ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an exploratory study of the interviewee's experience reproduced with permission from Belle Liang. It explores the relationship of the interviewee with his/her friend. The questionnaire examines certain aspects of their relationship, such as discussing their connection with their friend, and each one's honesty. The interviewee is asked to openly share views on authenticity, differences, empathy/engagement and empowerment. Practice models in the 1960s and 1970s recognized the need of oppressed groups to feel a sense of empowerment in their relationships with others and in relation to the economic, political, and social realities of their lives. Relational-cultural theory seeks to integrate the person and environment, guiding the clinical process of assessment and intervention toward the interpersonal realm of people's lives. The relational cultural approach to clinical social work practice incorporates psychodynamic theories such as object relations, interpersonal, intersubjective, and self-psychology, and adds to the already existing literature on therapeutic relationship-building skills, cultural diversity, and practice interventions.
