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With the growing diversity in the United States among both clinicians and clients, many therapeutic encounters are cross-cultural, requiring providers to connect across cultural differences. Foreign-born therapists have many areas of differences to work through. Thus, exploring how foreign-born family therapists in the United States connect to their clients can uncover helpful strategies that all therapists can use to establish stronger cross-cultural therapeutic connections. A thematic analysis was conducted to understand strategies 13 foreign-born therapists used during therapeutic encounters. Four themes were identified: making therapy a human-to-human connection, dealing with stereotypes, what really matters, and flexibility. Findings suggest that developing a deep therapeutic connection using emotional attunement and human-to-human engagement is crucial for successful cross-cultural therapy. Clinical and training implications are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Person-of-the-Therapist Training ( POTT) is a program designed to facilitate clinicians' ability to consciously and purposefully use themselves at the moment of contact with their clients in order to connect, assess, and intervene effectively. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 54 master's-level students who were enrolled in an accredited marriage and family therapy program in the United States and examined their perceived professional gains following a 9-month POTT course. Content analysis of trainees' reflections which they wrote at the end of the training revealed 6 primary themes: (a) increased awareness, (b) emotions, (c) improved clinical work, (d) humanity and woundedness, (e) meta-awareness, and (f) factors that contributed to the learning process. Findings suggest that key outcomes of this training curriculum are congruent with its stated goals. Clinical and training recommendations are additionally provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examined the associations between acculturation, supervisors' multicultural competence, and clinicians' self-efficacy in a sample of 153 immigrant therapists currently practicing in the United States. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and 3 additional questionnaires that examined their levels of acculturation, perceived supervisors' multicultural competence, and clinical self-efficacy. Results suggested that perceived prejudice, not level of acculturation, was significantly associated with foreign-born therapists' clinical self-efficacy. Perceived supervisors' multicultural competence was significantly associated with therapists' clinical self-efficacy. Recommendations for supervisors working with foreign-born therapists are provided. Los autores examinaron las asociaciones entre aculturación, competencia multicultural de los supervisores y autoeficacia de los profesionales clínicos en una muestra de 153 terapeutas inmigrantes actualmente en activo en los Estados Unidos. Los participantes completaron un cuestionario demográfico y tres cuestionarios adicionales que examinaron sus niveles de aculturación, la competencia multicultural percibida de sus supervisores y la autoeficacia clínica. Los resultados sugieren que los prejuicios percibidos, no el nivel de aculturación, están asociados de forma significativa con la autoeficacia clínica de los terapeutas nacidos en el extranjero. La competencia multicultural percibida de sus supervisores está asociada significativamente con la autoeficacia clínica de los terapeutas. Se proporcionan recomendaciones para supervisores que trabajan con terapeutas nacidos en el extranjero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study premises that self-of-the-therapist work is pivotal in the development of effective therapists. However, therapy models vary in their goals for this work and the means of accomplishing them. This study presents the perspective of the person-of-the-therapist Training ( POTT) model that prioritizes the ability to consciously and purposefully use the self-as-is at the moment of contact with the client over the traditional goal of therapists working to resolve their issues. A key underlying assumption of the model proposes that therapists' core issues (referred to as 'signature themes') are potent resources that can be tapped into to connect, assess and intervene effectively with clients. The study presents the model and illustrates the use of signature themes in clinical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]