Understanding the benefits of an Asian music therapy student peer group.
Lin, Yi-Ying
Asian international music therapy students like me who study in a
Western country experience a high level of acculturative stress because
music therapy as an interdisciplinary profession integrates the
components of art, music, and science into human healthcare and each
domain has its own inherent culture (Bruscia, 1998; Davis, Gfeller &
Thaut, 2008; Kim, 2011). In the meantime, our learning experiences in
the classroom are sometimes limited because of the language barriers and
different classroom cultures (Cuseo, 2009). This language barrier also
pervasively affects our interpersonal communication, cultural
understanding and self-esteem and may increase racial tensions,
especially in clinical work (Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007). The lack of
understanding of Western mainstream cultures and the differences in
communication styles often lead to poor communication in the many layers
of relationships, including the supervisory relationship (Kim, 2011;
Swamy, 2011).
From the student's perspective, the process of pursuing music
therapy as a profession is not only time consuming but physically,
emotionally and mentally exhausting and stressful. However, it is not
unusual for Asian international students to have high expectations on
academic achievements (Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007; Ye, 2006). These
expectations may come from the family, the individual or the
requirements of maintaining a scholarship. In order to achieve academic
success, these students often invest significant time on the schoolwork,
thus, reducing the time spent on social activities potentially worsening
our isolation. In addition, academic stress may be magnified beyond
social and emotional conditions and cause both physical and
psychological health issues such as depression (Dao, Lee & Chang,
2007; McLachlan & Justice, 2009; Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007).
Moreover, similar to other non-European students, Asian students may
experience discrimination in the school or society that leads to low
self-esteem, depression and other mental health problems (Paukert,
Pettit, Perez & Walker, 2006).
Since studying a music therapy program is an especially challenging
experience for Asian international students, there is a greater need for
us to seek help. However, students from Asian countries tend to
underutilise formal mental health services, prematurely terminate from
psychotherapy, and endorse less favourable help-seeking attitudes
(McLachlan & Justice, 2009; Shea & Yeh, 2008; Sue & Sue,
2008). The lower rate of help-seeking behaviours may be due to a
combination of institutional and sociocultural barriers. The
institutional barriers include the lack of culturally knowledgeable
staff and services, as well as contradictions between the values held by
Asian clients and the Western model of counselling. The sociocultural
barriers are the historical and cultural influences regarding coping
with personal problems. Some of the common issues among Asian
communities include high levels of social stigma attached to seeking
psychological treatment for mental health issues, linguistic issues and
limited knowledge about available services (Poyrazli & Grahame,
2007; Shea & Yeh, 2008; Sue & Sue, 2008).
Some studies suggest that since international students cannot
obtain immediate social support in traditional ways, it is helpful for
us to gain information and consult with people who have experienced
similar adjustment difficulties (Carr, Koyama & Thiagarajan, 2003;
McLachlan & Justice, 2009; Ye, 2006). Hence, co-ethnic minority
groups can function to help those who share similar cultural values and
experience similar acculturative stress and difficulties to feel less
isolated (Carr et al., 2003; Forsyth, 2010; Poyrazli & Grahame,
2007; Wiseman, 1997). Social support groups were recommended to help us
deal with acculturative stress and provide social support while
educational group provided informative academic resources (Cooper, 2009;
Ye, 2006). Groups that met over a long time were especially found to be
effective on easing isolation by providing belongingness, intimacy and
support (Forsyth,
2010). Moreover, the small-group learning model has been found
particularly suitable for female international students because it
provides participatory and collaborative learning experience in an
intimate and less threatening atmosphere (Cuseo, 2009).
In the music therapy field, groups can serve the functions of
social support, education and supervision. In a peer group, each member
plays multiple, simultaneous roles such as supporter, supervisor and
supervisee. The group process provides opportunities for music making,
emotional release and musical self-expression. It also provides music
therapy trainees with opportunities to reflect upon our previous group
experiences as well as our 'here and now' experiences.
Communication in the group is both verbal and non-verbal, and
reflections are fed back to the group. For each individual, boundaries
are reviewed and personal experiences are extended through the group
process. Most importantly, the trusting, connected and confidential
setting of a peer group allows members to discuss our responses and
share our personal issues safely and comfortably (Austin & Dvorkin,
2001; Streeter, 2002).
