Relational-cultural therapy
Relational-cultural therapy (RCT) is a therapeutic approach that underscores the significant role of relationships in mental and emotional well-being. Originating in the 1970s, RCT emerged from the work of psychologist Jean Baker Miller and her colleagues, who focused on how cultural factors—such as power dynamics, gender, and race—impact relational experiences, particularly for women. This therapy emphasizes the interdependence between relationships and mental health, suggesting that broken connections can lead to psychological distress, including conditions like depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
In RCT, therapists prioritize building a supportive therapeutic relationship, which serves as a foundation for exploring the client's relational patterns and experiences. This exploration often includes examining past relationships to understand how they influence current dynamics. By identifying unhelpful habits and thought processes, the therapist aims to foster healthier ways of engaging in relationships, ultimately enhancing the individual's emotional resilience and overall mental health. RCT is culturally sensitive and respects diverse perspectives, making it an inclusive option for individuals seeking therapy that recognizes the complexities of their relational worlds.
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Subject Terms
Relational-cultural therapy
Relational-cultural therapy is a form of mental healthcare that emphasizes the important role relationships play in psychological and emotional health. It is sometimes referred to as “relational psychotherapy” or simply “relational therapy.” Relational-cultural therapy takes into consideration the cultural factors that affect relationships, such as issues of power and respect, as well as class, gender, and race.
Background
Relational-cultural therapy originated in the work of American psychiatrist Jean Baker Miller. Miller was interested in the way culture and mental health intersected, and especially in the way the roles in relationships affected women. Her research centered on how issues of power and cultural expectations for women affected their relationships.
In 1976, Miller published Toward a New Psychology of Women. The book was considered groundbreaking because it suggested that relationships play a key role in mental health. It examined the interdependence between broken relationships and psychological well-being.
The concepts first proposed by Miller were expanded upon by Miller and some of her colleagues, including Judith V. Jordan, Irene Stiver, and Janet Surrey. Eventually, these women created a semiformal group known first as the Stone Center Therapy Group and then the Founding Scholars. Their focus was on finding better ways to provide mental health therapy to women. The women began publishing and sharing their findings at conferences.
Eventually, they became a formal part of the Stone Center at Wellesley College, where they continued to examine and provide resources for alternative ways to treat women that included the importance of their relationships with others. Their work also took into account the way women were affected by the more dominant role of White, middle-class, heterosexual men in American culture at that time. Relational-cultural therapy continued to be used in the twenty-first century as its ability to address modern mental health issues in diverse environments, as well as the growing body of evidence noting its efficacy, made it a valuable treatment option. The therapy was beneficial for trauma survivors, individuals feeling marginalized by their identity, and for using relationship connections to combat depression.
Overview
Relational-cultural therapy rose out of the work of Miller and her colleagues and an overall movement in psychology in the 1970s and 1980s. Around that time, experts in the field were changing the emphasis of psychological care. Instead of focusing on what was going on in an individual’s mind, they became more interested in how people were affected by the culture around them and the relationships in which they were involved.
This form of therapy is used when people are experiencing conditions such as depression, anxiety, or stress that are causing symptoms such as eating disorders, low self-esteem, or relationship problems. Mental health professionals using a relational-cultural approach look at how a person’s relationships with others and with society as a whole might be affecting these conditions.
The therapist will first work to build a supportive and comfortable professional relationship with the individual. Once this is established, the therapist will help the individual examine their relationships for patterns, reactions, or other features that might be affecting those relationships. This often includes looking back at past relationships and how they might be affecting current situations. The focus is on the behaviors and reactions in those relationships and how they might be causing problems in new relationships. The therapist’s goal is to identify unhelpful habits and thought processes and to replace them with new ways of looking at and responding in relationships.
Bibliography
“The Development of Relational-Cultural Theory Beginnings: Self-in-Relation.” Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, www.wcwonline.org/JBMTI-Site/the-development-of-relational-cultural-theory. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
“Dr. Jean Baker Miller.” Changing the Face of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 3 June 2015, cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography‗225.html. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
“Jean Baker Miller, M.D.” Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, www.wcwonline.org/JBMTI-Site/Founding-Scholars/jean-baker-miller. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
“Jean Baker Miller, 78, Psychiatrist, Is Dead.” New York Times, 8 Aug. 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/us/08miller.html. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
“Relational-Cultural Therapy (RCT): Techniques, Applications, and Effectiveness.” Counselling Collective, counsellingcollective.net/relational-cultural-therapy. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
“Relational Psychotherapy.” GoodTherapy, www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/relational-psychotherapy. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
“Relational Therapy.” Psychology Today, 11 July 2022, www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/relational-therapy. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
Schwartz, Harriet L. “Relational Practice: The Currency of Student Affairs.” NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, 20 Feb. 2017, www.naspa.org/blog/relational-practice-the-currency-of-student-affairs. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.