Responding to culturally based spiritual experiences in clinical practice from East Asian perspectives

Abstract

Spirituality is one of the most important aspects of diversity; however, it is often neglected in clinical practice and even in multicultural training. In order for clinicians and trainers to deepen their understandings of how to incorporate culturally based spiritual experiences effectively into their practices, this study explored how East Asian clinicians respond to spiritual beliefs expressed and spiritual practices utilised by their East Asian clients. Three focus groups were formed consisting of nine clinicians from Chinese, Korean, and Japanese communities in the Northwest region of the United States. Each group was interviewed based on the semi-structured question guideline and the data were analysed to identify core themes of culturally based spiritual experiences and delineate effective ways to understand and respond to them. This article included various case examples as well as clinical recommendations suggested by research participants.

Keywords:

• East Asian (Chinese, Korean, Japanese)
• spirituality
• culturally responsive clinical practice

Notes

The qualifications for an Ethnic Minority Mental Health Specialist are as follows: (1) a mental health professional (MHP) who has demonstrated cultural competence attained through major commitment, on-going training, experiences, and/or specialisation in serving ethnic minorities; (2) evidence of one year of service specialising in serving the ethnic minority group under the supervision of an ethnic minority mental health specialist; (3) evidence of support from the ethnic minority community attesting to the person's commitment to that community; or (4) a minimum of one hundred actual hours of specialised training devoted to ethnic minority issues and treatment of ethnic minority consumers.