The Asian Music Therapy Student Peer Group
As an Asian international student, I personally experienced many of
the challenges described above during my course of study in the graduate
program at Montclair State University (MSU) in the United States. When I
took my first music therapy class at MSU in 2008, there were fewer than
five Asian international students in our program. Before my graduation
in 2013, the number of Asian students had increased to about 15.
Studying in a music therapy program that consisted of mostly American
students who were immersed in the American culture made me feel the need
to be familiar with American-oriented musical repertoires as well as
English verbal abilities. Thus as extra preparation, my friend and
fellow Asian course member Naoko (named with permission) proposed that
we practise music therapy clinical skills together regularly. We invited
several other Asian music therapy friends to join us, and the duet
quickly transformed into an ensemble--the Montclair State Asian music
therapy student peer group.
The group lasted the entire year with six regular members and
continued into the following year with an expanded group membership. The
group consisted of students from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea,
Singapore and Taiwan. Through informal conversations and online
discussion, the group collectively agreed to maintain consisting of only
members from Asian communities. Some of the most obvious reasons
included natural bonding, cultural familiarities and similar needs and
challenges in pursuing the music therapy profession. It was also the
group's consensus to keep the group format closed yet unstructured
in order to maximise both intimacy and freedom among the members. The
group met once a week in the shared home of several members close to the
campus. The length of each meeting was approximately an hour and a half
and the topics varied according to the members' needs. Music
making--improvisation, orchestration, sing-along and song writing--as
well as role-playing and small group discussions were some of the most
common group experiences. What we shared ranged from academic or
clinical issues, to our personal lives.
Even though the group process did not end as we originally
envisioned, this did not devalue its existence. Indeed, those unexpected
adjustments touched on even more valuable topics and core issues
relevant to our professional development as music therapists. Similar to
my own feelings, many members also thought the group was a positive
influence in many ways. One member shared that the group was a place to
relax and to have fun after a week of stressful schoolwork. Another said
that the opportunities of making music together served as motivation to
come to the meetings, and yet another member expressed that the support
from the group was essential in deciding to remain in the group. Each
member seemed to perceive the shared process of a group with specific
foci. I began to realise that the group members' various
perspectives could serve as a unique resource to understand the benefits
of the group and decided to explore this topic through a systematic
inquiry. Therefore in this study, I sought to identify (a) the
challenges that the group members experienced in academic, clinical and
personal domains, and (b) how the group members could benefit in their
academic, clinical and personal domains from having joined the group.
Method
Design
I employed narrative inquiry for the study because the main purpose
was to understand different experiences and perspectives about how the
group helped its members overcome the challenges of studying in the
music therapy program in the United States. Using narrative research
enables the readers to understand the participants' stories as they
unfold in context and in time (Kenny, 2005; Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach
& Zilber, 1998; Nelson, McClintock, Perez-Ferguson, Nash Shawver
& Thompson, 2008). In narrative inquiry, narrative components such
as interview transcripts, field notes and logs, are used to tell a story
from the participant's perspectives. This allows personal stories
to be understood within a broader cultural context (Poyrazli &
Grahame, 2007). Additionally, this research inquired about something
that had deeply affected the participant. Based on a heuristic method,
my internal frame of reference as the principle investigator and a
participant, served as a catalyst for deeper appreciation of the
research question (Kenny, 2012; Moustakas, 1990).
Participants
A sample of three participants were purposively selected from the
11 members of the Asian peer group according to the principles of
maximum variation sampling for the most diverse, information-rich case
material (Patton, 2002). The relevant characteristics for selection
according to diversity were national heritage, age, gender, years in the
United States, years in the music therapy program, academic types
(graduate or undergraduate) and years in the group (Kim, 2011) (see
Table 1 for demographic information).
The protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review
Board of MSU. All the group members were fully informed about and
sufficiently discussed the research before the study began, and they
maintained positive attitudes towards the study. The names of the other
individuals and facilities and the group events mentioned in the
interview were removed or disguised.
I included myself as one of the participants for two reasons.
First, it was for instructional purposes. In order to conduct a better
interview, I needed to learn the interview process from the point of
view of a participant so I could understand what the experience was like
for the other participants. Therefore, my interview could be regarded as
part of the educational exercise. The second key reason to include
myself was that my answers to the research questions gave important
perspectives. I was actively involved in the relationships among the
people I studied. Therefore, including myself as a participant provided
the reader with insights into how I understood others, further adding
credibility to the study. My perspectives offered useful and meaningful
information and they were part of the driving force behind my research
questions.
