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Five Things Western Therapists Need to Know for Working with Chinese Therapists and Patients
Author(s) -
Scharff David
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of applied psychoanalytic studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.314
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1556-9187
pISSN - 1742-3341
DOI - 10.1002/aps.1343
Subject(s) - china , psychology , individualism , presentation (obstetrics) , psychotherapist , chinese culture , personality , individuation , social psychology , medicine , political science , law , radiology
Beneath the many stereotypes of Chinese characteristics common in the West, there are complexities of Chinese culture and personality not well understood by psychoanalysts and analytic therapists. Knowing something about these can be critically helpful to Western colleagues who wish to teach effectively in China. This presentation outlines cultural issues concerning Confucian and related values, changes in family and marital structure, changes in the role and practice of sex, the effect of widespread national and individual trauma in China in the twentieth century, and changes in the nature of individualism in Chinese personality. These five factors come to bear whenever Western analysts and psychotherapists teach Chinese analytic therapists and/or treat Chinese patients. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.