Getting to 'Relatively and Generally Fine'

I have had the privilege of equally being exposed to two world cultures. I was born and raised in India until 18 years and lived in the United States from 2003 to 2023. For this reason, a theme that generally remains central to my mind is the influence of cultural frameworks on thought and behavior. The way information is organized shifts depending on culturally advantageous or prioritized outcomes, be it in how we reframe emotions during challenging times, the frequency with which we recall emotional experiences, and in modulating emotional expression (Kitayama, Mesquita, & Karasawa, 2006, Tsai, 2007, Scollon et al., 2007). Inevitably, cultural influence walks like shadow and sunlight in the development of personality. Moreover, our sense of self is formed and reformed by the emotions and ways of thinking we engage in most often.

A distinct separate sense of self has always been a useful conceptualization in Western thought. It is also in this thought-space that the first formats of psychotherapy developed, as practiced in most countries today. However, as the world has become more interconnected culturally, we know by observation and research how something as simple as identifying categories and relationships between entities/objects in a social setting aren't processed similarly by Easterners and Westerners (Nisbett, 2003). For example, in the book The Geography of Thought, Dr. Richard Nisbett explains how Easterners are more likely to be in tune with contextually relevant interrelationships and the general social environment taken together, while Westerners focus more on identifying categories based on similarity and knowing how objects serve culturally relevant functions, as also revealed scientifically (Nisbett et al., 2001, Unsworth, Sears, & Pexman, 2005).

Considering how both, the sense of self and contextual understanding, matter in the management of mental health, I'm going to offer a few suggestions for how psychotherapy today may be implemented even more successfully for the 'Eastern' minded.

1. Contextualize psychological experiences as good or bad neighborhoods: The metaphor of good and bad neighborhoods resonates well with most people when the topic of difficult or unresolved psychological issues arises. The idea is to use this imagination to envision the possibility of shifting states of mind (for Easterners) or generate focus by personal choice (for Westerners), depending on who is seeking treatment. Once the form of thinking is identified, it is likely to be easier to enable culturally and individually relevant forms of coping. In general, this approach can also be useful to assess if the client is ready for difficult unaddressed issues on a particular day. The prompt can be, "Would you like to visit the dark neighborhood today?" assuming the therapist has already established a metaphorical lingo of reference with the person experiencing the therapeutic journey. Why does this matter? Such mild psychological distancing enabled by the use of language is likely to ease the discussion for a profile not as used to a sharp spot-lit distinct sense of self carrying clear issues because the varying impediments are continuously swallowed, sometimes questioned, and regulated to maintain a kind of social-emotional equilibrium, within and outside.

   
   

2. Change the meaning of daily successes and achievement based on the complexity and difficulty of the challenge(s) or symptoms being experienced: On some days, success may mean being able to complete a few chores (e.g., making a simple breakfast, calling a friend or parent, walking the dog, taking a shower). Once such a routine is achieved for a week, more challenging activities can be planned, incrementally leading to realistically possible and then intensive daily work after two months. The idea is to introduce 'work' in the beginning that requires lower cognitive abilities or something the person is accustomed to more as an easy task, when facing bad psychological patches. Regular functioning is likely to be found once such normalcy is introduced.

   
   

3. Encourage both positive and negative emotions in enabling healing: We are used to responding and emoting based on what is expected socially depending on what the world thinks we have been through due to any inherent or social condition. However, we defeat ourselves when we aren't able to recognize the shared reality of many people experiencing the same across space and time. Hence, when an other-focused response is introduced when a self-focused tendency is more likely, a mood shift is likely to follow, setting the person free from a self-prone victimized thinking. A shift from 'why me?' to 'why others as well?' can take away the burden of distress experienced and ironically generate greater empathy for similar others newer in the same struggle. Over time, particularly if this is happening in a group therapy session, a client can help another person to envision progress. In an independent situation, this may mean helping someone in a task that is complex for others buy really easy for you, which can boost both relatedness and a sense of competency. Seeing another day with renewed hope becomes easier this way, a mindset important for sustaining good mental health.

   
   

4. Keep the big picture in mind and what will matter eventually over time: The space of therapy can often get heavy, full of disappointment and dismay in a detailed self-focused analyses of events and issues. Therefore, anything personally and culturally symbolic that helps the person prioritize what will always matter in their life's good sense of meaning can keep the road to recovery intact. The idea is to make manageable daily obstacles feel like particles of sand, not big unconquerable rocks.

   
   

In sum, making the client formulate a concrete one-line answer to 'What matters most to you?' is always handy when you may not be there to remind or when they may have forgotten this essential reason themselves. Roaring ambulances and phone-calls aren't going to be there at all times for some people when in critical situations. Making people discover what matters most to complete their good book of life is likely to be accessible.

References

Kitayama, S., Mesquita, B., & Karasawa, M. (2006). Cultural affordances and emotional

experience: Socially engaging and disengaging emotions in Japan and the United States.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 890-903.

Nisbett, R. (2003). The geography of thought: How Asians and Westerners think differently... and why. Free Press.

Nisbett, R. E., Peng, K., Choi, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2001). Culture and systems of thought: holistic versus analytic cognition. Psychological Review, 108(2), 291-310.

Scollon, C. N., Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2004). Emotions across cultures and methods. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35, 304-326.

Tsai, J. L. (2007). Ideal affect: Cultural causes and behavioral consequences. Perspectives on

Psychological Science, 2, 242-259.

Unsworth, S. J., Sears, C. R., & Pexman, P. M. (2005). Cultural Influences on Categorization Processes. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36(6), 662–688.