Encountering the Culturally Diverse
Empathy and Dialogue in Intercultural
Spiritual Care
Adriana P. Cavina
2014
Table of Contents
 Part One:
Living Human Documents and the Global Society:
Developing Pastoral Competencies from an Intercultural
Worldview
 Part Two:
Finding Our Place:
Self, Story and Context in the Global Society
 Part Three:
Empathy and Cross-cultural Dialogue
Connecting Across the Bridge of Intercultural
Communication
What we will be focusing on
 Globalization and its impact on education
 The relationship between globalization and the
multicultural society
 Pastoral competencies in multicultural contexts
 Supervisory competencies in multicultural pastoral
education
 The place of self and story in intercultural empathy
 The new paradigm of “inter-subjectivity”
Living Human Documents and the
Global Society
Part One:
 Spiritual Care in the Global Society
 Developing Pastoral Competencies from an
Intercultural Worldview
Living Human Documents in an
Intercultural Perspective
The study of “living human documents” is the
“careful and systematic study of the lives of persons struggling
with the issues of the spiritual lives in the concreteness of their
relationships” to the aim of
“restoring the connection between the language of theology and
the language of human experience”
Charles Gerkin, The Living Human Document
What changes in this definition today?
Today we would need to add: ...“the language of human experience
in a society where relationships take place in a digital, virtual,
mediatic, global, multilayered context ”....
We live most of our relational lives through social media in the
context of global markets and global political scenarios
Social Media and the Search for
Connection
Sherry Turkle, cultural analyst, sociologist and psychologist, teaches at the
MIT. She argues that
“the social media we encounter on a daily basis are confronting us
with a moment of temptation. Drawn by the illusion of companionship
without the demands of intimacy, we confuse postings and online sharing
with authentic communication. We are drawn to sacrifice conversation for
mere connection.
Technology promises to let us do anything from anywhere with
anyone. But it also drains us as we try to do everything everywhere. We begin
to feel overwhelmed and depleted by the lives technology makes possible.
We may be free to work from anywhere, but we are also prone to being
lonely everywhere. In a surprising twist, relentless connection leads to a new
solitude. We turn to new technology to fill the void, but as technology ramps
up, our emotional lives ramp down”.
A New Maturity in Interpersonal
Relationships?
Turkle affirms:
“In constant digital contact, we feel ‘Alone Together’ ”
She explains:
“These days cultural norms are rapidly shifting. We used to equate
growing up with the ability to function independently. These days
always-on connection leads us to reconsider a more collaborative self.
All questions about autonomy look differently now if, on a daily basis,
we are together even when we are alone.”
Sherry Turkle. Alone Together. Why We Expect More From
Technology And Less From Each Other. New York, Basic Books, 2011.
http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together
Question for the group
 What does it mean to have a conversation in today’s
world?
 How do you carry on a conversation in today’s world?
....I’d rather text than talk...
Global Society and Culture
The second feature of our time, beside social media, is the
world wide web, that takes to us to look at globalization.
Globalization is not a concept; it is something we observe
and experience; it is the heart of the society we live in.
Society moves at the speed of possible communication and
spread of information.
In a society that becomes global, the question to ask is:
Is education in rhythm with the movement of people and
ideas in today’s world?
Two Views of Globalization
1.
2.
Development of global financial markets, growth
of transnational corporations, and their increasing
domination over national economies. (tight
economic definition)
Globalization of information and culture, spread of
TV, internet, social media, digital and other forms
of communication, and the increased mobility and
commercialization of ideas. (broad social definition)
George Soros, On Globalization
Globalization, a definition
“What happens when the movement of people, goods,
or ideas among countries and regions accelerates.
While human lives continue to be lived in local realities,
these realities are increasingly being challenged and
integrated into larger global networks of
relationships”
Suarez-Orozco, Globalization. Culture and Education
in the New Millennium
The World is Flat
The world is “flat” (Thomas Friedman) because:
• events happen on the simultaneous world wide web of
global communication
• (artistic, commercial, industrial) production takes place
through simultaneous processes in different world
locations
A “flat” world requires new skills, and new paradigms for
teaching and learning.
The question that challenges us is:
How to study a “living human document” in a flat, globalized
world?
The Endless Knot of our
Living Web
Our differences are inextricably woven
together
We live on the same planet and share the
same resources, breathe the same air
We are connected physically, and also
emotionally and spiritually
In our pastoral/spiritual assessment work,
we are confronted with a question:
How to place people (individuals and groups
with their private suffering) in context
(socio-economic, cultural, global
context)?
