Citation

Sturm G, Baubet T, Moro MR. Traumatology 2010; 16(4): 27-38.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Green Cross Academy of Traumatology, Publisher APA Journals)

DOI

10.1177/1534765610393183

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper discusses the French Ethnopsychoanalytic approach to trauma in transcultural therapy situations. The authors first describe the basic principles of the French Ethnopsychoanalytic tradition and the theoretical developments of this tradition within the last 30 years. These approaches combine a psychoanalytic understanding of therapeutic processes with a constant reflection on the social and symbolic contexts that appear in the patient's discourse. The specific way of referring to "culture" and belonging is exemplified by a detailed case-study of a therapy with a female patient who flew from West Africa in order to escape from an arranged marriage. While discussing some key moments of the therapy with this patient, the authors illustrate the co-construction of shared meanings within a dialogue about different cultural frames. They stress the need of a process-orientated and situational understanding of culture and show how the dialogue about "culture" helps to open the space for a re-interpretation of the current and past life-context of their patient. They also insist on that each comment on "culture" and "belongings" is interpreted within the therapeutic process and the relational dynamics this process implies.