Asian Perspectives in Counselling and Psychotherapy considers what exactly cross-cultural counselling and psychotherapy mean. Topics covered include:
* a detailed analysis of the concept of culture, and the relationship between culture and therapy
* a comparative study of Western cultures and Eastern cultures
* the historical development of counselling and psychotherapy in Western countries
* the controversies related to the problem of 'matching' clients with therapists.
Illustrated by stimulating case studies, the theoretical knowledge and practical advice presented in Asian Perspectives in Counselling and Psychotherapy will be invaluable reading to all practising and training counsellors and psychotherapists.

All societies have their own customs and beliefs surrounding death. In the West, traditional ways of mourning are disappearing, and although Western science has had a major impact on how people die, it has taught us little about the way to die or to grieve. Many whose work brings them into contact with the dying and the bereaved from Western and other cultures are at a loss to know how to offer appropriate and sensitive support. Death and Bereavement Across Cultures 2nd Edition is a handbook which meets the needs of doctors, nurses, social workers, hospital chaplains, counsellors and volunteers caring for patients with life-threatening illness and their families before and after bereavement. It is a practical guide explaining the religious and other differences commonly met with in multi-cultural societies when someone is dying or bereaved. In doing so readers may be surprised to find how much we can learn from other cultures about our own attitudes and assumptions about death. Written by international experts in the field the book: Describes the rituals and beliefs of major world religions; Explains their psychological and historical context; Shows how customs are changed by contact with the West; Considers the implications for the future The second edition includes new chapters that: explore how members of the health care professions perform roles formerly conducted by priests and shamans can cross the cultural gaps between different cultures and religions; consider the relevance of attitudes and assumptions about death for our understanding of religious and nationalist extremism and its consequences; discuss the Buddhist, Islamic and Christian ways of death. Death raises questions which science cannot answer. Whatever our personal beliefs we can all gain from learning how others view these ultimate problems. This book explores the richness of mourning traditions around the world with the aim of increasing the sensitivity and understanding which we all bring to the issue of death and bereavement.

All societies have their own customs and beliefs surrounding death. In the West, traditional ways of mourning are disappearing, and although Western science has had a major impact on how people die, it has taught us little about the way to die or to grieve. Many whose work brings them into contact with the dying and the bereaved from Western and other cultures are at a loss to know how to offer appropriate and sensitive support. Death and Bereavement Across Cultures 2nd Edition is a handbook which meets the needs of doctors, nurses, social workers, hospital chaplains, counsellors and volunteers caring for patients with life-threatening illness and their families before and after bereavement. It is a practical guide explaining the religious and other differences commonly met with in multi-cultural societies when someone is dying or bereaved. In doing so readers may be surprised to find how much we can learn from other cultures about our own attitudes and assumptions about death. Written by international experts in the field the book: Describes the rituals and beliefs of major world religions; Explains their psychological and historical context; Shows how customs are changed by contact with the West; Considers the implications for the future The second edition includes new chapters that: explore how members of the health care professions perform roles formerly conducted by priests and shamans can cross the cultural gaps between different cultures and religions; consider the relevance of attitudes and assumptions about death for our understanding of religious and nationalist extremism and its consequences; discuss the Buddhist, Islamic and Christian ways of death. Death raises questions which science cannot answer. Whatever our personal beliefs we can all gain from learning how others view these ultimate problems. This book explores the richness of mourning traditions around the world with the aim of increasing the sensitivity and understanding which we all bring to the issue of death and bereavement.

This final volume of ""Death and Bereavement Around the World"" reflects on some major themes: death and after-life, religion and spirituality, rites and rituals, secularist approaches, cultural variations, suicide, and other issues. The first few chapters describe progress in end-of-life care, including some new tools to evaluate hospice care (chapter 1); what children know, when they know it, and how parents can respond to questions, with some guidelines for support by schools (chapter 2); the importance of ritual (chapter 3); and, gender differences in death customs around the world (chapter 4).The transcript of a 1997 interview of John (Jack) Morgan by Pittu Laungani is presented as chapter 5. The following chapters discuss death systems and suicide (chapter 6); HIV/AIDS, including the role of cultural and economic factors in the spread of the disease (chapter 7); and grief and bereavement in the developing world, taking the AIDS pandemic as a specific challenge (chapter 8). Chapter 9 covers issues related to dying and death in Romania. In chapter 10 the focus is on the various functions and uses of names in a cross-cultural context. Roadside memorials as a pivotal healing strategy are the topic of chapter 11. Chapters 12 and 13 focus on spiritual experience with loss.The final chapter presents some conclusions, and in the Epilogue, Mary Ann Morgan honors the life, career, dying, death, and achievements of John (Jack) Morgan. The 'Final Word' includes the words of Pittu Laungani, from a book published just weeks before his death in February 2007.This work is for anyone interested in or working in death and bereavement issues, particularly academics, educators, librarians, chaplains, clergy, funeral service directors, hospice care providers and volunteers, palliative care providers, nurses, immigration officers, psychologists, social workers, psychotherapists, and counselors, especially bereavement counselors.

This final volume of ""Death and Bereavement Around the World"" reflects on some major themes: death and after-life, religion and spirituality, rites and rituals, secularist approaches, cultural variations, suicide, and other issues. The first few chapters describe progress in end-of-life care, including some new tools to evaluate hospice care (chapter 1); what children know, when they know it, and how parents can respond to questions, with some guidelines for support by schools (chapter 2); the importance of ritual (chapter 3); and, gender differences in death customs around the world (chapter 4).The transcript of a 1997 interview of John (Jack) Morgan by Pittu Laungani is presented as chapter 5. The following chapters discuss death systems and suicide (chapter 6); HIV/AIDS, including the role of cultural and economic factors in the spread of the disease (chapter 7); and grief and bereavement in the developing world, taking the AIDS pandemic as a specific challenge (chapter 8). Chapter 9 covers issues related to dying and death in Romania. In chapter 10 the focus is on the various functions and uses of names in a cross-cultural context. Roadside memorials as a pivotal healing strategy are the topic of chapter 11. Chapters 12 and 13 focus on spiritual experience with loss.The final chapter presents some conclusions, and in the Epilogue, Mary Ann Morgan honors the life, career, dying, death, and achievements of John (Jack) Morgan. The 'Final Word' includes the words of Pittu Laungani, from a book published just weeks before his death in February 2007.This work is for anyone interested in or working in death and bereavement issues, particularly academics, educators, librarians, chaplains, clergy, funeral service directors, hospice care providers and volunteers, palliative care providers, nurses, immigration officers, psychologists, social workers, psychotherapists, and counselors, especially bereavement counselors.

The make-up of the contemporary nation-state is increasingly multiethnic and statistics show that in many cases no one group is numerically the largest. Interethnic relations are given global visibility by the media while much that happens among different groups depends on context. Editors John D. Morgan (King's College, London) and Pittu Laungani (South Bank and Manchester Universities, England) have gathered leading international authorities to produce Death and Bereavement Around the World the first of a five-volume presentation and analysis of the ways different peoples experience dying and grief. Effective bereavement care requires a knowledge of an individual's physical, social, educational, and spiritual existence since the expressions of grief and the needs that emerge vary widely from one to another and are subject to past experiences, cultural expectations, personal beliefs, and relationships. An individual's identity comes from a sense of personal uniqueness; solidarity with group ideals; continuity with the past, present and future; and from the culture by which an individual is raised or adopted. This first volume discusses the major religious traditions of the world and how they help followers deal with the fundamentals of life.