Skip to main content
Log in

Dimensions of Cross Cultural Treatment with Late Adolescent College Students

  • Published:
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper addresses the need to develop culturally sensitive services on university campuses with a student population that is rapidly becoming more culturally diverse. It explores the different psychological paradigms of Western and non-Western cultures, the adolescent developmental process within diverse cultural constructs and the notion of “self” cross-culturally. Clinical practice implications in cross-cultural treatment are investigated. These include the therapist's self-disclosure, resistance and countertransference issues, verbal and non-verbal communication in the therapeutic relationship, and the dynamics of power and authority. Two short vignettes illustrate some of these clinical issues and emphasize the value of the therapist's knowledge and awareness of cultural differences as well as the importance of their willingness to modify more traditional clinical practices to fit diverse cultural paradigms.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Reference

  • Atkinson D., Poston, W., Furlong, M. & Mercado, P. (1989). Ethnic group preferences for counselor characteristics. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 36(1), 68-72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burn, D. (1992). Ethical implications in cross-cultural counseling and training. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70(5), 578-583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comaz-Diaz, L. & Jacobsen, F. (1991). Ethnocultural transference and countertransference in the therapeutic dyad. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61(3), 392-402.

    Google Scholar 

  • Draguns, J. (1981). Cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy. In A. Marsella & P. Pedersen (Eds.), Cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy. New York: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorkin, M. (1995). Countertransference in cross-cultural psychotherapy. In M. Perez-Foster, M. Moskowitz & R. Javier (Eds.), Reaching across boundaries of culture and class. Northdale, NJ: Jason Aronson Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenney, G. (1994). Multicultural investigation of counseling expectations and preferences. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 9(1), 21-39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitano, H. & Daniels, R. (1995). Asian Americans: Emerging minorities. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitano, H. & Mitsushima, N. (1981). A model for counseling Asian Americans. In P. Pedersen, J. Draguns, W. Lonner & J. Trimble (Eds.), Counseling across cultures, 163-180. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, E. (1996). Chinese Families. In M. McGoldrick, J. Giordano & J. Pearce, (Eds.), Ethnicity and family therapy (pp. 249-267). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leong, F. (1986). Counseling and psychotherapy with Asian Americans: Review of the literature. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 33, 196-206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Littlewood, R. (1988). Towards an inter-cultural therapy: Some preliminary observations. Journal of Social Work Practice, 5, 9-19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maki, M. (1990). Countertransference with adolescent client of the same ethnicity. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 8(2), 135-145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, N. (1992). Living between two cultures: Treating first-generation Asian Americans. In L. Vargas & J. Koss-Chioino, (Eds.). Working with cultures, 204-224. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roland, A. (1987). The familial self, the individualized self and the transcendent self. Psychoanalytic Review, 74(2), 237-250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz, M. & Cases, J. (1981). Culturally relevant behavioristic counseling for Chicano college students. In P. Pedersen, J. Draguns, W. Lonner & J. Trimble (Eds.), Counseling across cultures, 181-202. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slavin, J. (1996). Readiness for psychoanalytic treatment in late adolescence: Developmental and adaptive considerations. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 13(1), 35-51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slavin, M. & Kriegman, D. (1992). The adaptive design of the human psyche: Psychoanalysis, evolutionary biology and the therapeutic process. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sue, D. W. (1989). Racial/cultural identity development among Asian Americans: Counseling/therapy implications. Journal of the Asian American Psychological Association, 13(1), 80-86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sue, D. & Sue, D. (1990). Counseling the culturally different. NewYork: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sue, S. & Zane, N. (1987). The role of culture and cultural techniques in psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 42(1), 37-45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang, N. (1997). Psychoanalytic psychotherapy with Chinese Americans. In E. Lee (Ed.), Working with Asian Americans, 323-341. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tracey, T., Leong, T. & Glidden, C. (1986). Help seeking and problem perception among Asian Americans. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 33(3), 331-333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tu Wei-Ming, (1985). Selfhood and otherness in Confucian thought. In A. Marsella, G. DeVos & F. Hsu (Eds.), Culture and Self, 231-251. New York: Tavistock Pubs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uba, L. (1994). Asian Americans: Personality patterns, identity and mental health. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vargas, L., & Koss-Chioino, J. (1992). Through the cultural glass: A model for understanding culturally responsive psychotherapies. In L. Vargas & J. Koss-Chioino (Eds.). Working with culture, 1-24. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wohl, J. (1981). Intercultural psychotherapy: Issues, questions and reflections. In P. Pedersen, J. Draguns, W. Lonner & J. Trimble (Eds.), Counseling Across Cultures, 133-162. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shonfeld-Ringel, S. Dimensions of Cross Cultural Treatment with Late Adolescent College Students. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 17, 443–454 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026431811229

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026431811229

Navigation