All relationships are to some extent cross-cultural, as both parties come together from different families to build a new one together. Whilst for many couples this will be a natural set of compromises to which both partners will adjust naturally overtime – for others, the differences can be fundamental- with people finding it difficult to understand the other way of looking at the world.
Cross-cultural issues faced by couples include:
  • loss of identity
  • conflicts over differences in fundamental beliefs
  • clashes in parenting tactics
  • struggles with unsupportive families
  • different interpretations of an event relating to some aspect of differing cultures

Some lifestyle disagreements include:

  • Eating and drinking – Different cultures have different views on alcohol consumption and diets vary greatly around the world.
  • Clothing – Sometimes people change what they wear to fit in with another culture.
  • Chore distribution – Different views on gender roles can spark conflict when it comes to distributing domestic chores.
  • Money- Money can be a big stumbling block when it comes to relationship harmony. How people deal with money, how they value money, and how they spend it can be quite dependent on the culture they come from.

These problems don’t just arise in couples, but also can happen within a family or friendship as we all are unique in some degree, being of different religions, generations, countries etc. Transcultural counselling can help greatly.

Transcultural counselling  
Transcultural Counselling is not about being an expert on any given culture, rather it is a way of thinking about patients that acknowledges and values culture. Transcultural counselling aims to provide a service and focus attention on aspects of the counselling process which can easily be overlooked as we strive to improve the ways in which we deliver counselling to individuals for their complex concerns and issues to all the cultural groups we seek to serve.
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The diversity found across cultures signifies the importance of adopting counselling care system which is sensitive to this diversity and predisposed to incorporating a high-quality service provision reframed to fit the needs of different cultures and values; whether individualistic or collectivistic, and adept at finding solutions which are in conjunction with the patients highly regarded values and traditions to facilitate therapeutic changes.

HARVEST THERAPY
44 Russell Square,
London WC1B 4JP
United Kingdom

Phone Number: 020 8962 6247
email: info@harvest-therapy.co.uk