This article examines the challenges posed by cross-cultural psychotherapy in a creolized
world, and the way this intersects with issues faced by the ethnographer. It proposes 'the
relational subject,'implicit in systemic psychotherapy and social anthropology, as a
framework for an understanding of communication. In cross-cultural psychotherapy, this
assumption is central to non-discriminatory and equitable treatment. Drawing on Bateson's
ethnographic work, the article connects 'the relational subject'to what Bateson, following …