Reflections on marriage and family therapy emergent from international dialogues in China.

Abstract

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

Multiculturalism in counseling and therapy: Marriage and family issues

“…Couples learn to identify with cultural values and biases of their own families throughout their childhood. Family counselors and therapists as well as all their counterparts need to develop activities and intervention techniques to counteract these biases (Dias et al, 2011).…”

Up Close: Family Therapy Challenges and Innovations Around the World

“…There is an apparent increase in Western family and marital therapy researchers who are interested in the development of marital and family therapy in China despite the language barrier (e.g., Adams et al., ; Dias, Chan, Ungvarsky, Oraker, & Cleare‐Hoffman, ; Liu et al., ; Miller & Fang, ). The Journal of Family Psychotherapy recently devoted a special issue to marriage and family therapy in China (Miller, ).…”

“…Sze, Hou, Lan, and Fang () found that the proportions of the three therapy modalities (individual, couple, and family) differed significantly from western findings in that families predominated, followed by individuals, and then couples in a Beijing psychotherapy center, in comparison to the descending order of individuals, couples, and families in the west. This is intriguing in that, while China is experiencing an increasing rate of divorces (Dias et al., ; Lim et al., ; Miller & Fang, ), fewer people seek couple therapy to improve their marital well‐being. These characteristics seem to suggest that Chinese cultural values prioritize parent–child relationships over the couple relationship.…”

“…In a nutshell, while recognizing that the family is a central construct in Chinese life (Dias et al., ; Lim et al., ; Liu et al., ), therapists need to be astutely aware of the way Chinese families continue to be in flux and challenged by a plethora of unique issues and family dynamics in view of China's idiosyncratic population policy (e.g., one‐child policy) and rapidly aging population. Clinically, Chinese therapists may need to face the challenge of providing powerful and effective therapy within a shorter time frame and implement some form of change in the first session in addition to collecting information (Deng et al., ).…”

Facing Invisible Dragons

“…It would follow that the same type of process of “broken-ness” occurs in China, yet because family identity is more profound, turning away from one’s family to establish a separate identity may be considered a great humanistic crime. As Dias, Chan, Ungvarsky, Oraker, and Cleare-Hoffman (2011) suggest, “For a Chinese person, to exist is to live your life with your family, which is sufficient for a meaningful life” (p. 271). However, from a contextual standpoint, according to some researchers, when a child has a disability, it may possibly be seen, in some families, as “a punishment for an ancestor’s misbehavior” or that “the disability is due to the current family’s disregard for their obligation to honor their ancestors” (Wang, Michaels, & Day, 2011, p. 784).…”