ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines potential barriers to cross-cultural work and some thoughts on how to work with them. It examines the setting, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, direct/indirect style of communication, and the variation of emotional expression across culture. Careful planning has to take place to determine a “good-enough” location for a cross-cultural therapy service, and whether one is aiming to serve a particular community group. The flow of the communication depends on the interpreter and their psychological knowledge and ability to bear the client’s emotional process. The right interpreter can enhance the communication and bridge the language gap. Cross-cultural consultants have noted how the administrative staffs of therapy/mental health centres sometimes feel a need to fill the gap for “lost cultures”. Learning to speak another language is an intricate process. One can learn the actual words, but being able to communicate properly goes far beyond that, because one has to understand the paralinguistic.
