Yet what therapists and ethnographers do is remarkably alike. Both involve participant
observation. At least, ethnography straightforwardly involves the attempt to participate, to the
extent possible, as a member of the group the ethnographer has come to study, and the
attempt to observe what one must do in order to be recognized as a member of that group.
On the surface, psychotherapy does not seem like that at all–except that in practice it is so
similar that Harry Stack Sullivan actually called it “participant observation.” His premise was …

… She suggests that systemic psychotherapists often have an understanding of culture as
abstract difference—yet, despite this, the systemic approach to relationships has a lot of common
ground with anthropology. … This collection raises an important set of issues for anthropologists
to consider in their practice. However, I suspect the main impact of this book will be in
reshaping how concepts of culture are used and prescribed/explored in psychotherapy training.
The “common ground” between the two disciplines is most keenly felt in terms of methods— …