Advancing Cultural-Clinical Psychology: Reflections on the Special Issue

Abstract

The articles in this special issue of the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology together comprise an initial foray into the domain of cultural-clinical psychology as recently reformulated by Ryder, Ban, and Chentsova-Dutton (2011). This generative reformulation accentuated the conceptual importance of construing the relationship between psychology and culture as one of mutual constitution. Moreover, this framework of mutual constitution was extended beyond culture and mind to incorporate the brain into a synthesis of culture-mind-brain that functions as a unitary dynamic multilevel system. The articles in this special issue embrace this expansive vision of cultural-clinical psychology and afford complex and nuanced insights as a result. Nevertheless, the future success of this endeavor will require broad inclusion of psychological researchers and research approaches well beyond the traditions of cultural inquiry in social psychology if the promise of a reformulated cultural-clinical psychology is to be realized.