THE VALUE OF CURIOSITY AND NAIVETE FOR THE CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOTHERAPIST

Therapists today face a dramatic increase in the cultural diversity of their client populations. Cultural literacy, long the dominant model for preparing to do cross-cultural therapy, advocates study of the pro spective client's history and culture. This model, however, poses logi stical problems, emphasizes scholarship over the experiential and phen omenological, and risks seeing clients as their culture and not as the mselves. lit this essay, we argue that teaching culture alone can obsc ure therapists' view of human diversity. To balance the cognitive mode l of preparation, a process-oriented approach is considered whereby th e therapists' attitudes of cultural naivete and respectful curiosity a re given equal importance to knowledge and shill. We begin from a conc ern with clients' vulnerability in the power distribution that inevita bly exists in therapy, especially with immigrant and marginalized popu lations. The use of acculturation narratives, which the therapist expl ores with naivete' and curiosity, helps clients to find their voices.