Suffering always takes place in a context
that can support the suffferer but also
contribute to the suffering
The Two Domains
of Globalization
The Domain of Difference and the Domain of Complexity
“All modern nations contradict themselves: they contain multitudes”
Clifford Geertz
Managing differences has become one of the greatest
challenges worldwide in multicultural countries
It requires a “global intent”, the world-encompassing mental
process that changes our awareness of how the local and
the distant are connected in a global (universal, world-wide)
reality
It requires also that we rethink what we mean with “identity”
globally.
The process of creating an “Us”.....should it inevitably involve
creating a “Them” –those not like us.
Negotiating Differences
Negotiating differences requires energy and a special
attitude:
 the ability to consider multiple perspectives and
worldviews
 to reverse mental routines of thought and to consider
multiple hypotheses
 to embrace different cultural views and practices
 to argue freely and respectfully within a framework of
difference
 to integrate personal and collective identity with restraint,
respect, humility; avoiding the “narcissism of small
differences”
Complexity in the Global Society and
Intercultural Practices
In summary:
Across the globe, there is an increasing amount of intricate
demographics, economies, political processes, media and
information
The revolution of the World Wide Web, the global diffusion of
social media, the spread of information in the fastest and
easiest of times characterize the way we live and relate to
one another
This creates the need for a different paradigm of teaching and
learning
We are all part of this global system. It is not something we
have to study. It is an identity we already have and that we
need to assume consciously.
We are local citizens of a global society
Education in the “www.com” society
What is required of a new educational paradigm:
Individuals who are cognitively flexible, culturally
sophisticated, and able to work collaboratively in groups
made up of diverse individuals
Competencies required of students increase exponentially
generation after generation
We are asked to
 expand our scope of teaching and learning, at the same
time
 placing our educational work against the background of its
specific context,
a paradox we need to live in
Education and Globalization
Howard Gardner affirms that the global society requires
certain new skills, abilities, and understandings; among
which:
1. Understanding the global system
2. Ability to think analytically and creatively within
disciplines, and to tackle problems and issues
that do not respect disciplinary boundaries
3. Knowledge of, and respect for, one’s own
cultural tradition as well as other cultures and
traditions.
Howard Gardner, How Education Changes
Cultural Competence
A set of individual attitudes and communication and
practice skills that enables the nurse to work
effectively within the cultural context of individuals
and families from diverse backgrounds
Diana Gustafson, Transcultural Nursing Theory from a Critical
Cultural Perspective. In: Advances in Nursing Science, Vol.28, 2005,
2-16
Cultural Humility
An attitude of respect when approaching people of
different cultures, which entails engagement in a process of
self-reflection and self-critique requiring an ability to move
beyond one’s own biases
ACPE 2010 Standards, Definition of Terms
Individual Worldviews
Attitudes, values, opinions, concepts, and philosophy of life,
built within the viewpoints of one’s cultural upbringing and
adjusted to individual personality and lifestyles.
“Every standpoint or worldview shapes what is possible to
see and what is obscured. Each standpoint is based on a set of
assumptions that structures how one sees and interprets the
world”.
Gustafson
Universality and Particularity
Every human being operates in the
world by expressing:
What is universal (consciousness of
self, ability to make use of
symbols, having a body, going
through a lifecycle, experiencing
emotions, -fear and joy, anger
and pain, etc..)
What belongs to his/her group
(norms, customs, beliefs, sociocultural location, role and gender
expectations, etc..)
What is unique of him/ her as an
individual (unique genetic
endowment, personal
experiences, character and
personality, etc..)
David Augsburger
Not Just Cultural Beings, and
Yet….Mostly Cultural Beings
No person is an island.
We are always “situated” (culturally, historically,
geographically, relationally)
We belong to several groups, that are separate from others,
overlapping others, containing others, and contained by
others.
We are all embedded, both culturally and contextually, and
moving though successive phases of being “rooted out” ,
“staying put” for a while, and “embedded’ again.
Robert Kegan
How then can I know you....... if not in a context? How do I
know at all ……if not out of my context?
Steps to Acquire Cultural Competence
in a Global Society
Two pitfalls to avoid:
 being “encapsulated” in one ethnocentric view of life that
veils and obscures the other, and misses both the individual
context and the global connection.
 being blinded by “universalism”
Becoming aware of socio-cultural complexity is the first step.
Then we become sensitive to cultural differences, which is
preliminary to acquiring cultural competence.
There are no shortcuts
Start where you are
When we talk about being culturally and spiritually sensitive, we
start with ourselves and our own personal assumptions.
We have a life-long unconscious framework of our world. This
framework of values influences all we do.
