CULTURAL DISSONANCE AMONG GENERATIONS: A SOLUTION-FOCUSED APPROACH WITH EAST ASIAN ELDERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Oct 2004 by Lee, Mo Yee, Mjelde-Mossey, LeeAnn

Utilizing Cultural Strengths and Resources

Saleebey (1996) argued that most helping professions in the United States are saturated with practice approaches that are based upon a deficit or pathology perspective. This is even more likely to occur with ethno-racial families. Members of a cultural minority group in a given society tend to be devalued by the majority. This negative devaluation can be stigmatizing to minority group members (Gutierrez & Lewis, 1999). For example, a family therapist may view the boundary between Mrs. Song and other family members as "enmeshed" or "over-involved" in such a situation. The therapist might be tempted to intervene in ways that fit his or her beliefs about healthy family hierarchies or relationships. All too often, such an approach may not be appropriate or viable in the lives of culturally diverse families.

The strengths perspective is based on two key assumptions. First, all people and environments have abilities and resources that are not being used, are underused, or perhaps have been forgotten. Second, all people are capable of continued growth and change (Rapp, 1998). Utilizing and building on cultural strengths and resources is not just respectful, but a more efficient and effective way for East Asian families to develop solutions that are relevant and viable in their unique life circumstances. Family therapists operating from a strengths perspective do not focus on the family's problem-saturated experiences. Instead, they are curious about, and appreciative of, the cultural strengths of the family as well as strengths and resources of each individual. The challenge for the therapist is to assist the family to recognize and utilize their strengths and resources in the treatment process.

Addressing Cultural Stigma of Seeking Family Therapy: The Importance of Saving Face

Because of cultural values of harmony, collectivism and obligation, disclosing family problems to an outsider oftentimes leads to fear of shaming the family name or losing face (Ho, 1993; Leong & Lau, 2001). This fear of shaming the family name or losing face, the stigma attached to seeking professional help, and/or the negative emotion of embarrassment have been well documented as barriers to seeking professional help for Asian American populations (Yamashiro & Matsuoka, 1997). For instance, "being silent" becomes one of the most common coping mechanisms employed by Chinese (M. Y. Lee, 2000), Japanese (Mills & Granoff, 1992) and Korean women (Song, 1996) who are dealing with problems of domestic violence. Locke (1992) further suggests that it is rare for the presenting problem to be the problem of greatest importance for Asian American clients, because they are too shameful to disclose the more serious family problems to outsiders.

The negative emotions associated with seeking therapy have to be viewed in the context of the marginalized status of East Asian elders who are likely to feel devalued by other family members as well as the dominant society. Younger family members may also feel torn between the traditional values of filial piety and their desire for individual autonomy. Unfortunately, negative emotional experiences associated with the feelings of shame, embarrassment, or frustration more often lead to defensive behaviors and massive denial of the problem than useful problem-solving behaviors. Because saving face is an important cultural factor in social interaction among East Asian people, effective family therapy should facilitate a treatment process that allows the family to save face and at the same time develop beneficial solutions to the problems of cultural dissonance (Berg & Jaya, 1993). Ho (1993) warned that the confrontational approach, rather than helping Asian families, might violate their cultural value of harmony. Instead of focusing on who is responsible for the problem, the preferred face-saving dialogue focuses on identifying how family members can contribute to the desired family relationships. It is important to compliment and support everyone's motivation and efforts in realizing the solution (M. Y. Lee, 2002).