Cultural Attunement in Therapy With Mexican‐Heritage Couples: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Client and Therapist Experience

There is a need for culturally attuned approaches for couple therapy with Mexican/Mexican‐Americans. This qualitative grounded theory study utilized interviews with 11 client couples of Mexican heritage and 14 marital and family therapists to shed light on how Latino and non‐Latino therapists co‐con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of marital and family therapy 2017-01, Vol.43 (1), p.100-114
Main Authors: Elias‐Juarez, Marco A., Knudson‐Martin, Carmen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Collaboration
Couples therapy
Couples Therapy - standards
Cross Cultural Studies
Cultural heritage
Culturally Competent Care - standards
Emotional Response
Experts
Family therapists
Female
Grounded Theory
Hispanic Americans
Humans
Latin
Male
Marriage counseling
Mexican Americans
Mexican Americans - psychology
Mexican people
Middle Aged
Minority Groups
Multicultural Education
Oppression
Professional-Patient Relations
Professionalism
Psychological Patterns
Qualitative Research
Resistance (Psychology)
Therapists
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Summary:There is a need for culturally attuned approaches for couple therapy with Mexican/Mexican‐Americans. This qualitative grounded theory study utilized interviews with 11 client couples of Mexican heritage and 14 marital and family therapists to shed light on how Latino and non‐Latino therapists co‐construct positive experiences of cultural attunement with Mexican and Mexican‐American couple clients. Analysis identified a model of cultural connection through personal engagement with four interrelated phases: (a) mutual invitation, (b) shared engagement, (c) expanding personal connection, and (d) creating cultural connections. Clients in this study valued professionalism and expertise of the therapist, but felt attuned to and respected when therapists demonstrated humility, shared personal stories and emotion, and engaged in a collaborative process.
ISSN:0194-472X
1752-0606
DOI:10.1111/jmft.12183