav Health 1998; 4: 150–6.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Goldberg D, Hodes M. The poison of racism and the self-poisoning of adolescents. J Fam Ther 1992; 14: 51–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Ahmad Y, Woolaston S, Patel S. Child safety in Indian families. Social Work Now 2000; 15 May 13–9.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Da Canhota CMN, Piterman L. Depressive disorders in elderly Chinese patients in Macau: a comparison of general practitioners’ consultations with a depression screening scale. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2001; 35: 336–44.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Hendrie HC, Osuntokun BO, Hall KS, et al. Prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in two communities: Nigerian Africans and African Americans. Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152: 1485–92.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Vaz L, Kanekar S. Predicted and recommended behaviours of a woman as a function of her inferred helplessness in dowry and wife beating predicaments. J Appl Soc Psychol 1990 May; 20: 751–70.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Hemingway H, Saunders D, Parsons L. Social class, spoken language and pattern of care as determinants of continuity of carer in maternity services in east London. J Public Health Med 1997; 19 (2): 156–61.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. ten Have ML, Bijl RV. Inequalities in mental health and social services utilisation by immigrant women. Eur J Public Health 1999; 9 (1): 45–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. McAvoy BR. Contraceptive services for Asian women in the UK: a review. Fam Pract 1990; 7: 60–4.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Dhami S, Sheikh A. The Muslim family: predicament and promise. West J Med 2000 Nov; 173 (5): 352–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Brooks MH. Beliefs of Orthodox Jewish girls about menstruation. Fam Pract 1984; 1: 113–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Maitra B. In giving due consideration to the family’s racial and cultural background. In: Reder P, Lucey C, editors. Assessment of parenting: London: Routledge, 1995: 151–66.

    Google Scholar 

  52. McGoldrick M. Ethnicity and the family life cycle. In: Carter B, McGoldrick M, editors. The changing family life cycle. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press, 1989: 69–90.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Cabrera NJ, Tamis-LeMonda CS, Bradley RH, et al. Fatherhood in the twenty-first century. Child Dev 2000; 71 (1): 127–36.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Di Nicola VF. Family therapy and transcultural psychiatry: an emerging synthesis: II. portability and culture change. Transcultural Psychiatric Res Rev 1985; 22: 151–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Tsui P, Schultz GL. Failure of rapport: why psychotherapeutic engagement fails in the treatment of Asian clients. Am J Orthopsychiatry 1985; 55: 561–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Waldegrave C. Mono-cultural, mono-class and so called non-political family therapy. Aust N Z J Fam Ther 1895; 6 (4): 197–209.

    Google Scholar 

  57. Omer-Hashi, Kowser H, Entwistle M. Female genital mutilation: cultural and health issues, and their implications for sexuality counselling in Canada. Can J Hum Sex 1995; 4: 137–47.

    Google Scholar 

  58. Lightfoot-Klein H. Disability in female immigrants with ritually inflicted genital mutilation. Women Ther 1993; 14: 187–94.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Williams L, Sobieszczyk T. Attitudes surrounding the continuation of female circumcision in the Sudan: passing the tradition to the next generation. J Marriage Fam 1997; 59: 966–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Hartog J, Hartog EA. Cultural aspects of health and illness. West J Med 1983; 139 (6): 910–6.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  61. Gutmann MC. Ethnicity, alcohol and acculturation. Soc Sci Med 1999; 48 (2): 173–84.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. Simon G, Gater R, Kisely S, et al. Somatic symptoms of distress: an international primary care study. Psychosom Med 1996; 58: 481–8.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  63. Ebert D, Martus P. Somatization as a core symptom of melancholic type depression: evidence from a cross-cultural study. J Affect Disord 1994; 32: 253–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. Marmanidis H, Holme G, Hafner RJ. Depression and somatic symptoms: a cross-cultural study. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 1994; 28: 274–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  65. Kleinman AM. Depression, somatization and the ‘new cross-cultural psychiatry.’ Soc Sci Med 1977; 11: 3–10.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  66. Kleinman A. Neurasthenia and depression: a study of somatization and culture in China. Cult Med Psychiatry 1982; 6: 117–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. Mezzich JE, Raab ES. Depressive symptomatology across the Americas. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1980; 37: 818–23.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. Simon GE, VonKorff M, Piccinelli M, et al. An international study of the relation between somatic symptoms and depression. N Engl J Med 1999; 341 (18): 1329–35.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. Ayonrinde A. Heat in the head or body: a semantic confusion. Afr J Psychiatry 1977; 1: 59–63.

