Pittu Laungani in Conversation with William West

In this response to Pittu Laungani's conversation with William West, published in the August, 2004, issue of "British Journal of Guidance and Counselling," the author questions why person-centred counselling has been singled out for particular attention, argues that the dichotomy between client-centred and culture-centred counselling is somewhat misleading, and contends that, in relation to cultural and spiritual forms of healing, one needs to be equally wary of gender and class inequalities within traditional forms of healing as much as in western therapeutic interventions. In conclusion, the author states the belief that cultures are not sharply delineated from one another, as processes of globalization make this practically impossible.