Individual psychology and cross-cultural research in psychiatry

Abstract

The study of man in his social context is of primary importance today and must be based on historical, economic, family, value, and communication aspects, considering all existing “cultural products.”
Individual Psychology, since its origins, has been attentive to socio-cultural issues, seeking to articulate the idiographic reference (the uniqueness of the individual) with the nomothetic reference
(a common human basis). The flexibility of Individual Psychology, inspired by the Vaihingerian tradition of “as if,” fits well with the need to connect the structure of personality with the structure of society and cultural subgroups. In an increasingly multifaceted and dynamic reality, an adequate therapeutic relationship cannot overlook the relevance of cultural aspects on the formation of the “basic personality/lifestyle” and on the possibility of constructing therapeutic interventions that are meaningful for the patient