    Google Scholar 

  70. Kirmayer LJ. Three forms of somatization in primary care: prevalence, co-occurrence, and sociodemographic characteristics. J Nerv Ment Dis 1991; 179: 647–55.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  71. Goldberg DP, Bridges K. Somatic presentations of psychiatric illness in primary care setting. J Psychosom Res 1988; 32: 137–44.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  72. Lipowski ZJ. Somatization: the experience and communication of psychological distress as somatic symptoms. Psychother Psychosom 1987; 47: 160–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  73. Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW, et al. Physical symptoms in primary care: predictors of psychiatric disorders and functional impairment. Arch Fam Med 1994; 3: 774–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  74. Turk DC, Okifuji A. Assessment of patients’ reporting of pain: an integrated perspective. Lancet 1999; 353: 1784–93.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  75. Lin TY. Mental disorders and psychiatry in Chinese culture: characteristic features and major issues. In: Tseng WS, Wu DYH, editors. Chinese culture and mental health. Macau: Academic Press, 1985: 369–93.

    Google Scholar 

  76. Chaitchik S, Kreitler S, Shaked S, et al. Doctor-patient communication in a cancer ward. J Cancer Educ 1992; 7: 41–54.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  77. Ong LML, De Haes JCJM, Hoos AM, et al. Doctor-patient communication: a review of the literature. Soc Sci Med 1995; 40 (7): 903–18.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  78. DiMatteo MR, Taranta A, Friedman HS, et al. Predicting patient satisfaction from physicians non-verbal communication skills. Med Care 1980; 28: 376–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  79. Smith RC, Hoppe RB. The patient’s story: integrating the patient and physiciancentered approaches to interviewing. Ann Intern Med 1991; 115: 470–7.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  80. Holland JC, Geary N, Marchini A, et al. An international survey of physician attitudes and practice in regard to revealing the diagnosis of cancer. Cancer Invest 1987; 5 (2): 151–4.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  81. Street RL. Information-giving in medical consultations: the influence of patients’ communicative styles and personal characteristics. Soc Sci Med 1991; 32: 541–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  82. Waitzkin H. Doctor-patient communication: clinical implications of social scientific research. JAMA 1984; 252: 2441–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  83. Ayonrinde OA. Patients in cyberspace: information or confusion?. [editorial]. Postgrad Med J 1998; 74: 449–50.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  84. Greenhalgh T, Helman C, Chowdhury AM. Health beliefs and folk models of diabetes in British Bangladeshis: a qualitative study. BMJ 1998; 316: 978–838.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  85. Ong LML, De Haes JCJM, Hoos AM, et al. Doctor-Patient Communication: a review of the literature. Soc Sci Med 1995; 40 (7): 903–18.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  86. Smith CK, Polis E, Hadac RR. Characteristics of the initial medical interview associated with patient satisfaction and understanding. J Fam Pract 1981; 12: 283–8.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  87. Larsen KM, Smith CK. Assessment of non-verbal communication in the patientphysician interview. J Fam Pract 1981; 12: 481–8.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  88. Odejide AO, Olatawura MO, Sanda AP, et al. Traditional healers and mental illness in the city of Ibadan. J Black Stud 1977; 9: 195–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  89. Parrott R, Burgoon JK, Burgoon M, et al. Privacy between physicians and patients: more than a matter of confidentiality. Soc Sci Med 1989; 29: 1381–5.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  90. Bhugra D, Ayonrinde OA. Racial life events and psychiatric morbidity. In: Bhugra D, Cochrane R, editors. Psychiatry in multicultural Britain. London: Gaskell, 2001: 91–111.

    Google Scholar 

  91. Bourhis RY, Roth S, MacQueen G. Communication in the hospital setting: a survey of medical and everyday language use amongst patients, nurses, ad doctors. Soc Sci Med 1989; 28: 339–46.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  92. Hadlow J, Pitts M. The understanding of common health terms by doctors, nurses and patients. Soc Sci Med 1991, 6.