1. The first invitation is for us to become aware of our own
assumptions before we can appreciate the cultural and
spiritual values and customs of others.
2. The second invitation is to acquire clarity of the context in
which the cross-cultural encounter takes place: both the
specific local context and the global society context, both
the spiritual care context and the technological and digital
context
End of Part One
Encountering and engaging with
diversity
 Part Two:
Self, Story and Context in the Global Society
The Process of Building Multicultural
Competencies
In our increasingly more complex personal and professional
formation, our educational “tool bag” should include some
specific tools:
 Cultural awareness of our own personal story
 Specific knowledge of cultural dynamics, and especially
when a power differential is in place
 A receptive attitude to intercultural exploration
 Cross-cultural skills in communication and dialogue
 Genuine passion for multicultural settings and intercultural
exchanges
and it will not be enough, if we do not learn
to dance……….
Intercultural communication:
a circle-dance movement
Sharing our stories
Sharing our values and beliefs
Sharing our personal contexts
Building a new story
Building a new story
A new story is built every time the cross-cultural encounter
modifies both partners. Differences remain but they are
engaged openly, trustfully, fully.
There is a common ground we share with all:
The process of formation of our cultural identity
(though not, its content).
Different Worlds,
Worlds of Difference
To extend our professional care to others or educate
others, we need to enter into another person’s unique
world of meaning, but meaning is based on a world-view
and
world-views, worlds of meaning, are socially constructed
and maintained
This process of socialization of worldviews is the common
ground we all share
...We may begin to see its connection today with the
global society we live in....
World-Views
Attitudes, values, opinions, concepts, and philosophy of life, built
through the lenses of one’s cultural upbringing
There are no value-free worldviews and lifestyles. Every choice we
make, every dream we dream, every action and commitment of
ours, are based on a specific set of values, beliefs and norms that
are deeply embedded in a specific culture.
Since I belong to a culture, to connect cross culturally I need to start
with me. How am I a cultural being? What is my culture? What
should I know to enter someone else’s cultural world?
Personal Identity and Understanding
Others
The way we understand others and the world around us is by way of
three central ideas:
 Categorization,
or “analogical understanding”, understanding myself and others by
applying categories, or measuring blocks (may lead to build walls of
separation…)
 Identification,
or looking for the “places of belonging”, of similarities, defining
people on the basis of where they belong (may lead to
feelings of isolation…)
 Social comparison,
or “how similar/different am I from the other(s)?”, “where am I
located in the general context?” (may arise feelings of inferiority
or superiority…)
The prism of cultural identification
Cultural identity is a rainbow
How many ethnic/ cultural traits
do you recognize in yourself?
Reflect on your roots, family,
generations, travels, places,
encounters, studies, new and
old values, habits, etc…
What is your present culture
composed of?
WE ARE MANY CULTURES IN
ONE PERSON
The characters of my life story
Whose voices sit in the circle of
my life and identity?
parents, teachers, extended
family, friends, mentors….
socio-political events and
conditions
cultural norms, values and beliefs
geography and place
Put some word for each
chair …….
How do I come to be who I am?
This is a personal exercise
Take time to reflect and write down 5 things that you know
you have because were handed down to you by your
family of origin, the society you lived in, the school, etc..
They may be values or beliefs or something really important
for you.
Then, find one person in the group whom you do not know
well, and share it with him/her, taking turns
10 minutes
We are all culturally “situated”
How could one tolerate a foreigner if one did not know one was a
stranger to oneself?
Julia Kristeva
Whether you are aware of it or not, you are the product of your
environment, your time and place, the family who raised you, the
society you lived in
If we do not explore the forces that have shaped our own identity
and all the forces that shape other people’s identities,
we may not avoid the “unintentional racism” that is born out of
cultural blindness
We need three qualities to accompany this process of recognition:
Humility, compassion, critical thinking
The virtues of a culturally responsive
pastoral caregiver
Humility: the capacity to regard oneself in the company of
others as one, but not more than one
Compassion, or an attitude of charity towards others: to
regard our neighbor as ourselves, as fully as oneself, and
appreciate those who challenge my beliefs and values
Critical thinking: the capacity to see things as they really
are, to continually question my assumptions, and look for
explanations that go beyond what appears self-evident
Pamela Hays
How does one approximate the cultural
experience of another?
Through observation and the exercise of wonder
• I suspend what I know so that I might discover what I could not
see before.
• Both set the stage for perceiving familiar things in radically new
ways; both raise the possibility of new understanding.
