ABSTRACT
Consultations across cultures occur when the patient and the health professional are from different cultural backgrounds. When counselling is part of the management strategy, this process may be referred to as ‘cross’ or ‘inter’ cultural counselling, though the prefi x ‘trans’ may be preferred, as it emphasises ‘the active and reciprocal process that is involved’.1 The health professional, counsellor or therapist needs to acknowledge cultural differences and work with and through these. For transcultural consultations to be effective the health professional needs to integrate the interacting multiple cultures: the health professional’s own culture, the patient’s culture and the culture of the health system or institution.2
