Feminist therapy: A culturally responsive treatment for Asian American and collectivist women

Feminist therapy, like most forms of psychotherapy, generally operates from an individualistic framework; thus, it may not be the most effective form of treatment for clients who adhere to collectivist values. In addition, the literature indicates that traditional Asian values may conflict with those of feminist therapy. In this study, two hundred fifty six Asian American and European American women were exposed to simulations of a counseling session by a feminist therapist and a cognitive therapist (control treatment). Ratings of the therapists were analyzed, both between and within subjects, with ethnicity, collectivism, and attitudes toward feminism as independent variables. Participants' attitudes toward feminism was found to be significantly related to their willingness to discuss personal and sexual assault issues with the therapists, and in their ratings of the counselors' expertness and trustworthiness. In addition, ethnicity was found to have a significant relationship to ratings of the therapists' attractiveness and trustworthiness. Contrary to the hypotheses, there were no significant results for collectivism. Exploratory analyses were also conducted with variables that correlated significantly to ratings of the feminist therapist. Horizontal and vertical scores, along with vertical individualism and horizontal collectivism scores, were found to have significant relationships to ratings of the feminist therapist.