No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

University of the RockiesExistential therapy affirms that emotions are a given of human existence, experienced by all people regardless of culture. However, the experience and expression of emotion is highly influenced by culture, including influencing whether an emotion is perceived as healthy or problematic. Unfortunately, many Western approaches to psychology are prone to pathologizing the way different cultures experience emotion. In this article, the cultural exchange between United States, Bahamian, and Chinese culture is used to illustrate different ways of perceiving, experiencing, and expressing emotion, all of which can be healthy within their own cultural context, but often be oppressive and problematic in others. Cultural exchanges such as this can be highly instructive in helping therapist develop the necessary skills to work with client emotions in a culturally sensitive manner inclusive of varied approaches to emotions. Does a true hero have to be heartless? Surely a real man may love his young son, Even the roaring, wind-raising tiger Turns back to look at his own tiny cubs. (Lu Xun, 1932=2000) Human beings have emotion; this is a basic existential given (Heery, 2009;Hoffman, 2009b). Yet, mainstream Western psychology has often approached most, if not all, emotions as a problem to be solved or a spurious aspect of human nature that needs to be controlled. It then is purported that there is a right way to approach emotions, including a way to universally distinguish between healthy and unhealthy emotions. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), in fact, is highly focused upon distinguishing healthy and unhealthy emotions with the assumption that therapists can then treat emotions, such as anxiety and depression, which are deemed unhealthy. Increasingly, the DSM-IV TR is being exported to other cultures, including China. What is not discussed, however, is implicit value assumptions about emotions intimately tied to this process of labeling emotional states and patterns as pathological.

University of the RockiesFamily is a central construct in Chinese life. Although central, it is also a changing construct as China becomes an increasingly international nation. This article discusses the Chinese family system in context, the challenges to existing constructs, and issues of cultural competence in the midst of change. Using diverse constructs such as pastoral care, existential ethics, and systemic approaches, it is possible to develop means of approaching family life in China both therapeutically and in a way that respects the freedom and dignity of a people in flux.In March and April of 2010, we converged in Nanjing, China for the First International Conference on Existential Psychology after nearly two weeks of traveling across China talking about existential psychology and marriage and family therapy. Originating from the Bahamas, China, Great Britain, and the United States, we were fascinated by the interplay of culture and our chosen disciplines, and inspired by the conversations that emerged from a series of presentations on existential psychology, marriage and family therapy, and culture at the Nanjing conference. THE IMPORTANCE OF CONFUCIANISMConfucius is an important figure in Chinese culture. Various governments over the centuries sought to legitimize their rule by espousing Confucian principles or to do away with the teachings of Confucius, similar to how the Soviet powers tried to do away with religion. The latter