NG, Kits., ed., GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES IN FAMILY THERAPY: Development, Practice and Trends. Independence, KT: Taylor & Francis/Routledge, 2003, 234pp., $39.95 hardcover.This interesting, slender volume comes at a time when globalization and increasing diversity affect virtually all nations worldwide. As Jon Carlson points out in his introduction, these chapters show that people from different cultures differ in terms of how they experience pain, what is labeled as a symptom, how they communicate their pain or symptoms, their beliefs about causation, and their attitudes toward those who are striving to help them [p. viii]. Although family therapy grew and developed in the United States, as it travels the world, it is modified to suit the particular cultural values found in different nations.This is an interesting book and one which undoubtedly involved a great deal of digging and hard work; I am sure it is the first time that the history and evolution of family therapy has been written up for many of these nations and cultures. Ng intends the book to serve as a record of how family therapy is being shaped by world cultures. Originally, family therapy trainees traveled to the United States to attend conferences and receive training and certification; lately this tide has been reversed, as American therapists are traveling abroad to get their own training.The book is divided into 5 major sections. The introductory chapter by Ng points out that for early families to survive, they needed a way for family members to find and give love, intimacy, devotion, attachment and a sense of belonging. In one the most important worldwide divisions, Ng shows that Eastern societies have a communitarian view of the family, i.e. the family is highly valued and prized rather than the individual. In these societies family honor, continuity and rituals are all-important and the individual is understood to be the product of all of the past, present and future generations of his family. In contrast, in European countries, there is a strong emphasis on individual growth, development and self-actualization, with self-reliance, responsibility and independence being highly prized.Ng offers an overview of global family structures nuclear families; marriage arrangements; extended families; residential clustering] as well as the family-related adult children leaving home; school management issues; parenting issues; chemical abuse problems; marriage and divorce issues and suicide and depression].Ng posits that in order for therapists to work effectively cross-culturally and transnationally, they should think about the following general aphorisms [pp. 11-13]:* Understand how culture influences what we perceive;* Avoid pathologizing the family that is seeking the help;* Always start with the key members of the family;* Provide information and teaching;* Action-oriented techniques appear to work best;* Counter metaphors with metaphors [i.e. metaphors are the gifts that families bring into the counseling session]* The therapist is a cultural mediator.Part 1 of the book looks at the history of family therapy in Asia [e.g. Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and India]. In this section, I was quite surprised to learn that societal stresses in Japan often result in various forms of family violence, including adolescents who beat up their parents, child abuse [it is usually the perpetrators who seek help from family therapists], and domestic violence [most often perpetrated by men on women]. …