Immigrants' continuing bonds with their native culture: assimilation analysis of three interviews.

Three case studies of immigrants to the US from China, Iraq, and Mexico were used to build a theory of acculturation in immigrants by integrating the continuing bonds model, which describes mourning in bereavement with the assimilation model, which describes psychological change in psychotherapy. Participants were interviewed about the loss of their native culture and their life in the US. One participant had not fully assimilated the loss of her native culture, but used her continuing bonds with her culture as a source of solace. Another participant used his continuing bonds with his culture as a source of solace, but these bonds had become a source of conflict with the host culture. The third participant had largely assimilated the loss of his native culture such that the voices of this culture were linked via meaning bridges with the voices of the host culture, and the continuing bonds were resources that helped him in his land of immigration.

Clients' assimilation of experiences of their therapists.

In this study, we examined how clients internalize their therapists, understanding this phenomenon through the lens of the assimilation model, a theory of psychological change. The assimilation model describes people as comprised of multiple voices, each voice being a representation of interrelated experiences organized around significant people or events. In this study, we interviewed five former psychotherapy clients and asked them to describe how they experienced, and continue to experience, their therapists internally. On the basis of these interviews, we extended the assimilation model by constructing an account of how clients' experiences of their therapists are internalized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Submissive voices dominate in depression: assimilation analysis of a helpful session.

Using the assimilation model, we describe a theoretical paradox in which interpersonally assertive parts of the depressed person's personality are dominated and suppressed by parts that are interpersonally submissive and passive. We examine the relevance of this paradox to therapeutic work, focusing on a particularly helpful session (according to the therapist) from the case of Joan, a woman seen for depression in cognitive-behavioral therapy. We consider how the therapist intervened to enhance communication between the interpersonally submissive and dominant parts of Joan and discuss the implications of this process for therapy with such clients.