The Suitability of a Transcultural Clinical Approach to Psychosomatic Disturbances in Reunion Island

Abstract

Cultural foundations, beliefs and associated ritual practices delimit the relation to and the representation and lived experience of the body in specific ways. Language is the means through which the cultural specificity of both individual and shared mental content can be explored and worked with in therapy. This article presents beliefs about the body in a patient’s religion of origin and takes up the question of the role of the cultural dimension in psychosomatic phenomena. A case history gives indications of a novel therapeutic approach to this theme and highlights the intrinsic connection between cultural belonging and embodiment.