Data Collection
The participants were invited to participate in an hour-long,
in-depth live interview in a classroom where privacy was assured. My
supervisor conducted my interview following the step-by-step description
of the protocol. I then followed the same protocol to conduct the
interviews with the two remaining participants. The participants were
invited to share their personal information about their cultural and
educational backgrounds, the academic, clinical and personal challenges
of studying in the music therapy program and their experiences of how
the group addressed those challenges. The entire interview process was
audio recorded.
Data Analysis
For some steps of the analysis, I referred to the grounded theory,
which included coding, saturation and presentation of the results (Amir,
2005). For other steps, I held a debriefing session with my supervisor
and customised the specific steps in order to obtain the answers to my
research questions. After each interview was completed, I transcribed
verbatim and modified the content to help disguise the
participant's identity. I culled the comments from the interviewer
and sent the documents to the participants so they could examine the
accuracy of the transcript. Each anonymous, culled interview transcript
was about nine to twelve single-spaced pages. Based on the culled
transcript, I transformed the dialogue format into a descriptive
paragraph and defined the meaning units and code numbers by grouping the
sentences that seemed to present one idea. The length of the meaning
units for each participant was about five to seven single-spaced pages.
The quantity of the meaning units for each participant varied from 28 to
44. Using the meaning units as a database, I then defined the issues
(emerged challenges) or needs that were classified as academic, clinical
or personal domains. I discovered the related meaning units from the
data, displaying the code and full content underneath the identified
issue. Peer debriefing was conducted to examine the classification of
the meaning units and the saturation of the identified issues. To frame
the meaning units, I listed the corresponding solutions (help from the
group) and the related background contexts. It is important to note that
one meaning unit may contain more than one issue, and the solutions or
contexts may not exist for some issues. Finally, I reconstructed the
meaning units into the form of prose and sent it to the participants
through e-mail for a second check. All contents were confirmed, and
there were no changes made by the participants.
Results
Yi-Ying (author)
The findings from the data analysis of my own interview were 41
meaning units, and 13 issues were defined. The three issues that emerged
from the academic domain were pervasive language barriers in academics,
adjusting to different academic cultures and discrepancy in
self-expectation and actual performance in academics. The six issues
that emerged from the clinical domain were pervasive language barriers
in clinical work, feeling isolated in clinical work, losing control of
overwhelming new things in clinical work, culturally based needs to
spend additional preparation time, divergent perspectives on the
attitudes towards authority roles and holding divergent views of showing
oneself to the others. In the personal domain, four issues emerged: lack
of belongingness, fear of being criticised because of cultural
differences, insufficient social network and social support in the
United States and feeling uncertain about the future of life and
relationships. Among all the issues, the two issues that did not find
solutions from the data were culturally based needs to spend additional
preparation time and holding divergent views of showing oneself to the
others in the clinical domain. For the former issue, the solutions (help
from the group) were not identified because the group had not been
established when the challenge was experienced.
Among all the issues, language barriers seemed to be salient across
the domains that involved factors of cultural comprehension and often
led to feelings of stress, frustration and being overwhelmed. 'The
very first thing and the biggest thing that jumps into my mind is
language' (YA1). The discrepancy between mainstream culture in the
United States and the inherent values from my original culture also
created some internal conflicts in every domain. These conflicts
included high expectations for academic performance, attitudes towards
authorities, showing oneself in front of others and fears of being
criticised.
When discussing the benefit of joining the group, I noted that the
group was especially important in helping personal issues by receiving
social support and in-depth empathy. The friendship, mental and
emotional support and sense of belonging provided by the group satisfied
basic human needs. Likewise, the group also benefited me significantly
in addressing my language challenges by providing a relaxed,
non-threatening environment to express myself. 'It (the group) gave
me one more place to practise language, in a more comfortable, more
relaxed setting' (YA8). Since the group started in the late stage
of my training, the helpfulness in the academic domain was especially
salient in facilitating metacognitive learning such as integrating
previously learnt knowledge as well as gaining insights from diverse
perspectives.
Mark
The findings from the data analysis of Mark's interview were
27 meaning units, and 7 issues were defined. The two issues that emerged
from the academic domain were language barriers in reading and
culturally based needs to spend additional preparation time. The three
issues that emerged from the clinical domain were learning diverse
repertoire for various populations in the United States, worries of
being overwhelmed by new things in clinical work and discrepancy in
mainstream social norms and one's original culture. In the personal
domain, two issues emerged: socially inactive because of the language
barrier and worries about being criticised because of the cultural
differences. Solutions were identified for all issues.
