Filial therapy for children's behavioral and emotional problems in mainland China.

Filial Therapy for Children’s Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Mainland China Blackwell Oxford, Journal JCAP July-September 4 O Filial RIGINAL Therapy of by UK Publishing, Child Nursecom, ARTICLE for and Children’s Adolescent Ltd. Inc. Behavioral Psychiatric and Nursing Emotional Problems in Mainland China Yuqing Guo, MSN TOPIC: Filial therapy as a therapeutic intervention to promote parent–child interaction and improve child’s behavior across culture. PURPOSE: To review the state of the science of filial therapy and explore whether filial therapy would be an effective parenting program in China. SOURCES: Four research articles related to the impact of filial therapy, used with Chinese immigrants, Koreans, and Native Americans, were located in a search of nursing, medical, psychological, and social science literature. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicated that filial therapy is a culturally sensitive and effective intervention. The overall limitations, some recommendations for future research, and the discussion of efficacy of filial therapy in China were provided. Search terms: Filial therapy, parent–child interaction, behavior problems, ethnic Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, Volume 18, Number 4, pp. 171–180 JCAPN Volume 18, Number 4, October-December, 2005 Yuqing Guo, MSN, is a Doctoral Student, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. The Use of Filial Therapy Across Culture: The State of Science The purpose of this paper is to review the state of the science of filial therapy and explore whether filial therapy would be an effective parenting program in China. There are four themes in this paper. The first is to explain the theoretical rationale for filial therapy. The second is to review and summarize studies using the 10-week filial model with Caucasian and three ethnic groups. The third is to critique and synthesize the studies using a 10-week filial therapy model across ethnic groups. The final theme is to provide the back- ground about Chinese children’s behavior problems and to discuss the efficacy of filial therapy in China. Overview of Filial Therapy Filial therapy was developed to help parents become therapeutic agents in dealing with their children’s problems by using the naturally existing bond between parent and child. Thus is derived the term filial therapy (Guerney, Guerney, & Andronico, 1966). It is based on the principles of child-centered play therapy. The goals of filial therapy for parents are to (a) help parents understand the vital role of play in their children’s development; (b) teach parents how to encourage more open communication with their children; (c) increase positive emotions, trust, and intimacy between parents and children; and (d) empower parents and increase their sense of competency and confidence in their ability to parent their children (Guerney, 1997). Because filial therapy was derived from child- centered play therapy, it is useful to understand the nature and value of child-centered play therapy. Child-centered play therapy is a combination of play therapy and child-centered theory. Play therapy is based on the fact that play is the fundamental language of