ABSTRACT
The Chinese language is based on combinations of thousands of characters, not twenty-six letters, and words derive meaning from rising and falling tones. The dominant philosophy in China was that of Confucius, in which loyalty to the emperor was the highest value, followed by loyalty to the group, the family, the father, and the friends. This chapter presents some highlights from a brief family intervention with Chinese parents and their adolescent daughter to illustrate the role of culture in family dynamics, and the importance of cultural sensitivity in therapy. There is psychoanalytic work whenever subjects are able to let their anxieties and fantasies speak in front of someone who is willing to listen and capable of accounting for these anxieties and fantasies. A middle-class Chinese "only child" is under intense pressure to get into a good college so as to ensure a strong financial future because this child will be responsible for the parents and grandparents in their retirement years.