The language barrier was the first issue raised by Mark, but he
narrowed down the focus to reading in his academic studies and speaking
in a social context. 'When I read Japanese, I can mostly understand
in one shot...But in English, maybe I need to reread several times so I
can understand' (MA1). Another salient situation was that many
issues were highly related to comprehension of the mainstream cultures
of the United States and the clinical setting. The affected facets
included time-consuming tasks of preparation, learning the repertoire,
expected social norms and worrying about being criticised.
In Mark's case, help from the group seemed to be equally
important in each domain. Academically, he used the group as an
informative resource; clinically, he gained knowledge and insights from
the other members sharing, and he obtained extra opportunities for
clinical preparation such as role-playing or leading songs and
activities. In the personal domain, the group was a safe place for him
to be free from criticism and to be understood in depth.
Vivian
The findings from the data analysis of Vivien's interview were
37 meaning units, and 10 issues were defined. The three issues that
emerged from the academic domain were pervasive language barriers in
academics, feeling overwhelmed by transitional shock and learning new
things and time management with multiple tasks. The four issues that
emerged from the clinical domain were pervasive language barriers in
clinical work, uneven communication with clinical supervisor, lack of
confidence in dealing with unexpected clinical situations and clinical
application of musical instruments. In the personal domain, two issues
emerged: adjusting to the new lifestyle and insufficient social network
and social support in the United States. Uneven communication referred
to the situation when messages, thoughts, feelings and ideas from both
the clinical trainer and the trainee could not be received and
transmitted evenly. The solutions could not be identified for the issue
of uneven communication with the clinical supervisor in the clinical
domain.
Many challenges that Vivian experienced seemed to interweave in a
specific domain or cross-domains. The language barrier was the first
proposed and the most salient issue among all. 'Language is really,
really an obstacle for me. I can't communicate with people
frequently, I can't express what I thought exactly, and I
can'tfind the exactly words I want to say ' (VA2). It
pervasively affected other issues across domains, and it especially
brought about strong feelings of stress, frustration and being
overwhelmed. It also led to the consequence of time-consuming tasks in
academic learning and clinical preparation. While time-management issues
challenged Vivian, the multidisciplinary nature of music therapy added a
layer of challenge to multitasking that made adjusting to the new
lifestyle even more difficult.
The emphasis of help from the group was put on the personal domain
first. "What really important is emotional support. I know there
are difficulties in reading and writing papers ... But the support from
the group, emotionally, I think that really helps' (VP9). Vivian
thought that the help from the group in the academic and clinical
domains was valuable; the group served as a rich resource to address all
kinds of questions she had and solved her problems efficiently. However,
the friendship and the support system she gained from the group were
irreplaceable and that gave her the courage and power to face her own
challenges in general.
Discussion
The findings from the three participants' data analyses showed
that the language barrier was the most significant challenge despite the
participants' conditions and educational backgrounds. This issue
was salient because it crossed domains and was always mentioned first,
and it was emphasised multiple times in each interview. When analysing
the results, I found that cultural comprehension often related deeply to
language barriers, especially in the following two circumstances. First,
it caused the participant to not understand or misunderstand a
situation. For example, difficulties in verbal expression often caused
stress and anxiety when it came to us to talking in the classroom, and
feeling unfamiliar with the classroom culture made it more difficult to
integrate into classroom discussions. Second, a lack of cultural
comprehension deepened the impact of language barriers to academic
learning, clinical work and personal life. Along with these two
circumstances, uncertainty about clinical settings, social norms and
unfamiliarity with repertoire brought about high levels of stress and
frustration, leaving one to feel overwhelmed.
Under the category of multicultural issues, the distinct
differences in communication styles between the Asian and Western
cultures were specifically mentioned in the interviews. The challenges
which emerged related to this issue included uneven communication,
divergent attitudes towards authority and discrepancies in social norms.
In most collectivistic cultures, it was common to see a group put more
emphasis on harmony than expressing individual opinions in
communication. Especially when communicating with people in higher
hierarchical positions, a respectful attitude was expected, which was
different from the individualistic cultures (Brown, Rogers &
Kapadia, 2008; Sue & Sue, 2008). In addition to verbal
communication, the different styles between collectivistic and
individualistic cultures were especially distinctive in non-verbal
communication. Sue and Sue (2008) explained that cultural differences
could cause misunderstandings of implicit communication, including
proxemics (interpersonal space), kinesics (body movements), paralanguage
(vocal cues) and high-low context communication (degree of reliance on
non-verbal cues). Because of the large discrepancies in communication
styles, all three participants had trouble adjusting, especially when
the objects of conversation were clinical supervisors or older clients.
