Abstract
This book, edited by Kawahara and Espin, is a welcome contribution to the feminist psychotherapy literature, providing much needed information and discussion of issues involving Asian American women. Although some minority feminist psychologists began to identify the lack of attention to minority women's issues during the early feminist therapeutic movement (Mays & Comas-Diaz, 1988), only a few Asian American therapists identified feminist interventions as potentially useful tools for Asian American women (Bradshaw, 1996; Brown & Root, 1990; Homma-True, 1990), and they did not envision a complete book dealing systematically with wide-ranging ethnic groups among Asian American women's communities. A major factor that made Asian American psychotherapists hesitate about incorporating a feminist orientation into their therapeutic arsenal was the nagging concern that principles advocated by U.S. feminists threaten some of the firmly established Asian cultural values, such as patriarchy, collectivism, filial piety, and traditional gender-role expectations. They feared that encouraging their clients to question the discrimination, oppression, and abuses they suffered might create even greater conflicts and jeopardize their positions within their own families and communities. Kawahara and Espin took up the challenge to examine these concerns by asking a group of Asian American feminist therapists and educators who were active in their communities to share their experiences as therapists and educators. The contributors represent diverse backgrounds with regard to ethnicity, religion, culture, and geographic regions. What is exciting about the book is that it includes discussions about issues faced by groups neglected in previous publications, including Indians, South Asians, Filipinas, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and lesbians. It also highlights specific clinical issues of Asian American women, such as suicide, domestic violence, marital conflicts, and eating disorders—topics that are viewed as stigmatizing in the family and community and for which help seeking is often discouraged. The contributors’ descriptions of their work are rich, informative, and provide helpful suggestions for all clinicians, including Asian American feminist clinicians and educators.
For those who are concerned that advocating for Asian American women's empowerment or questioning their abusive, oppressive treatment is merely identifying with the Western individualistic feminist ideology, Chin reminds us that empowering women in the Chinese American community is reviving the ancient mythological image of the powerful woman warrior in China, where matriarchal social order preceded Confucian patriarchy. It is important to learn from the history of a number of Asian countries that matriarchy was the prevalent social order during the early period in their histories and was eroded and replaced by militaristic patriarchy. This patriarchal social system is not a static system but one that can be made to adjust to changing needs of the times. Although it is important for clinicians to protect and ensure our clients’ safety, the contributors remind us to work toward eliminating the social and familial situations that perpetuate women's oppression and abuse, regardless of the social pressure to maintain the status quo.
Two chapters focus on working with South Asian women and describe ways of helping women find their voice and experience empowerment that allow them to make changes while remaining within the South Asian historical and cultural context. For example, they invoke images of Hindu goddesses such as Shakti, a goddess of life-giving, procreative power, a gentle protector and fierce warrior. The therapists also use the experience of historical or contemporary female figures, such as female Muslim freedom fighters or successful female leaders, to inspire their clients to challenge abusive situations and work toward creating changes, however slow the process.
The book includes a chapter that describes the outcome of interviews conducted with successful contemporary Asian American women leaders. These leaders were able to transcend the racial and gender barriers in the United States and achieve their leadership positions by balancing their bicultural and multicultural experiences, taking strength from their Asian cultural heritage as well as gaining new skills and understanding from the dominant U.S. culture. They are powerful role models, and their stories will inspire younger Asian American women struggling with their own identity and place in society.
Three chapters deal with the construction of identity for Asian American women. One describes the conflicts and struggles of Asian American women, who need to separate from their immigrant mothers’ Confucian identity and establish their own bicultural identity. The other describes the identity development process for South Asian American women, who struggle with the dichotomy of cultural loyalty and personal liberation. In another chapter, therapists working on college campuses share their experiences of using time-limited therapeutic groups for Asian American students as a way to help facilitate the exploration of their identity conflicts and struggles, which leads to the development of their own unique identities.
The book also includes a chapter about a training program designed to help non–Asian American therapists develop cultural sensitivity for working with Asian American women. The program is based on the principle of developing multicultural sensitivity and includes an emphasis on cultural self-awareness, understanding the diversity and complexity of Asian American women's communities, and the acquisition of culturally responsive intervention skills. Because most therapy with Asian American women is provided by non–Asian American therapists, this chapter should provide valuable suggestions for teachers and supervisors to better prepare their students to work effectively with Asian American women.
Kawahara and Espin should be commended for their valiant effort to be as inclusive as possible. However, they had to make selective choices of topics to be covered. Although Japanese and Korean American women are not explicitly identified in the book, references about them are included in various chapters. There are topics not covered in the book that may motivate others to publish additional materials, such as South Eastern Asian women and refugee issues, sexual minority groups, and treatment discussions of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse. Although all contributors make persuasive arguments for adapting a feminist therapeutic orientation for Asian American women, we need to remember that our responsibility is always to accommodate the needs of our clients and not to become too attached to any particular theoretical orientation (Vasquez, 2007). This is particularly critical when serving Asian American women, who may be trapped in dangerous, oppressive, or abusive situations.