[Working better in complex clinical situations: the experience of interinstitutional and transcultural seminars]

The new sociocultural realities of Québec society provide the opportunity to rethink practices in the field of mental health, particularly in regards to clinical assessments. Although remaining in part objective, clinical assessments are invariably strongly coloured by the sociocultural contexts where theoretical approaches and practical assessment tools are developed. Clinicians' institutional mandates also influence the ways in which they consider and proceed with the process of assessing. This article highlights the necessity of taking into account institutional and political dimensions in addition to simply recognizing the cultural differences at play. One means of facilitating this understanding is a "transcultural" and "inter-institutional" seminar for clinicians from various institutions (CLSCs or Youth protection agencies) with distinct mandates that revolves around case discussions concerning people of diverse cultural origins.