Challenging conditions included feeling insufficient when communicating
with the supervisor, having problems cooperating with the supervisor
equally in the session or requiring adjusting to the social matter in
order to cope with the clinical situation.
According to the participants' reports, the group addressed
language issues directly by providing a relaxed, less-stressed and
judgement-free environment for the members to express thoughts in our
second language. This finding echoed the related literature about
international students' learning experiences in cooperative
learning groups--in the intimate small group, the less-threatening
environment provided greater opportunity for us to practise our English
skills (Cuseo, 2009). On the other hand, feelings of being understood
culturally brought about sense of security for the participants. This
could relate to the similarity principle that the shared characteristics
of race, attitudes, values and beliefs by the group members often
brought about the sense of connectedness, which was a rewarding
experience (Forsyth, 2010; Napier & Gershenfeld, 2004).
Another common issue among the participants was that we experienced
overwhelming new issues in the academic and clinical domains in addition
to language barriers. The participants reported that it was challenging
to multitask music and clinical training as well as academic studies in
a limited time. This was directly related to the multidisciplinary
nature of music therapy and each of these disciplines has its own
cultural basis (Davis, Gfeller & Thaut, 2008; Kim, 2011; McClain,
2001). For the students who came from different cultural backgrounds
attempting to comprehend the music therapy profession, it felt like
double the challenges of those students who grew up in the United
States. We had to first learn the new cultures and then understand and
incorporate them from our own cultural positions to the music therapy
profession. In addition, the common physical, emotional and mental
exhaustion experienced by human service workers seemed to deteriorate
the participants' self-adjustment in culturally overwhelming
conditions (Brammer & MacDonald, 2003).
By addressing the challenges of experiencing overwhelming new
things, the group served as a resource system for its members. The
participants used the group meetings to gain resources or enhance
clinical preparation. Among all preparatory actions, leading activities,
songs and role-playing in the group were mentioned by the participants
multiple times and was considered very useful for clinical
preparation--technically and mentally. Gaining ideas and insights from
each other was also helpful for academic learning. When relating those
group experiences to the concepts of social comparison, some situations
showed the participants experiencing upward social comparison because
the group was used as an informative resource to learn coping
strategies. Members could see the hope from witnessing the achievements
of others who had been through the similar stages. From the other
perspective, the group members who provided resources to the others
experienced downward social comparison, in which group members gained
confidence and were able to see their own progress (Buunk & Gibbons,
2007; Forsyth, 2010).
Besides common experiences of some challenges, there were also
dissimilarities among the participants. The first difference reported
was the issue of an insufficient social support in the United States.
This challenge was emphasised by Vivian and me--the two female
participants who were international graduate students. The derivative
issues that related to this topic included feelings of isolation, lack
of belongingness and feelings of uncertainty about the future and
relationships. On the contrary, Mark, as the only male undergraduate
student and first-generation immigrant participant, did not report those
needs or challenges.
The discrepancy might be explained from two perspectives: the
different conditions between the two populations (international students
and first-generation immigrants) and the different ways that different
genders responded to stress. Although the experience of acculturative
stress might be similar to both international and first-generation
immigrant students, international students might have additional stress
from maintaining their visa status, lack of family support and possible
economic pressure (Poyeazli & Grahame, 2007). To fulfil the
requirements of a student visa, international graduate students must
enrol in nine class credits each semester to maintain full-time student
status. Some international students might have financial pressure so
that they must work or maintain high academic standards to keep their
scholarships. In this study, the lack of family support might be the
best explanation since Vivian and I did not have family members living
in the United States, while Mark had a stronger support system from his
family and community.
From the other perspective, gender differences could possibly
explain the significance of a group as social support for the two female
participants, as females have a stronger tendency to seek support from a
group as well as learn in a group format (Cuseo, 2009). Different
expectations on gender roles might also affect the male's
help-seeking behaviours. Compared to egalitarian-oriented Western
culture, Asian cultures tend to be patriarchal and traditional. Asians,
especially males because they usually are seen as the authority in a
family, are known to underutilise mental health services. Therefore, in
order to 'save face' and maintain their authoritative role, it
is more likely for Asian males to under-report their social and
emotional needs or describe them in a non-direct way such as emphasising
the physical pain rather than emotional needs (Sue & Sue, 2008). In
this case, the perspective of gender differences might not fully apply
in explaining the discrepant result between both genders because Mark
had a stronger support system than Vivian and I had. However, this point
of view should be taken into account in future applications.
