Cultural Countertransference of Young Clinicians Facing a State of Possession: A Cultural Case Study.

Abstract

Possession states are a well-known but a complex clinical aspect of transcultural psychiatry. How do young clinicians react when facing such symptoms? Starting from the case of a Somali patient suffering from possession states, treated in a transcultural consultation group, we will attempt to explain the cultural countertransference experienced by young clinicians who witnessed a trance. Using the Cultural Formulation Interview, we observed an evolution of the countertransference, and therefore an evolution of the symptom's understanding and of the patient's condition. This clinical case thus highlights the necessity to take into account the cultural countertransference of young clinicians within the transcultural consultation.

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