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In transcultural psychoanalytically oriented treatments, the therapist must consider differences between the cultures of origin of both patient and therapist. The therapist also must be aware of a third relevant culture that affects the patient-therapist dyad: the psychoanalytic culture. The effect of the psychoanalytic culture and its values on the development of transference and countertransference is illustrated in three clinical vignettes from transcultural treatments. The authors offer suggestions for dealing with problems that arise because of discrepancies between the psychoanalytic cultural values and the patient's cultural values.
Although the concept of a value-free psychoanalyst may be an ideal within the psychoanalytic community (Hartmann 1959), it is clear that the analyst brings his/her values to the analytic situation. For example, the analyst brings his/her belief in the importance of individualism to the consulting room (Shafer, in Cabaniss, 1994-1995), merely by choosing to analyze an individual. In addition, the psychoanalytic process clearly emphasizes such “professional values … [as] the dominance of reason, stress on integration” (Michels, op cit), personal agency, the utility of words