Abstract
Our group of Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT) clinicians studied our process of attuning to clients’ unique social, cultural, and emotional experience; i.e., sociocultural attunement (SCA). The aims were to operationally define SCA, identify therapist and client indicators of SCA, and outline a model of how we socioculturally attuned. Over the course of four months, 13 therapists focused on five heterosexual couples and 25 therapy sessions. Through the process of action research and grounded theory analysis, we arrived at a working model for our process of SCA which involves three recursive phases: (1) a beginning guiding lens; (2) sociocultural interpretation, including both internal dialogue and observable actions; and (3) client resonance that could be observed by how partners responded and continued to expand the conversation. This chapter outlines our process of becoming socioculturally attuned, with examples and suggested guidelines for clinicians.
This chapter is a revised version of Pandit, M., ChenFeng, J. L., & Kang, Y. J., Knudson-Martin, C., & Huenergardt, D. (2014). Practicing socio-cultural attunement: A study of couple therapists. Journal of Contemporary Family Therapy, 36, 518–528.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aniciete, D., & Soloski, K. (2011). The social construction of marriage and a narrative approach to treatment of intra-relationship diversity. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 23(2), 103–126.
Chenail, R. J. (2005). Future directions for qualitative methods. In D. H. Sprenkle & F. P. Piercy (Eds.), Research methods in family therapy (pp. 100–118). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
ChenFeng, J. L., & Galick, A. (2015). How gender discourses hijack couple therapy—and how to avoid it. In C. Knudson-Martin, M. A. Wells, & S. K. Samman (Eds.), Socio-emotional relationship therapy: Bridging emotion, societal context, and couple interaction. (pp. 41–52). New York, NY: Springer.
Esmiol, E. E., Knudson-Martin, C., & Delgado, S. (2012). Developing a contextual consciousness: Learning to address gender, societal power, and culture in clinical practice. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38(4), 573–588.
Fosha, D. (2009). Emotion and recognition at work: Energy, vitality, pleasure, truth, desire, and the emergent phenomenology of transformational experience. In D. Fosha, D. J. Siegel, & M. F. Solomon (Eds.), The healing power of emotion: Affective neuroscience, development & clinical practice (pp. 172–203). New York, NY: Norton.
Gergen, K. L. (2009). An invitation to social construction (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Knudson-Martin, C., & Huenergardt, D. (2010). A socio-emotional approach to couple therapy: Linking social context and couple interaction. Family Process, 49(3), 369–384.
Knudson-Martin, C., & Huenergardt, D. (2015). Bridging emotion, societal discourse, and couple interaction in clinical practice. In C. Knudson-Martin, M. A. Wells, & S. K. Samman (Eds.), Socio-emotional relationship therapy: Bridging emotion, societal context, and couple interaction. (pp. 1–13). New York, NY: Springer.
Knudson-Martin, C., & Mahoney, A. R. (Eds.). (2009). Couples, gender, and power: Creating change in intimate relationships. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Knudson-Martin, C., Huenergardt, D., Lafontant, K., Bishop, L., Schaepper, J., & Wells, M. (2014). Competencies for addressing gender and power in couple therapy: A socio-emotional approach. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12068
McGoldrick, M., & Ashton, D. (2012). Culture: A challenge to concepts of normality. In F. Walsh (Ed.), Normal family processes: Growing diversity and complexity (pp. 249–272). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Mendenhall, T. J., & Doherty, W. J. (2005). Action research methods in family therapy. In D. H. Sprenkle & F. P. Piercy (Eds.), Research methods in family therapy (pp. 100–118). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Owen, J., Leach, M. M., Wampold, B., & Rodolfa, E. (2011). Multicultural approaches in psychotherapy: A rejoinder. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(1), 22–26.
Pandit, M., ChenFeng, J., Kang, Y. J., Knudson-Martin, C., & Huenergardt, D. (2014) Practicing socio-cultural attunement: A study of couple therapists. Contemporary Family Therapy, 36, 518–528.
Siegel, D. J. (2007). The mindful brain: Reflection and attunement in the cultivation of well-being. New York, NY: Norton.
Silverstein, R., Bass, L., Tuttle, A., Knudson-Martin, C., & Huenergardt, D. (2006). What does it mean to be relational? A framework for assessment and practice. Family Process, 45(4), 391–405.
Sperry, L. (2010). Culture, personality, health, and family dynamics: Cultural competence in the selection of culturally sensitive treatments. Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 18(3), 316–320.
Vargas, H. L., & Wilson, C. M. (2011). Managing worldview influences: Self-awareness and self-supervision in a cross-cultural therapeutic relationship. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 22, 97–113.
Williams, K., Galick, A., Knudson-Martin, C., & Huenergardt, D. (2012). Toward mutual support: A task analysis of the relational justice approach to infidelity. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 39(3), 285–298. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2012.00324.x.
Zimmerman, T. S., Haddock, S. A., Ziemba, S., & Rust, A. (2001). Family organizational labor: Who’s calling the plays? Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 13(2–3), 65–90.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 American Family Therapy Academy
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
(Mia) Pandit, M., ChenFeng, J.L., Kang, Y.J. (2015). SERT Therapists’ Experience of Practicing Sociocultural Attunement. In: Knudson-Martin, C., Wells, M., Samman, S. (eds) Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy. AFTA SpringerBriefs in Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13398-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13398-0_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-13397-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-13398-0
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)