Who we are
Don’t laugh at the madman, laugh with him.
Transcultural psychiatry is a modern discipline. Transcultural thinking is based on the notion that the sociocultural context has a major influence on the developmental processes of the human psyche.
The aim of transcultural psychiatry is to bring out the cultural peculiarities of the patient. The therapy focuses on the perspective of the patient and not the therapist, who studies and analyses the patient’s culture, getting to know him and treating him as a human being and not as a ‘madman’.
Our history
At the time, the mentally ill were considered extremely dangerous and therefore there were no women in psychiatry. (Rosalba Terranova Cecchini)
Group for Transcultural Relations is an Italian NGO founded in Milan in 1980, from the activities of the Institute for Transcultural Research, founded in 1968 by Dr Rosalba Terranova Cecchini. Dr Rosalba Terranova Cecchini is one of the first Italian scholars to take an interest in transcultural psychiatry. She is the first woman to enter a psychiatric hospital.
Organization today
GRT – Group for Transcultural Relations
We are a specialized NGO.
Deliberately small but essential. We strongly believe that also a little but efficient structure can make the difference. We intervene in those territories where mental health is not a priority. Where people that are mentally ill are often discriminated and isolated.
Our mission
Our mission is to provide care for people with psychological disorders who live in territories where the problem of mental health is totally neglected and the sick are left to their own devices or, worse, detained in facilities in dehumanising conditions. The aim is to provide local communities with establishments equipped for psychiatric care, to train operators and to promote the social inclusion of patients by supporting associations already existing in the area.
Abroad
The GRT’s main activities are direct intervention, rehabilitation, and training in various fields. We offer psychosocial and socio-health support to refugees and displaced persons. We seek to improve the lives of street children, support minority ethnic groups and combat gender-based violence.
In Italy
We run the Transcultural Institute for Health, the first Italian school of specialisation in transcultural psychiatry recognised by the Ministry.
Our Policies
The policies and procedures adopted by GRT translate the fundamental principles into binding guidelines and behaviours to implement the organization’s activities.
With regard to safety in East and Horn of Africa, we refer to INSO while adopting internal additional measures.
GRT is signatory of the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief
Partner
Below are the associations and organizations that collaborate with us in projects and activities.
