The often-contrasting worlds of the interdependent and the independent cause Indian immigrant families considerable challenges. As they negotiate the acculturation process in North America, these families may experience some difficulty embracing the individualistic values of North America in the face of their familiar South Asian collectivistic values. Indian parents have a harder time making the cultural leap, while their children are far better able to adapt to mainstream society. Furthermore, the children often challenge their parents by disputing traditional hierarchical and filial relationships. This article discusses Contextual Therapy (CT) as a tangible framework for Indian families who come to seek social work services to ameliorate relationships. It discusses the strengths of Contextual Therapy with Indian families by applying some of its key concepts to a case scenario from my practice. This therapy format, when used diligently, proposes to be a valuable resource to support Indian families to overtly express and strengthen their traditional family values while adjusting to North American mainstream society. As Indian immigrant families maintain an ethic of filial obligation, therapists can employ themes from Contextual Therapy to instill motivation and meaning in order to revive relationships.Significant immigration has served to populate Canada over the past century or so. Along with immigration, initial policies on multiculturalism evolved into a transnational globalism where people from developing countries are now easily able to migrate to countries in North America and Europe and fit in reasonably well. Advances in technology have made life in North America more accessible to the people who live in other parts of the world, therefore, prospective immigrants have an a priori understanding of North American culture even before they land here. However, while policies and programs intend to assist new immigrants to adjust to their new country, a comprehensive approach to meeting their needs is lacking.
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