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Multiculturalism and Group Therapy in the United States: A Social Constructionist Perspective

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Abstract

Multiculturalism encourages the inclusion of the broad range of cultural differences that exist in society into our therapeutic dialogues. This paper examines multicultural group therapy through the perspective of social constructionism. Emphasis is given to the unacknowledged and unspoken imbalance of power that exists in psychotherapeutic contexts. The concepts of multiple individual identity and cultural representation are discussed and illustrated with case examples. Clinical considerations for the multicultural group therapist are provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Group Psychotherapy Institute and the, Group Psychotherapy Training Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry, 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20016

    Zachary Green (Faculty member of the)

  2. Faculty member of the Group Psychotherapy Training Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry, Founding Dean of the National Group Psychotherapy Institute, 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20016

    Michael J. Stiers

Authors
  1. Zachary Green
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  2. Michael J. Stiers
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Correspondence to Zachary Green.

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Green, Z., Stiers, M.J. Multiculturalism and Group Therapy in the United States: A Social Constructionist Perspective. Group 26, 233–246 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021013227789

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