Indigenous Crisis Counseling in Taiwan: An Exploratory Qualitative Case Study of an Expert Therapist

In this study, we adopted a single qualitative case study method to explore and examine indigenous approaches to crisis counseling
in Taiwan, through the distinct lens of an expert Taiwanese counseling psychologist. In-depth, open-ended interviews were
conducted with the psychologist (as the case) to document her lived clinical experiences counseling a grief-stricken Taiwanese
family in crisis (as the context). Using open-code data analysis, five cultural themes were abstracted from the interviews:
a) significance of counselor’s authority and expertness; b) primacy of client-counselor rapport and relationship; c) centrality
of collective familism; d) observance of indigenous grief response and process; and e) adherence to face-saving communication
and interpersonal patterns. Implications for implementing crisis counseling practice and research with native Taiwanese/Chinese
clients based on these preliminary findings are discussed.