Shenzhen Daily recently interviewed David. Enter to read the interview published on the newspaper. Following is the main content:
深圳日报（英文版）最近采访了大卫。报纸详细内容请点击进入 。下面是主要内容：

Foreign psychologist working in Shenzhen

The Spanish psychologist David Blanco has recently moved to Shenzhen. He is setting up his practice in a city where experts say mental health professionals are needed.

What are the kinds of cases you are having here in Shenzhen?

“We face in Shenzhen the typical range of problems of a big migrant city. Expatriates and Chinese migrants may find difficult to adjust to the pace of life of this city. Sometimes the changes they have to go through have some costs on their personal and emotional life. People may feel lonely, far from their family and friends. They could easily find themselves under a lot of pressure at work, from family or from the noisy and overcrowded city. Being stressed may cause them problems to sleep, anxiety, loneliness or feeling in a low mood.”

Do people know about the role that psychologists could play in their life?

“Here in China, some people associate going to see a psychologist to be psycho or crazy. But the truth is that the vast majority of the clients who benefit from our services are normal people who face some difficult life events. They need support, advice and training to cope with their circumstances.”

In which ways does counselling help people in distress?

“We know that a proper medication can relief the symptoms of someone in distress, but it does not eliminate the causes of the problem. Medication could help us in the short term, but if we don’t combine it with counselling, we will eventually slip back into the same problem. We could think, as an example, of a married couple facing a relationship crisis. Medication may relieve their current emotional stress, but it does not give them the ultimate solution of how they could interact in a more loving and understanding way. For that counselling is needed; a learning experience which provides the knowledge and the tools to eradicate the roots of our distress.”

How is it different your work as a psychologist in Shenzhen than in Europe?

“Around half of my clients are Chinese. There are definitely some cultural differences that I need to take into account working with them, like the structure of the family here, the education system or the fast changes this country is going through, to mention a few of them. There are some cases that are generally more prevalent in China than in Europe: like the high suicide rate among the youngsters, high rate of extramarital affairs or some difficulties in the development of attachment between some mothers and their girls due to cultural reasons. Apart from these idiosyncratic factors in Chinese psychology, the common ground is huge. The core processes of our mind are the same and the counselling work very similar. Some locals show surprise from the first interview with me, when they see I don’t have difficulties to understand their circumstances, regardless I am Spanish”


David Blanco has a M. A. in Clinical Psychology with honours and a post degree course in Psychotherapy. He has practiced in a mental health department and in private enterprise. He has trainings and experiences in European and Asian countries. For more information: www.dayabindu.com, tel. 139 2376 1230