Culture and empathy in psychotherapy: A qualitative study of psychotherapists' experiences of working with clients with different values

Turkish society is culturally diverse, where individuals with different cultural values coexist. Practicing psychotherapy in such a context may create a situation where therapists encounter clients whose values are very different from their own, which may require therapists to be more understanding and empathetic toward their clients. Contemporary psychotherapy literature has emphasized the importance of cultural sensitivity and demonstrated that therapeutic methods cannot be uniformly applied across all cultural contexts; a "one-size-fits-all" approach is insufficient. However, little research has explored this issue in Türkiye. The present study contributes to the literature by examining therapeutic relationships in the context of religious value differences, a dimension of culture that remains comparatively underexplored in psychotherapy research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six early-career therapists who had experience working with clients whose religious cultural values differed from their own. The data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Five overarching themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Embarking on Uncharted Water: Initial Reactions to the Cultural Difference, (2) Emotional Waves Evoked by the Cultural Difference, (3) Trying to Step into the Same Boat: Expression of Empathy, (4) Lighthouse in the sea: The role of supervision, and (5) Therapeutic Alliance on Board. The findings highlight the central role of empathy in building the therapeutic alliance and the importance of supervision. Clinical implications include the importance of a culturally sensitive approach in therapist training. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed to further understanding of the issues of cultural value differences in psychotherapy. Keywords: religious cultural values, empathy, therapeutic alliance, interpretive phenomenological analysis, culturally sensitive psychotherapy