Sanjhe Rang/Shared colours, shared lives: a multicultural approach to mental health practice

Abstract

Abstract In this paper we reflect upon processes involved in setting up a development project challenging black people's linguistic and cultural exclusion from psychotherapeutic services. Firstly we situate the project within broader debates about issues of culture and (other forms of) identity in therapy, highlighting implications for therapy arising from the pervasive culture of racism and racialisation that positions black people as bearers of "race", and white people as devoid of colour/"culture". We critique institutional responses to the current demand for intercultural and multicultural approaches which tend to focus on technical devices such as cultural matching at the expense of (1) treating communities as culturally homogeneous; and (2) passing responsibility for culturally-appropriate provision onto specialist agencies or "culturally-equipped" individuals. Secondly, we present an account of the institutional resistances, professional tensions and community responses encountered in the setting up of Sanjhe Rang, a project offering psychotherapy in first language provision in a range of South East Asian languages in Rochdale, Lancashire. Finally we outline some reflections arising from this specific project and suggest some implications for ways of thinking about culturally autonomous, cross-community and cross-disciplinary collaborations around mental health practices.