Boomerang effect of cultural self-awareness : a heuristic study

Considering my recent immigration to Canada, and understanding that my identity has been profoundly shaped by the culture of the group in which I grew up, I became interested in investigating the possible impact of my cultural background in the therapeutic relationships with my clients; a concern that led me to the discussion of cultural awareness . With the demographics continuously changing around the globe, the literature in the field of mental health demonstrates the increasing need for cultural awareness in order to avoid cultural assimilation or malpractice in the clinical and research settings. There is, however, a lack of practical examples of how professionals can actually achieve such awareness. Founded on the ideas of Edward T. Hall (1976), the purpose of this heuristic self-inquiry is to share the path I took to expand my own cultural awareness, and, by doing so, to demonstrate that an art therapist could approach such a task by leaving her or his comfort zone and creatively working with possible countertransferences to the experience. During a two-month cross-cultural art therapy experience in Peru, I investigated my own cultural countertransferences through visual and written journals. As I journeyed inward, 'forgotten' cultural assumptions and worldviews that were rooted in my childhood surfaced to my conscious mind: they haunted my dreams, stirred my emotions, and culminated in an encounter with the Shadow side of my personality. Now I remember; now I am more awar