Cultural psychiatry and minority identities in Japan: a constructivist narrative approach to therapy

Clinical work with minorities in Japan is a relatively new and rapidly growing field. An influx of migrants from the 1970s has required psychiatrists to work with culturally different patients, yet few are experienced or trained in this area. With an even more radical population change imminent, skills in working with people of diverse cultural backgrounds are becoming a pressing need. While psychiatry in Japan has long been concerned with culture, only very recently has this concern involved differences among Japanese. Psychotherapy with both new migrants and individuals from more traditional minority backgrounds involves issues of acculturation and identity. A clinical approach based on a theoretical orientation of constructivistic narrative therapy can be usefully applied to multicultural situations. A case is presented in which this approach is employed in assisting a Korean-Japanese youth to deal with identity struggles.