• From wonder I can move to the nature of interior landscapes,
the sensory parameters of world views, and the search for the
unique essence of another
Alfred Margulies, The Empathic Imagination
The observation of social media
Let us take a clear look at how social media characterize
interpersonal communication: it must be
Immediate (what is going on with me now)
Shared (bouncing information with the largest group people
across distances)
Public (the concept of “private” has undergone huge change)
Narcissistic (my little world is of interest for everyone)
Visual (photos, images, videos)
Entertaining (the world is my stage)
Intercultural Process in a Global Society
is a Möbius band
The consequence of all this is that
personal boundaries have
acquired different meaning;
and that they are flexible and
permeable; there is a new
practice of interchange that
cannot be ignored.
The complexity that lives in me
Our basic nature as human
beings is a combination of
sameness and differences
I am me, and you are you, but
actually, in some way, I am
also you and you are also
me. And we both belong to
a larger “we”….So,…
Who am I? Who are you? And
what does “we” really
mean?
An “interpersonal identity dance ”
In a two-person interaction, the “I”
and the “You” move fluidly as in
a dance, change position, their
worldviews come together and
influence each other
In viewing the world through your
eyes, I am not just enriched, I am
transformed
We have co-created a new reality
The New Relational Paradigm in Pastoral
Care
Relationship is viewed as a two-person co-construction of
reality, as opposed to the view of two isolated subjects each
regarding the other as an object.
Self and the other become intertwined in the relational matrix
This is the space of Intersubjectivity, the “shared wisdom”
through which we come to know one another
Pamela Cooper-White,
Sacred Wisdom. Use of the Self in Pastoral Care and Counseling
Intersubjectivity and Complexity in
Pastoral Care
The new paradigm advocates for a complex relational structure in which
two subjects are understood as reciprocal subjects.
Aspects of selfness and of otherness both appear in the relational space in
between two subjects, as the relationships unfolds and is co-created.
There is no more a “subject/object” mode of relating, but a shared process
of reciprocal relating.
Reality is perceived and lived through a co-construction operated by a
complex connectivity of different worldviews
Intersubjectivity
and Cultural Humility
Inter-subjectivity is the space where cultural humility meets
cultural competence
In meeting you, I recognize that my inner worldview is
influenced and changed by your internal and external world
The same happens to you.
I know my self and your self as I observe the reciprocal
influences in the space in between us.
We “make meaning” in a relational context
Writing our personal cultural history
First requirement to fully engage in the dance of
intersubjectivity is self-awareness:
To write a personal cultural history
The elements:
 Identity formation
 Social location, or socio-cultural context
 Familiarity with multilayered contexts, such
multifaith, multispiritual, different avenues of global
information and communication
Steps of the Interpersonal
Intercultural Dance
 Seeing my personal development as part of a larger process
of cultural and ethnic identity formation
 Recognizing the influence of cultural conditioning in
shaping relational attitudes and power dynamics
 Becoming conversant with issues of prejudice, bias and
power as related to identity
 Seeing my place in the wider context of global connectivity
 Recognizing the place of global information in the shaping
of my worldviews
End of Part Two
Developing Competencies:
Empathy and Care in Multicultural Encounters
Part Three:
 Empathy and Connection Across the Bridge of
Intercultural Communication
 Multicultural Competencies in Clinical Pastoral
Education
Defining Empathy
Empathy is the ability to feel with, to enter in,
the affective and cognitive world of another,
and to provide a sustained emotional presence.
Interpathy is the ability to enter into a second culture
cognitively, affectively and respectfully, and to bridge
over different worldviews to provide an empathic
presence.
Cultural Issues in our Clinical Pastoral
Environment
Dynamics of personal cultural
awareness, cross-cultural skills,
empathic connection and
intercultural engagement appear
in the
Student-Patient relationship
as well as in the
Supervisor-Student relationship
as well as in the
Institutional context
as well as in the
Patient-Institutional context
The Clinical Rhombus
Dynamics of Cultural Insensitivity
“People fail to get along because they fear each other.
People fear each other because they don’t understand each other.
They don’t know each other because they have not properly
communicated with each other.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Failed communication is based on ignorance that gives birth to
insensitivity.
We begin with acquiring
Cultural awareness
Then we move to
Cultural sensitivity
And finally we get to
Cultural competence
The Nature of Empathic Encounters
 Empathy is a disposition, a willingness to stay open and
available in the inter-subjective space
 Empathy is an integrated set of skills of participant observation,
artful inquiry, imagination, intuition, tolerance, interpersonal
dance
 Empathy is a space for story-telling, where different
experiences and different worldviews can meet
 Empathy is an embodied experience where connection occurs in
body, mind and spirit
Tools for acquiring awareness
To connect cross-culturally in awareness,
we need to be open to enter cultural borderlands,
the area where differences and similarities overlap,
and then
develop a tolerance for ambiguity
create a space for not-knowing
where we can remain open to the other, whatever the other
cultural and spiritual identity may be. Empathy can grow when
cultural identity and diversity find recognition, acceptance and
celebration
Tools for acquiring sensitivity
A profound, sincere, open-minded, curiosity for the
diversity of human nature.
