Psychotherapy is a Western product and an import that has shaped the global psyche and influenced meaning making. I am an Egyptian who have had the privilage and opportunity to train and practice within the mental health field but I often find myself caught in the West and East polarized thinking, unsure of which side of me to trust: As a therapist, I often ponder how safely and realistically can I venture into culturally attuend practice that creates different languages, healing practices, and relationships, and step away from established systems of knowledge and practices rooted in implicit Western ideals. As a Middle Eastern woman working in a Western model, I often feel powerless, disembodied and at times dehumanized to a ‘tool’; my difference sterilized enough to deliver pre-determined processes and interventions that are mis-attuned to the difference of needs and ways of being of those in distress.

Therefore in this working session, you are invited to be part of a small group as we sit with ambvialence, pluarity and the nuances of culture in psychotherapy. The aim is to share stories, reflect together and have a communal collaborative encounter that is not concerned with answers but is decolonizing it is promise of a co-created wisdom emerging from shared meaning-making and mutually nourishing conversations.

This session links to the themes of trust between the practitioner and the knowledge base upon which professional idenity and practice is built. It also links to themes of polarity of West and East/invidualisim and collectivism and of powerlessness and agency. It is hopefully a practice in shifting from persecutory feelings through critical and relational thinking.