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Relational–Cultural Therapy
In this second edition of Relational–Cultural Therapy (RCT), Judith V. Jordan returns to explore the history, theory, and practice of relationship centered, culturally oriented psychotherapy.
Western psychological theories generally depict human development as moving from dependence to independence. In contrast, RCT is built on the premise that, throughout the lifespan, human beings grow through and toward connection, and that we need connections to flourish. This theory views isolation, at both individual and cultural levels, as a major source of suffering. The goal of the relational therapist is to deepen the therapeutic relationship and, ultimately, the client’s relationships outside of therapy. The client’s relational images—positive or negative expectations created by past relationships – influence current relationships, and a negative image can result in disconnections between people and society. This essential primer, amply illustrated with case examples, is perfect for graduate students and seasoned practitioners alike. This new edition highlights new research on the effectiveness of RCT in a variety of real-world situations—such as developing team-building exercises in workplaces, and providing a theoretical frame for an E.U.-sponsored conference on human trafficking.
Western psychological theories generally depict human development as moving from dependence to independence. In contrast, RCT is built on the premise that, throughout the lifespan, human beings grow through and toward connection, and that we need connections to flourish. This theory views isolation, at both individual and cultural levels, as a major source of suffering. The goal of the relational therapist is to deepen the therapeutic relationship and, ultimately, the client’s relationships outside of therapy. The client’s relational images—positive or negative expectations created by past relationships – influence current relationships, and a negative image can result in disconnections between people and society. This essential primer, amply illustrated with case examples, is perfect for graduate students and seasoned practitioners alike. This new edition highlights new research on the effectiveness of RCT in a variety of real-world situations—such as developing team-building exercises in workplaces, and providing a theoretical frame for an E.U.-sponsored conference on human trafficking.
184 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
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594 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 4, 2019
One of the best therapy books I have ever read. As I develop as a therapist, I am starting to honor how much emphasis I place on interpersonal relationships and interpersonal psychotherapy theory in my work. At the same time, I recognize that a lot of past writing about interpersonal psychotherapy has promoted problematic ideals of ignored the importance of culture and social justice issues (e.g., Irvin Yalom’s work). I love Relational-Cultural Therapy because it both honors the power of relationships in our lives and our clients’ lives. Judith Jordan writes with great intelligence about how emphasizing the power of relationships defies traditionally Western and masculine values of independence and self-ambition. Here’s a couple of paragraphs that captures this (I know it’s a long passage to include in a review but I feel that it’s important info to disseminate):
”The illusion of separation and the celebration of autonomy are part of the denial or denigration of our basic need to participate in growth-fostering relationships. Western culture valorizes these disconnected individualistic qualities. In such a culture, people with privilege can falsely appear more self-sufficient, more mature, more worthy of the privilege. But evidence increasingly suggests that people need to contribute to the growth of others and experience others’ willingness to engage in mutually beneficial interactions. To address these needs effectively, therapists need to ask: How has psychology been complicit in building cultural values that embrace separation and independence? How have psychology and clinical practice been shaped by, but also created and sustained, a culture of disconnection? How has psychology helped to sustain a culture of privilege and prejudice?
These questions themselves contribute to the possibility of achieving social justice and dispel the illusion of the objectivity and neutrality of any theoretical position. In addressing them, RCT acknowledges its value biases: the belief that the capacity to build good connection is an essential human skill; the belief that it is valuable, even essential, for our global well-being that human beings develop relational skills and honor our basic need for connection; the belief that people have an essential need to connect with others; the belief that if these core yearnings for connection are supported by the larger context and people learn how to relate in growth-fostering ways with one another, people will experience an increasing sense of well-being at a personal and collective level.”
