Family Therapy with Caribben Families in the US

Family Therapy with Caribbean Immigrant Families in the US
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(May 01, 2013)
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Family Therapy with Caribbean Immigrant Families in the US
Introduction
Family therapy is a branch of psychotherapy dealing with couples and families in intimate relationships in positively managing developments and change. It has been noted that family therapy also identifies with family systems therapy, couple and family therapy, family counseling and marriage and family therapy. Change is critical in family therapy, in that it is monitored in relations to interaction systems portrayed by the members of the family. Psychological health argues that family relationships enhance sustainability of the marriage institutions (Baptiste et al, 1997). This paper focuses on the family therapy issues with the Caribbean Immigrants in the United States.
Main Body
Culture and history of the Caribbean Immigrants
Caribbean immigrants in the United States according to the surveys done in 2009 indicated that they numbered more than three point five million individuals, and the numbers are ever increasing. It is believed that majority of the Caribbean immigrants originated from Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago; with majority of immigrants coming from Cuba comparing with the listed nations.
It has been noted that foreign born immigrants are characterized with English speaking levels that are of high proficiency and has high abilities of being naturalized as United States citizens with strict guidelines to be followed. Caribbean immigrants date to centuries as compared to other immigrants in the United States (Baptiste et al, 1997). The population growth of the Caribbean immigrants in the United States is believed to have increased with more than seventeen fold in respect to the past fifty years; with majority of the Caribbean immigrants residing in New York City and Florida among other localities.
United States society is characterized with multicultural setups with a significant number of immigrants being unauthorized. Caribbean immigrants had three point two percent of the illegal immigrants in the United States. The rising number of Caribbean immigrants in the United States has called the need of family therapy in dealing with the changes and developments in the new environment; in dealing race, emigration, immigration and cultural shock.
Surveys done over years has shown that a number of Caribbean immigrants in America visits the family therapy sessions, this is as a result of difficulties with adaptations in the new culture and country. Therapists in dealing with these challenges handles the problems by initiating open communications with the Caribbean immigrants in establishing the exact problems being faced by individuals and families (Baptiste et al, 1997). Different individuals respond differently to the challenges faced in the American society. Issues of heteroge...