Assignment: Individual Therapy

In this week's Discussion, you considered broad differences between non-Western and Western psychotherapeutic interventions.

The focus of this week's Application is individual therapy, one specific type of psychotherapeutic intervention. Most people think of individual therapy as a client sitting with their therapist to address the client's concerns. This is indeed one type of individual therapy.

This week's learning resources refer to different approaches in individual therapy such as: psychoanalysis, behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, and counseling.

Regardless of the approach, individual therapy depends on a person's willingness to seek therapy and the relationship between a therapist and a client. In this Application, you consider how sociocultural context influences individual therapy.

To prepare for this Assignment:

• Review Chapter 8 in your textbook, Toward a Global Psychology: Theory, Research, Intervention, and Pedagogy. Pay particular attention to the following sections: "A Global Panorama of Psychotherapy: Innovations, Modifications, and Elaborations", "Psychotherapy in its Sociocultural Context", and "Expectations, Preferences, and Styles: Cultural, Characteristics and Differences".

• Consider the differences in the expectations, preferences, and styles of psychotherapy with Chinese clients and African and Indian Clients.

• Review the article, " Wrapping and unwrapping emotions: Clinical practice with East Asian Immigrant Elders," paying particular attention to attitudes toward psychotherapy and therapist-client relationships.

• Review the following videos: "Tango and Analysis," "Argentina in Therapy - Trailer Film," and "Argentina in Therapy - Pre-Title Sequence."

Focus on attitudes toward psychotherapy and therapist-client relationships.

• Consider similarities and differences in attitudes toward individual therapy in Argentina and Eastern Asia.

• Think about how sociocultural context, in general, influences attitudes toward therapy.

• Consider similarities and differences in therapist-client relationships between Argentina and Eastern Asia.

• Reflect on how sociocultural context, in general, influences therapist-client relationships.

The Assignment (3-4 pages):

• Explain how the sociocultural context influences attitudes toward both therapy and therapist-client relationships.

• Compare the differences in the expectations, preferences, and styles of psychotherapy among Chinese, African, and Indian clients.

• Describe the similarities and differences in attitudes toward both individual therapy and therapist-client relationships in Argentina and Eastern Asia.