Abstract
In this paper, we present the case of a mother and daughter in family therapy. We call for a critical examinationof Western literature that describes how a mother praises her child. Iillustrate how one observer (the first author) perceives the issue ofmaternal praise differently from other observers. To illustrate theinteraction between this family and the family therapist (thesecond author), some representative vignettes of the sixth sessionhave been extracted for discussion. Ten observers from theChinese University of Hong Kong, 7 of whom were master's students and 3 were doctoral students, observed the therapy sessions from the adjoining room. The article is composed of four parts: (a) parental styles andrelationships in families with an anorectic daughter literature review; (b)vignettes of the sixth family therapy session; (c) theobservers' comments about the therapist; and (d) discussion. Thepaper concludes with a question of whether the impact of praise on achild's development in Western society functions in the same wayand produces the same effects on a child's development as it doesin Chinese society.
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