Relational-Cultural Therapy also does an excellent job of addressing the therapeutic relationship as a mechanism for change. It acknowledges the power that we have as therapists and how we should strive to use that power to create a safe, compassionate space so that clients can experience a healing and authentic relationship. Even in my early development as a therapist, I have seen practitioners and theories that assume that the therapist is always right, that any difficulty of the client to trust the therapist is an indication of the client’s neuroses, etc. This approach has always felt so demeaning and distancing to me. Relational-Cultural Therapy, instead of minimizing clients’ emotions or assuming therapists’ superiority, posits that therapists should open themselves up to their own shortcomings for the sake of facilitating a growth-fostering relationship with the client. I feel so much better about this approach as it more explicitly addresses power within the therapy dyad. A quote about how Relational-Cultural Therapy approaches the therapy relationship that I appreciated:
”Therapists must be careful not to force or push connection with clients, however. Instead, we should slowly, deliberately provide experiences of safe connection and of reworking empathic failures. Therapists must demonstrate to clients that the well-being of the relationship and the client is more important than certainty, being right, or maintaining our own self-images as ‘good, empathic therapists.’ Thus, we work actively with disconnections and relational failures. We apologize when we are wrong. We work with our own defensiveness when under attack, not assuming automatically that the entire problem is in the client (e.g., not turning to ‘projective identification’ to explain our own reactions in therapy). We are open to examining our own limitations, as well as the ways our own disconnections injure or affect others. Working with mutual empathy, the therapist allows clients to see their impact on her or him – that they matter to her or him.”
I also like how Relational-Cultural Therapy explicitly recognizes how oppression contributes to difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Jordan names racism, heterosexism, and homophobia as factors that therapists must be cognizant of in how they affect clients’ capacity for connection as well as their overall wellbeing. While I have met many therapists and psychologists who do pay attention to how social injustice affects clients’ mental health, I have met many others who ignore this important point. Thus, I feel glad that Relational-Cultural Therapy seeks to understand how issues of oppression and privilege play out in clients’ lives and in the therapeutic relationship. While I appreciate this emphasis on social injustice and mental health, I feel that this theme is where the book could have benefited from more development as well. The book could have incorporated more specific ways that clients can navigate whether to trust therapists’ knowledge of social justice, as well as more case examples of power dynamics related to social identities playing out in therapy (e.g., if a therapist is working with a client with more privilege than the therapist). Still, I appreciated Jordan’s inclusion of this theme overall and would highly recommend this book to therapists and those interested in mental health who are looking for a very readable, relationally-oriented psychotherapy book that takes into account issues of power, privilege, and social justice. I will end this review with a quote related to therapists’ responsibility to address social injustice:
”Relational-Cultural Therapy holds that therapists, as self-defined change agents, have a responsibility to pursue questions about social change as well as personal change. Context is essential to an understanding of suffering and what is called pathology, and thus the need for change in the social milieus within which we function must be addressed. Therapists have a special responsibility to question the part that the larger culture plays in creating disconnections and other suffering that bring people to treatment. They also have a responsibility to facilitate the well-being of the greatest number of people possible.”
”The illusion of separation and the celebration of autonomy are part of the denial or denigration of our basic need to participate in growth-fostering relationships. Western culture valorizes these disconnected individualistic qualities. In such a culture, people with privilege can falsely appear more self-sufficient, more mature, more worthy of the privilege. But evidence increasingly suggests that people need to contribute to the growth of others and experience others’ willingness to engage in mutually beneficial interactions. To address these needs effectively, therapists need to ask: How has psychology been complicit in building cultural values that embrace separation and independence? How have psychology and clinical practice been shaped by, but also created and sustained, a culture of disconnection? How has psychology helped to sustain a culture of privilege and prejudice?
These questions themselves contribute to the possibility of achieving social justice and dispel the illusion of the objectivity and neutrality of any theoretical position. In addressing them, RCT acknowledges its value biases: the belief that the capacity to build good connection is an essential human skill; the belief that it is valuable, even essential, for our global well-being that human beings develop relational skills and honor our basic need for connection; the belief that people have an essential need to connect with others; the belief that if these core yearnings for connection are supported by the larger context and people learn how to relate in growth-fostering ways with one another, people will experience an increasing sense of well-being at a personal and collective level.”
