Providing Bereavement Counseling to Chinese Americans: A Cultural Adaptation of a Western Grief Counseling Model

The aim of this paper is to extend the existing literature and propose an alternative perspective on bereavement counseling with Chinese Americans. This aim is achieved by integrating William Worden\u27s (2009) grief counseling model with several cultural components that are relevant to counseling with Chinese Americans, including: (a) the barriers to seeking counseling, (b) the clinical presentations of Asian Americans, (c) the common coping styles among Asian Americans, (d) the major Chinese religions and philosophies, and (e) the bereavement-related cultural practices. The corresponding treatment recommendations will be explored following the discussion of each cultural element. Finally, a culturally responsive grief counseling model for Chinese Americans will be proposed in the last section, along with a discussion of important caveats