White Western Therapists and How We Appropriate

December 2024

Let me just start with this: I’ve done it. I’ve absolutely done the thing I’m about to critique. As a white therapist working in a Western psychological framework, I’ve taken practices like mindfulness and tapping and used them without fully understanding their origins. I’ve taught them to clients, framed them as “modern therapeutic techniques,” and patted myself on the back for being innovative and evidence-based.

I cringe when I think about how often I’ve stripped these practices of their cultural and spiritual significance. I’ve repackaged them in ways that feel comfortable for me and my clients, all while failing to acknowledge, or sometimes even know, the rich histories and cultures these practices come from.

This post isn’t about calling anyone out but myself. If you’ve done this too, welcome to the club. Let’s sit in the discomfort together and figure out how to do better.

Western Psychology’s Appropriation Problem

Western psychology has a long history of claiming “innovative” therapeutic practices that are, in reality, borrowed from non-Western cultures. These practices are often stripped of their depth, reframed for Western audiences, and marketed as groundbreaking solutions to modern problems. The result? The cultural origins of these practices are erased, and white practitioners profit while the communities that developed these methods are left out of the conversation.

Let’s take a closer look at some examples.

Mindfulness: A Buddhist Tradition Stripped Bare

Mindfulness is one of the most glaring examples of appropriation in therapy. Its roots lie in ancient Buddhist traditions, particularly Vipassana meditation and Zen practices. These practices are deeply spiritual, emphasizing ethics, compassion, and interconnectedness​.

When Jon Kabat-Zinn introduced Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in the 1970s, he credited Buddhism as his inspiration but also secularized the practice to make it more accessible to Western audiences. This made mindfulness palatable to corporate and healthcare environments, turning it into a wellness tool rather than a spiritual discipline​.

As mindfulness grew in popularity, its Buddhist origins were often erased, replaced by a focus on individual productivity and stress management. The spiritual richness and ethical framework tied to mindfulness were sidelined, transforming a holistic tradition into a commodified wellness product​.

Tapping: Borrowing from Chinese Medicine

Another example is tapping, or the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which involves tapping on specific acupressure points to manage emotional distress. This practice is rooted in Chinese medicine’s meridian theory, which views energy flow as essential to health and well-being​.

The practice of tapping owes its existence to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), where techniques like acupressure and acupuncture are integral to healing. However, EFT has been marketed in Western contexts as a stand-alone technique for emotional regulation, often without acknowledgment of its origins. Western adaptations frequently overlook the depth of TCM’s philosophy, reducing tapping to a quick-fix tool​.

Holistic Healing and Somatic Therapies

Western psychology’s embrace of holistic and somatic therapies also has roots in non-Western traditions. Practices involving movement, rhythm, and body-based healing are central to African, Afro-Caribbean, and Indigenous cultures​. These methods have been used for centuries in rituals designed to process trauma and foster communal connection.

In Western contexts, these practices are often reframed as individualistic therapeutic tools like somatic experiencing. For example, Indigenous rituals that use communal dance and rhythm to heal emotional wounds are adapted into body-based techniques focused on personal trauma recovery, removing their original spiritual and cultural meanings​.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and the Medicine Wheel

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), developed by white psychologists like Steven Hayes, draws on principles like mindfulness, values-based living, and psychological flexibility. These ideas parallel holistic frameworks used in Indigenous cultures, particularly the Native American medicine wheel.

The medicine wheel represents balance across physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual domains, guiding Indigenous approaches to life and healing. By framing concepts like balance and interconnectedness as novel Western ideas, ACT erases Indigenous intellectual traditions. This erasure occurs alongside the ongoing marginalization of Indigenous communities, perpetuating a cycle where white practitioners profit from Indigenous knowledge.

The Harm of Cultural Appropriation in Therapy

Cultural appropriation in mental health care isn’t just an abstract issue, it has real, harmful consequences:

1. Erasure of Cultural Significance: Healing practices are reduced to tools, stripped of their spiritual and cultural depth.
2. Exclusion of Originating Communities: The cultures that created these practices rarely benefit from their commercialization. Instead, white practitioners and corporations profit.
3. Loss of Authenticity: Practices like mindfulness and somatic therapies lose their integrity when divorced from their cultural and philosophical contexts.

How Therapists Can Do Better

So, where do we go from here? Here are some steps we can take to move toward greater cultural respect and humility in therapy:

• Acknowledge the Origins: Recognize and honor the cultural roots of practices like mindfulness, tapping, and somatic healing.
• Engage with Communities: Collaborate with the communities these practices come from to ensure their respectful use and share the benefits.
• Educate Ourselves and Clients: Learn about the cultural and spiritual contexts of these practices, and share that knowledge with clients.
• Challenge the Narrative of Western Innovation: Push back against the idea that Western psychology is inventing these tools. Acknowledge that much of what we use comes from centuries of wisdom in non-Western cultures.

Conclusion

Doing this post was humbling because I had to confront the ways I’ve personally contributed to the very problem I’m discussing. If you’re a therapist or a wellness practitioner, I hope you reflect on your own practices and make changes where needed. 

Cultural appropriation in therapy doesn’t just erase traditions, it diminishes the depth and effectiveness of the very practices we rely on to help others. By honoring the origins of these practices, we can begin to repair the harm and build a more inclusive, respectful field.

I’m not done learning or unlearning, and I hope you’re not either.