Overall, each participant might perceive the challenges in
different ways and in different levels even under the same topic.
Remarkably, despite the challenges that the participants faced, all
three participants expressed a positive self-adjustment process in our
studying. Mark mentioned that his reading skills were getting better,
and he stated that it was delightful working with clients. Vivian also
enjoyed the clinical work despite the fact that the language, technical
and cultural barriers were huge. I experienced different stages of
adjustment from practicum to internship and eventually found my own pace
and could enjoy my work under high stress. These examples showed our
resilience in the process of recovering from the frustration and stress
and further illustrate our original motivation to form this group: to
help each other with the adjustment process. In related literature
exploring human grouping behaviours, sociologists found that humans have
the tendency to join groups in order to cope with challenges and
stressful events (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Forsyth, 2010; Hlebec et
al., 2009; Taylor, 2006). Similarly, the convergent theory also claims
that people who have compatible needs, desires and motivation usually
have greater group-seeking tendencies (Forsyth, 2010). Both theories
suitably stated our position: by joining the group, we took action to
make the necessary changes enthusiastically, and that motivation made
the major difference in our experiences as international music therapy
students. In the future, these challenging experiences may transform
into a positive affect that helps us develop deeper empathy for our
clients who have suffered and struggled in their lives.
Implications and Applications of the Study
The success of our group experience might have been because group
members were already acquainted and share common social networks. We
kept the same members for the entire semester and agreed to attend the
group regularly. I believe the close structure and the high attendance
rate brought intimacy and stability to the group and had a positive
effect on group dynamics. Additionally, we rotated the leadership of
each meeting and brainstormed ideas about themes for the coming meetings
through social networks on the internet. As a result, we could easily
share and obtain resources and make group decisions efficiently.
Reflections on Method: Virtues and Limitation
The research design of this study was based upon the desire to
understand the individual perspectives of this particular group.
Therefore, the results should not be generalised to other situations.
Yet, the transferability of the findings could be considered if the
conditions were similar to this research study. In this case, the
participants' ages, gender, nationalities, educational backgrounds,
motivation of group formation, group format and composition of the group
members are some factors that can be considered when transposing the
results to different contexts.
Suggestions for Future Research
Given a constructivist stance, methods such as focus group
discussions could be used to increase the understanding of this
study's topic. Group dynamics and unspoken hierarchical
relationships in the group might play a more important role in this type
of study. Another method could be to study the group experience and
process directly by analysing recordings of the group discussions as
research material. Alternatively, the researchers could design an
open-ended questionnaire for gathering the group members' perceived
conceptions about the group or by observing and recording the group
meetings directly.
Conclusion
This study has drawn special attention to Asian music therapy
students' well-being in a multicultural context. Through the study,
our cultural-based challenges were emphasised, and the benefits of using
a peer group to cope with these challenges were found to be substantial.
I hope this study can arouse the readers' attention on the related
issues, gain insights into the Asian international student population
and use it as reference when actions are needed for change.
Acknowledgement: This study was undertaken as part of my Masters of
Music Therapy studies at Montclair State University. Dr. Brian Abrams
served as the supervisor for this study. I dedicate this article to the
group members.
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Lin, Yi-Ying MA, MT-BC
Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA; Renyou International
Co., Taipei, Taiwan
Email: mtyiyinglin@gmail.com
Table 1.
Demographic Information of Participants
Yi-Ying Mark
Author (pseudonym)
National heritage Taiwan Japan
Yi-Ying Mark
Author (pseudonym)
National heritage Taiwan Japan
Immigration status International 1st generation
student immigrant
Age 31 21
Gender Female Male
Years in the United States 5 10 (in total)
Year in the MT program 5th 3rd
Stage of clinical training Post-internship, 2nd practicum
MT-BC
Academic type Graduate Undergraduate
Year in the group 1st & 2nd 1st & 2nd
Vivian
(pseudonym)
National heritage China
Vivian
(pseudonym)
National heritage China
Immigration status International
student
Age 24
Gender Female
Years in the United States 6 months
Year in the MT program 1st
Stage of clinical training 1st practicum
Academic type Graduate
Year in the group 2nd