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| Cultural Competency and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy |
| Monday, September 30, 2019 |
| 3:00 PM–3:50 PM |
| Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, Level 2, Meeting Room 24/25 |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Chair: Parsla Vintere (CHE Senior Psycholgical Services; Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center) |
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| Behavioral Contingency Analysis: From Freud and Morita to ACT |
| Domain: Theory |
| PARSLA VINTERE (CHE Senior Psycholgical Services; Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center) |
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| Abstract: There is a great emphasis placed on the importance of cultural sensitivity in psychotherapy. In contrast, the effect of the cultural milieu on development of psychotherapy techniques and their behavioral contingencies has received relatively little attention. Contemporary Western psychotherapy approaches, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, utilize techniques that are influenced by Eastern philosophy to treat anxiety. The present paper looks at two influential figures in the history of psychology – Sigmund Freud, representing Western approach and Shoma Morita, representing Eastern approach. While Freud’s psychoanalysis is well known all over the world, Morita’s therapy may not be. Both Freud and Morita had similar educational and occupational backgrounds and they were contemporaries. There are similarities in their theories, but what set them apart was deeply imbedded in their cultural experience. Thus, culture is looked at as a determining factor in the development of treatment techniques. The similarities and differences in structuring treatments dealing with anxiety for the two theories will be examined and their relation to contemporary Western psychotherapy discussed. Behavioral contingency analysis is used to examine the treatment structure of Freud’s psychoanalysis, Morita therapy and ACT. |
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