Culture and Identity: Life Stories for Counselors and Therapists - Tapa blanda

"The manuscript is, indeed, very easy to read - the personal narratives really get you into the experience of the writer...The wonderful richness of the personal narrative is a grand strength, and providing Clinical Applications that address the narratives helps get the reader to think beyond just simple "difference."...This book offers so much in the way of personal narrative and helping students to understand the lives of those who are different.  This is an enriching addition to the existing multicultural textbook arena." (Suzanne Degges-White 2005-06-03)

"Culture and Identity: Life Stories for Counselors and Therapists, by the prominent psychologists Anita Jones Thomas and Sara Schwarzbaum, is a brilliant revolution in our way of looking at culture and identity through an understanding of diverse people's diverse life stories. Reading each character's story helps us learn how distinct each individual life is and how rich and diverse our world is. It packs rich and diverse information derived from firsthand, and intimate stories. This book would surely benefit countless readers at different levels and stages, students, teachers, people who want to know about their cultural background and identity, therapists, and the list goes on." (Ruth Chao 2007-06-21)

Culture and Identity: Life Stories for Counselors and Therapists is a collection of autobiographical stories that explores themes of race/ethnicity, immigration/acculturation, religion, and social class. These engaging stories allow readers to understand the significance and influence of culture on identity development, sense of self, family relationships, interpersonal relationships, and life choices. As each storyteller reveals their real life struggles, readers will enhance their understanding of intra-group differences, increase their repertoire of clinical skills, and sharpen their multicultural competency. Each chapter contains a discussion of content themes, along with clinical applications, assessment questions, techniques, and interventions, as well as personal reactions evoked from the stories.

The book:

"offers autobiographical stories that help readers enhance their own clinical skills since the stories depict real clinical situations

"includes theoretical content descriptions for each story to provide clinicians with a comprehensive array of themes they are likely to encounter in their clients' histories

"contains a clinical applications section within each chapter that gives readers practical ideas they can apply to clients with similar stories

"includes a valuable countertransference section that provides clinicians with personal reaction scenarios when working with clients that have issues similar to those presented in each story

"comprises of chapters that can be read independently making it an easy fit for both classroom assignments and readers' preferences.

Culture and Identity is a unique, easy-to-read book that demonstrates how cultural factors influence identity and life choices. It is an excellent textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on multicultural counseling focusing on diversity in the fields of Psychology, Counseling, Family Therapy, Social Work, and Human Services. The book is a valuable resource for clinicians looking to further their understanding of cultural factors in clinical work and will also be of interest to any professional in the mental health field who works with a diverse client population.