From field to lab to clinic: Steps towards a cultural-clinical psychology

For more than a quarter-century, including the past 20 years at Concordia University, my career has been devoted to understanding the cultural context of emotions, thoughts, and behaviour, especially pertaining to suffering and healing. I have framed much of my work within the subdiscipline of cultural-clinical psychology.

The central claim here is that understanding the local cultural context is an essential part of valid clinical science and effective clinical practice. My research in cultural-clinical psychology, in close collaboration with an array of trainees and colleagues, involves two questions: (1) what are the acculturation trajectories that best predict mental health and well-being among migrants; and (2) how do shared cultural beliefs about self and emotions shape the experience and expression of internalizing symptoms.

I will review empirical research from my lab that address these two questions in turn, presenting data collected in China, Japan, and Korea, along with multicultural samples from Montréal. Then, I will briefly present preliminary data from two ongoing projects that seek to integrate these approaches. I will conclude with thoughts about how these findings inform the larger project of cultural-clinical psychology.

Event details

The event will be in-person, with a Zoom option. To attend in person, no registration is required. To attend on Zoom, please register here.

The lecture will be followed by a reception with light refreshments.