Relational-Cultural Therapy also does an excellent job of addressing the therapeutic relationship as a mechanism for change. It acknowledges the power that we have as therapists and how we should strive to use that power to create a safe, compassionate space so that clients can experience a healing and authentic relationship. Even in my early development as a therapist, I have seen practitioners and theories that assume that the therapist is always right, that any difficulty of the client to trust the therapist is an indication of the client’s neuroses, etc. This approach has always felt so demeaning and distancing to me. Relational-Cultural Therapy, instead of minimizing clients’ emotions or assuming therapists’ superiority, posits that therapists should open themselves up to their own shortcomings for the sake of facilitating a growth-fostering relationship with the client. I feel so much better about this approach as it more explicitly addresses power within the therapy dyad. A quote about how Relational-Cultural Therapy approaches the therapy relationship that I appreciated:
”Therapists must be careful not to force or push connection with clients, however. Instead, we should slowly, deliberately provide experiences of safe connection and of reworking empathic failures. Therapists must demonstrate to clients that the well-being of the relationship and the client is more important than certainty, being right, or maintaining our own self-images as ‘good, empathic therapists.’ Thus, we work actively with disconnections and relational failures. We apologize when we are wrong. We work with our own defensiveness when under attack, not assuming automatically that the entire problem is in the client (e.g., not turning to ‘projective identification’ to explain our own reactions in therapy). We are open to examining our own limitations, as well as the ways our own disconnections injure or affect others. Working with mutual empathy, the therapist allows clients to see their impact on her or him – that they matter to her or him.”
I also like how Relational-Cultural Therapy explicitly recognizes how oppression contributes to difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Jordan names racism, heterosexism, and homophobia as factors that therapists must be cognizant of in how they affect clients’ capacity for connection as well as their overall wellbeing. While I have met many therapists and psychologists who do pay attention to how social injustice affects clients’ mental health, I have met many others who ignore this important point. Thus, I feel glad that Relational-Cultural Therapy seeks to understand how issues of oppression and privilege play out in clients’ lives and in the therapeutic relationship. While I appreciate this emphasis on social injustice and mental health, I feel that this theme is where the book could have benefited from more development as well. The book could have incorporated more specific ways that clients can navigate whether to trust therapists’ knowledge of social justice, as well as more case examples of power dynamics related to social identities playing out in therapy (e.g., if a therapist is working with a client with more privilege than the therapist). Still, I appreciated Jordan’s inclusion of this theme overall and would highly recommend this book to therapists and those interested in mental health who are looking for a very readable, relationally-oriented psychotherapy book that takes into account issues of power, privilege, and social justice. I will end this review with a quote related to therapists’ responsibility to address social injustice:
”Relational-Cultural Therapy holds that therapists, as self-defined change agents, have a responsibility to pursue questions about social change as well as personal change. Context is essential to an understanding of suffering and what is called pathology, and thus the need for change in the social milieus within which we function must be addressed. Therapists have a special responsibility to question the part that the larger culture plays in creating disconnections and other suffering that bring people to treatment. They also have a responsibility to facilitate the well-being of the greatest number of people possible.”
September 23, 2024
you know you’re a year out of grad school when you actually have time to read about theory for fun… lol. relational-cultural theory is IT, y’all. it has everything i have felt has been lacking in more mainstream western therapies and as a new therapist finding her theoretical footing, i’m so excited to start to put some of this into practice. i definitely recommend this book to anyone learning about RCT for the first time- so, so, so digestible and well-organized.
January 19, 2024
I’m pretty smitten with RTC so found this to be an excellent introduction to the topic. The first 4 chapters are excellent, the last 2 a bit of a snooze. I hope there is a 3rd edition in the works because the references and state of the neurobiology are getting fairly dated.
May 31, 2021
A nice overview of RCT. At times, the author seems to have insecurity in the validity of RCT and starts to reference neuropsychology, which all psychological theories theoretically improve brain functioning, to indicate that it works. While this is likely true, it also felt that it was an attempt to find biological explanations for our social beings. I found the theory strong and compelling, without the biological aspects.
July 30, 2021
Really good! A little heavy on jargon, but it’s so much better than BS psychoanalysis. I love the focus on both interpersonal relationships and social power relations as interpenetrating. Great to read alongside “feminist therapy” by Laura S. Brown. Excellent theoretical framework for beginning social workers.
March 12, 2025
An excellent book. A very timely theory that embodies a lot of what I have felt to be true in my therapy practice. I am looking forward to keeping this theory in the forefront of my mind as I move on in the next phase of my career.
December 12, 2023
fantastic
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May 1, 2022I read RELATIONAL-CULTURAL THERAPY by Judith V. Jordan for one of the classes in my Master of Social Work graduate program. It is the 63rd book I have read in 2018 and 40th one written or co-written by a woman.
Review pending.
Review pending.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews