Experiences of aging refugees or immigrants are significantly different from elders who have not experienced international migration. Eighty‐nine interviews with 38 elderly Cambodian refugees were conducted to understand their aging experiences in the United States. This paper explores multiple meanings of aging in place that go beyond the ability to remain in one's preferred geographic location, maintenance of independence and autonomy, and attachment and meanings assigned to place. Of the components normally used in defining aging in place, meaning making had the most salience for this group of elders. One's sense of place, whether such “place” is defined geographically, socially, or culturally, often created challenges for these elders. This group exhibits different forms of coping and require different services than non‐refugee elders. An infrastructure that supports aging refugees or immigrants must include a remarkably different set of parameters than one designed to support native‐born elders.

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Models of marriage and family therapy (MFT) typically reflect Western values and norms, and although cultural adaptations are made, many models/frameworks continue to be inappropriate or inadequate for use with non-Western cultures. Worldwide, therapists are examining ways of using MFT models in a culturally sensitive manner, especially when working with clients who are seen as having minority status or perceived as "other" by the dominant group. This essay suggests the use of responsive evaluation as a theoretically consistent methodology for creating and evaluating culturally responsive therapies. This approach rigorously evaluates each unique client/therapist context, culture, power, needs, and beliefs. We describe responsive evaluation and discuss how each component addresses the research needs of examining culturally responsive family therapies. A case illustration is offered delineating the process of conducting culturally responsive therapy with a Cambodian sample using solution-focused and narrative therapy.

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Mental health issues are significant contributors to the global burden of disease with the highest incidence in resource poor countries; 90% of those in need of mental health treatment reside in low resource countries but receive only 10% of the world's resources. Cambodia, the eighth least developed country in the world, serves as one example of the need to address mental health concerns in low-income, resource poor countries. The current study utilises responsive evaluation methodology to explore how poverty-stricken Cambodian clients, therapists and supervisors experience Western models of therapy as culturally responsive to their unique needs. Quantitative and qualitative data were triangulated across multiple stakeholders using numerous methods including a focus group, interviews, surveys, case illustrations and live supervision observation and analysed using constant comparative analysis. Emerging findings suggest that poverty, material needs, therapy location and financial situations greatly impact the daily lives and mental health conditions of Cambodians and hinder clients' therapeutic progress. The local community needs and context of poverty greatly hinder clients' therapeutic progress in therapy treatment and when therapy does not directly address the culture of poverty, clients did not experience therapy as valuable despite some temporary decreases in mental health symptoms.