Bob Leahy's View on CT and Cultural Diversity

Bob Leahy wrote:

" Several years ago I sent out requests to the Listserves of the International Association for Cognitive Psychotherapy and, I believe, the ACT for articles relating to "minorities" (which sounds like the wrong word), gays, alternative lifestyles, etc. I wanted the Journal, and I still would like the Journal, to include work in this area. I recognize that many graduate programs in urban areas, like NYC, emphasize multi-culturalism, but I had little knowledge of any CBT approaches to this topic.

Are there distinct experiences that are more likely for some groups than for others? Yes. An example is the fact that a heterosexual white male has to work hard to understand the experiences of gay males. This became clear to me as I worked with a number of HIV positive gay men. Certainly, I could try hard to understand what it was like to lose many friends to a dread disease, to have a stigmatized disease, to be afraid of other people knowing your sexual orientation. Having been raised, like many straight men, with prejudices against gays, I needed to work on this. I found that the best tool was to do two things: 1) listen very carefully and 2) put myself in their shoes.

When I did this, my stereotypes melted. I saw a world from their eyes that was filled with injustice, internal contradiction, hopelessness---but a world with a special community---one to which I would never belong. I recognized the "otherness" that they must experience. I recognized the importance of their heroes and the dread that they experienced fearing reprisal. I realized that prejudice against them was always the consequence of a cognitive deficit and a moral failing in the person who hated.

There are cultural experiences that affect certain groups that we need to elucidate---especially since we are cognitive therapists. This is a challenging area for us. For example, we need to know th kinds of assumptions, beliefs, needs, and concerns that immigrant groups have, that non-Whites experience, that are important to people who are "different" in some way. We need to realize that "we" are the "minority" to the rest of the world.

Ironically, cognitive therapy is so well-positioned for this, given the fact that culture is largely a social representation."

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