Abstract

Cross-cultural educational and consultation interactions can be framed as gentle forms of colonialism in which knowledge is the principal commodity. The author examines his past experiences and observations as a family therapy trainee in South America. As a family therapy educator and consultant, the author is confronted today by similar exchanges when consulting or teaching abroad. From the later perspective, the reader is invited to explore a set of questions that foster reflexive practices believing that they may elicit further analysis. In a postcolonial mode, this critique does not presume having privileged access to "the truth." However, the author is committed to an ethical mandate that includes a collaborative and participatory posture in the encounters with those that practitioners construct as the other.