ABSTRACT
Widespread migration and interconnectedness in the world today increase the likelihood that physiotherapists will encounter cultural diversity in their practices. This chapter outlines a physiotherapist’s path towards increased cultural awareness and personal growth, drawing upon epiphanies arising through encounters with a newcomer family from a different country. Autoethnographic reflections based on experiences in the physiotherapist’s practice are brought into dialogue with a social worker and a psychologist and with literature highlighting relevant sociocultural and philosophical perspectives. The discussion raises critical awareness of how we all are affected by assumptions, biases, values, and positioning in society. It also contributes to an enhanced awareness of challenges related to encountering difference in general, as well as approaches to moving from ethnocentric to more relational and collaborative practices. By recognizing that there are two cultures coming to meet, cultural humility appears as a key approach to the development of both individual professional and personal competencies and in the improvement of quality of services at a systemic level. The discussion offers insights that have the potential to be transferred to other contexts where diversities are found.
