Читать книгу Counseling the Culturally Diverse - Laura Smith L. - Страница 74

Many counselors and therapists emphasize the fact that verbal/emotional/behavioral expressiveness is important in individuals. As therapists, our conventional techniques tend to be most suited to clients who are verbal, articulate, and able to express their thoughts and feelings clearly. Indeed, psychotherapy is often referred to as “talk therapy,” indicating the importance placed on speaking (and on Standard English as the medium of expression). Emotional expressiveness is also valued, as we prefer that individuals be in touch with their feelings and able to verbalize their emotional reactions. We value behavioral expressiveness as well. We tend to generally approve of individuals who are assertive, who stand up for their rights, and who engage in activities that indicate they are not passive beings.

All these characteristics of mainstream therapy can place culturally diverse clients at a disadvantage. For example, Native American and Asian American cultures do not always value verbalizations in the same way as White Americans. In traditional Chinese culture, many children have been taught not to speak until spoken to. Patterns of communication tend to be vertical, flowing from those of higher prestige and status to those of lower prestige and status. In a therapy situation, many Chinese clients, to show respect for a therapist who is older and wiser and who occupies a position of higher status, may respond with silence. Unfortunately, an unenlightened counselor or therapist may perceive such clients as being inarticulate, less intelligent, or resistant.

With regard to emotional expressiveness, many cultural groups value the restraint of strong feelings. For example, traditional Asian cultures emphasize that maturity and wisdom are associated with one's ability to control emotions and feelings. This applies not only to public expressions of anger and frustration but also to public expressions of love and affection. Unfortunately, therapists unfamiliar with these cultural ramifications may perceive these clients in a negative psychiatric light. Indeed, these clients are often described as inhibited, lacking in spontaneity, or repressed.

In therapy, it has become increasingly popular to emphasize expressiveness as a behavioral modality, as manifested by the proliferation of cognitive behavioral assertiveness training programs throughout the United States (Craske, 2010) and the number of assertiveness self‐help books published in the popular mental health literature. Such instruction fails to recognize that there are cultural groups in which subtlety is a highly prized art. Similarly, other cultural groups may place a higher cultural premium on politeness and a focus on others rather than self‐focused values such as assertiveness; one example is the traditional Latinx value simpatía, or the cultural value of communicating in the context of politeness, warmth, and interest in others’ feelings and well‐being (Rodriguez‐Arauz et al., 2019). Doing things that are perceived as less direct or assertive can be interpreted by a mental health professional as evidence of passivity and the need to learn assertiveness behaviors and skills. In their review of assertiveness training, Wood and Mallinckrodt (1990) warned that therapists need to make certain that gaining such skills is a value that is shared by a client of color and is not one imposed by therapists.