  93. Javier RA, Alpert M. Re effect of stress on the linguistic generalisation of bilingual individuals. J Psycholinguistic Res 1986; 15 (5): 419–35.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  94. Westmeyer J. Working with an interpreter in psychiatric assessment and treatment. J Nerv Ment Dis 1990; 178: 745–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  95. Nicassio PM, Solomon GS, Guest SS, et al. Emigration stress and language proficiency as correlates of depression in a sample of Southeast Asian refugees. Int J Soc Psychiatry 1986; 32: 22–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  96. Berkanovic E. The effect of inadequate language translation on Hispanics’ responses to health surveys. Am J Public Health 1980; 70: 1273–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  97. Uchigama K, Lutterjohn M, Shah MD. Crosscultural differences in frontalis muscle tension levels: an exploratory study comparing Japanese and Westerners. Biofeedback Self Regul 1981; 6: 75–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  98. Dalai FN. Race and racism: an attempt to organize difference: group analysis. Vo;. 26. London: Sage, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  99. Liggan DY, Kay J. Race in the room: issues in the dynamic psychotherapy of African Americans. Transcultural Psychiatry 1999; 36 (2): 195–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  100. Bhugra D, Bhui K. Clinical management of patients across cultures. Adv Psychiatr Treat 1997; 3: 233–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  101. Bhui K, Bhugra D. Cross-cultural competencies in the psychiatric assessment. Br J Hosp Med 1997; 57 (10): 492–6.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  102. Holmes DE. Race and transference in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Int J Psychoanalysis 1992; 73: 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  103. Comas-Diaz L, Jacobsen FM. Ethnocultural transference and countertransference in the therapeutic dyad. Am J Orthopsychiatry 1991; 61: 392–402.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  104. Tan R. Racism and similarity: paranoid-schizoid structures. Br J Psychother 1993; 10: 33–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  105. Coll X. Importance of acknowledging racial and cultural differences. Psychiatr Bull 1998; 22: 370–2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  106. Kareem J, Littlewood R. Intercultural therapy: theory and practice. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  107. Gordon P. Keeping therapy white? Psychotherapy training and equal opportunities. Br J Psychother 1993; 10: 44–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  108. Sinclair L, Kunda Z. Reactions to a black professional: motivated inhibition and activation of conflicting stereotypes. J Pers Soc Psychol 1999; 77 (5): 885–904.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  109. Barrio C. The cultural relevance of community support programmes. Psychiatr Serv 2000; 51 (7): 879–84.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  110. Lappin J. On becoming a culturally conscious family therapist. In: Hansen JC, editor. Cultural perspectives in family therapy. London: Aspen, 1983: 51–67.

    Google Scholar 

  111. Lefley HP, Bestman EW. Public-academic linkages for culturally sensitive community mental health. Community Ment Health J 1991; 27: 473–88.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  112. Flaskerud JH, Lui PY. Influence of the therapists’ ethnicity and language on therapy outcomes of southeast Asian clients. Int J Soc Psychiatry 1990/1991; 36: 18–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  113. Cooper-Patrick L, Gallo J, Gonzales JJ, et al. Race, gender and partnership in the patient-physician relationship. JAMA 1999; 282: 583–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  114. Comas-Diaz L. Building a multicultural private practice. Independent Pract 2001; 21 (4): 220–3.

    Google Scholar 

  115. LaFromboise TD, Trimble JE, Mohatt GV. Counseling intervention and American Indian tradition: an integrative approach. Couns Psychol 1990; 18: 628–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  116. Snowden L, Hu T, Jerrell J. Emergency care avoidance: ethnic matching and participation in minority-serving programs. Community Ment Health J 1995; 31: 463–73.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  117. Sue S. Psychotherapeutic services for ethnic minorities. Am Psychol 1988; 43: 301–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  118. Davids F. Two accounts of the management of racial difference in psychotherapy. J Social Work Pract 1988; 2: 40–51.

    Google Scholar 

  119. Slattery G. Transcultural therapy with aboriginal families: working with the belief system. Aust N Z J Fam Ther 1987; 8 (2): 61–70.

    Google Scholar 

  120. Baker FM, Bell CC. Issues in the psychiatric treatment of African Americans. Psychiatr Serv 1999; 50: 362–8.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  121. Hanlon J, Fillenbaum G, Burchett B, et al. Drug use patterns in black and nonblack community dwelling elderly. Ann Pharmacother 1992; 26: 679–85.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  122. Kalow W. Race and therapeutic drug response. N Engl J Med 1989; 320: 588–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  123. Kalow W. Pharmacogenetics: its biological roots and the medical challenge. Clin Pharmacol Ther 1993; 54: 235–41.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  124. Wood A, Zhou H. Ethnic differences in drug deposition and responsiveness. Clin Pharmacokinet 1991; 20: 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  125. Strickland T, Ranganath V, Lin K, et al. Psychopharmacologic considerations in the treatment of Black American populations. Psychopharmacol Bull 1991; 27: 441–8.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  126. Lin KM, Smith MW, Onitz V. Culture and psychopharmacology. Psychiatr Clin North Am 2001; 24 (3): 523–38.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  127. Comas-Diaz L. The future of psychotherapy with ethnic minorities. Psychotherapy 1992; 29: 88–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  128. Lopez SR. Cultural competence in psychotherapy: a guide for clinicians and their supervisors. In: Watkins CZ, editor. Handbook of psychotherapy supervision. New York: Wiley, 1997: 570–88.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author had no sources of funding or conflicts of interest directly relevant to the content of this review. He would like to acknowledge Dr Akolawole Ayonrinde for his comments on the original manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Maudsley Hospital, London, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AZ, UK

    Oyedeji Ayonrinde

Authors
  1. Oyedeji Ayonrinde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oyedeji Ayonrinde.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ayonrinde, O. Importance of Cultural Sensitivity in Therapeutic Transactions. Dis-Manage-Health-Outcomes 11, 233–248 (2003). https://doi.org/10.2165/00115677-200311040-00004

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00115677-200311040-00004

Keywords

Search

Navigation