ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on culture in ways that highlight the complexity of the concept, as a process that is both unconscious and conscious, has internal and external meanings, and is dynamic and contextual. David Morgan provides a candid personal reflection on how unprepared he was to work with patients from different cultural and racial backgrounds. The book describes how his understanding and technique as a white psychotherapist was challenged in his work with two patients (one black, one white)—in particular, by images from dreams that came up in the process of their therapy. It shows that these pitfalls can be avoided if therapists continually find the space to review their practice probably especially with patients from different racial and cultural backgrounds to themselves, given the history of silence, avoidance, guilt, and shame in this area.