Tools for acquiring competence
The ability to provide accurate and effective pastoral/spiritual
assessment that includes:
Cultural influences and values
Social location
Issues of racial-ethnic identity
Geographical, generational, linguistic context
within the framework of a solid awareness of, and familiarity
with, the same elements in myself
Culturally competent chaplains/CPE
students
Therefore, a culturally competent chaplain/CPE student needs to be
able to:
 Provide appropriate and specific-to-the-case guidance, support
and presence with an awareness of cultural and contextual issues
 Understand cultural identities with their norms and behaviors,
values and beliefs, different worldviews and different spiritual
frames of reference, such as:
 Relation of individual and family to community
 Social location
 Different use of time and space
 Different communication patterns
 Locus of identity validation and socially accepted ability to
make independent choices
New Paradigms for CPE
CPE is a not a US “local reality”
Worldwide developments in pastoral care have opened the doors to the
globalization, internationalization, and indigenization of pastoral care and
counseling
Emmanuel Lartey, in: Pastoral Care and Counseling. Redefining the Paradigms, 87-108
The results of this process for the pastoral formation involve the necessity of :
 Understanding the importance of socio-cultural location in the identity
formation of every individual, and of cultural worldviews in the modality
with which every individual copes with suffering and loss
 Seeing intercultural dialogue as the paradigm of every intersubjective
encounter and affirming its crucial importance for personal and
interpersonal growth
A central truth in multicultural teaching
and learning
In our global, interdependent world, we realize that
we cannot understand the world, nor exist as whole
persons in it, without understanding its pluralism.
We do not have the option of ignoring the diversity
around us.
We learn about who we are in the process of learning
about others.
Kathleen Talvacchia, Critical Minds and Discerning Hearts
What are the consequences of the new
paradigm for CPE supervisors?
A critical mind understands that social location and
culture define identity and that identity is linked with
social structures of power and inequity on a global
scale, …and integrates all this in teaching
A discerning heart understands that learners are more
than their socio-cultural context, that there are
contradictions and differences between our
experiences, and yet that we are deeply embedded in
our story,…and integrates all this in teaching
Becoming Interculturally Competent
Preliminaries for the “global citizen” of CPE:




Staying humble while thinking critically
Viewing our place in the global network
Daring to add complexity to our professional practices
Recognizing the obstacles to cultural competence:
confusion, defensiveness, fear, ignorance, pain, the
attachment to one’s particular view, bias and power
with its correlated systems of oppression
 Being willing to embrace the new in supervision
 Learning to engage in an intercultural dance that is spiritual,
emotional, and deeply challenging
What measures our cultural
competence?
 The capacity to know and explain one’s own “cultural set”,
one’s own spiritual and cultural foundation
 The capacity to identify experience and information that
are outside of one’s own spiritual/cultural frame of
reference or world-view, and to learn about “otherness”
 The capacity to demonstrate multicultural attitude and
approach, and dialogical cross-cultural communication
skills
 The capacity to identify contextual and relational barriers,
as well as one’s limitations in communication practice, and
to demonstrate respect for otherness
Culturally competent or culturally
humble?
Cultural competence in pastoral practice is a process that
requires both competence and humility.
As reflective practitioners:
 We engage constantly in self-reflection and self-critique,
and try to redress power imbalance by giving voice to those
with less power
 We are able to say that we do not know when we truly do
not know, and to access resources that might enhance our
understanding
Rethinking diversity in pastoral
supervision
“Being more inclusive of diversity is not simply a matter of
assimilating different voices: it means rethinking how we
supervise, taking into account those contributions from different
perspectives”
H. Anderson, Pastoral Supervision at the Crossroads:,
JSTM 20, 2000, 8-12.
Integrating diversity calls for a prophetic voice; it requires that
we work for justice and equality in building curricula, defining
tasks, choosing themes, establishing goals; it makes us to
prefer connection over privilege and habit; and it keeps us
open to change, new learning and ongoing negotiation.
End of presentation
We touched the meaning of:
Intercultural
Interspiritual
Intersubjectivity
Global Society
Social Media
World Wide Web
New paradigms of teaching and
learning.....
...but the unifying circle of all remains
the human experience of love and loss
that characterizes living across all
cultures and places and makes us truly
human...