Dance/Movement Therapy in Cross-Cultural Practice: Fostering Assertiveness with Torture Survivors

A U.S. dance/movement therapist's report on case histories of three adult African survivors of human rights abuse, this narrative addresses approaches taken to foster assertiveness following exposure to torture and trafficking. The author points to dilemmas experienced in working cross-culturally, including the risk of therapist ethnocentricity in promoting values of independence and self-sufficiency that may be culturally inappropriate for survivors from traditional cultures of the global South. Sue's framework for considering worldview by examining the effects of differences between therapist and client in terms of "locus of control" and "locus of responsibility" is highlighted for its usefulness to mental health providers who aim to avoid imposing individualist assumptions on persons from collectivist environments.