Breaking the ‘culture of silence’: exploring therapist perspectives of culturally sensitive systemic psychotherapy in contested sociopolitical contexts – a Northern Ireland case study

Abstract

Recent national and international events have shone a spotlight on structural inequalities and institutionalised racism, igniting a contemporary struggle for equality and evoking the UK systemic community to affirm its commitment to social justice and anti-racism. This article sets the scene by examining how systemic theory and research have historically addressed racial inequality and cross-cultural practice, before describing a small but pioneering qualitative study which explored the practice of cultural sensitivity via in-depth interviews with five experienced systemic psychotherapists in Northern Ireland (NI). While confirming some similarities with other UK regions, tentative but important nuanced differences emerged in the NI context given its protracted history of sectarian division, political conflict, and more limited immigration. Self-imposed ‘silence’ with regard to one's own religious/cultural identity in the context of the NI political conflict emerged as a key theme, alongside therapist under-explored Whiteness; theoretical paradoxes influencing therapist reticence; and perceived therapeutic benefits of exploring cultural differences and lived experience of racism. Study limitations and implications are discussed, identifying the need for further research and renewed efforts (in theory, training, and practice) to assist therapists to break the ‘culture of silence’ in their local sociopolitical context and address wider social inequities.