Poster #4

Amplifying Understanding of Resilience in Chinese Youth Who Have Experienced Early Interpersonal Trauma: What Culturally-Specific Models Are Available?

By: Yuen Wu. Co-authored by Susan R. Hall, JD, PhD

Abstract:

Although childhood maltreatment can cause mental health problems later on in life, some children with a history of childhood maltreatment become well-adjusted into adulthood. In recent years, multiple resilience factors have been shown to mediate post-traumatic symptomatology. Yet, culture’s role in shaping resilience has long been overlooked, creating a gap in knowledge in providing culturally-sensitive trauma-focused work for ethnic and cultural minorities. To fill this gap, the authors of this proposed presentation reviewed the current body of literature examining culturally-specific resilience factors for those with childhood trauma within the Chinese cultural context and summarized models of conceptualizing resilience for this population. These models of conceptualization can inform culturally-sensitive clinical practice, not just for the Chinese population, but also for other cultural/ethnic minorities. It also has been suggested that promoting resilience while providing services to those with childhood trauma could facilitate more effective mental health outcomes.

yuen (Rachel) wu

Yuen (Rachel) received her Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University and is currently a Psy.D. candidate of Clinical Psychology at Pepperdine University. Yuen’s scholarly and clinical interests lie in culturally-sensitive trauma-informed interventions. As a psychotherapist in training, Yuen provides trauma-informed treatment to culturally-diverse populations across the life span. During her master’s training, Yuen provided trauma-focused treatment to child survivors of abuse at New York Center for Children and worked with underprivileged immigrant youths with complex trauma at a New York transfer high school. In her doctoral training, Yuen provides long-term psychotherapy to adult patients with early childhood trauma in a community clinic and has served a diverse student population at the California State University Fullerton, Counseling and Psychological Services. As an international student and an ethnic/cultural minority, Yuen pays special attention to how culture shapes resiliency when delivering trauma-focused interventions to minority populations.