[Cross-cultural aspects of interaction and communication in mental health care. Barriers and recommendations for action].

Mental health care for migrants is often impaired by a lack of policies and provisions in the respective institutions. This article focuses on "communication barriers" in psychosocial and psychotherapeutic settings, where personal communication is of great importance. Barriers that prevent migrants from using health care institutions include translation problems but also more complex misunderstandings based on divergent explanations regarding the causes, course, and adequate treatment of different disorders. The widely recommended intercultural opening of medical and psychosocial institutions involves using interpreters as cultural experts, reflecting on and mediating between divergent explanatory models, and avoiding cultural and ethnic stereotyping as well as encouraging an open, curious, and reflective professional attitude. With respect to institutional settings, rules for the financing of interpreters are as important as tackling barriers that limit migrants' access to medical and psychosocial institutions.