Therapy With First-Gen Clients Navigating Family Obligation vs Autonomy (2 CEU's)

TRAUMA, CULTURE & RELATIONAL DYNAMICS
Therapy With First-Gen Clients Navigating Family Obligation vs Autonomy – 2 CEUs

Overview:
First-generation clients often navigate complex tensions between personal identity development and deeply rooted family, cultural, and intergenerational expectations. Many individuals experience pressure to prioritize loyalty, caregiving, sacrifice, achievement, and family responsibility while simultaneously attempting to establish independence, boundaries, and self-defined life paths. These competing demands can create significant emotional strain and contribute to guilt, anxiety, shame, identity conflict, relational tension, burnout, and feelings of being “caught between two worlds.” Therapists may encounter clients struggling with decisions related to relationships, career choices, living arrangements, caregiving responsibilities, cultural values, or differing beliefs across generations. Without thoughtful cultural awareness, clinicians may unintentionally frame autonomy as universally preferable or overlook the complexity of collectivist values and family systems.

In this presentation, Dr. Zairys Feliz, Ph.D., LCSW, participants will examine culturally responsive and trauma-informed approaches for working with first-generation clients experiencing conflict between family obligation and personal autonomy. Attendees will explore the influence of immigration experiences, intergenerational survival narratives, collectivist values, parentification, acculturation stress, identity development, and cultural expectations on emotional wellbeing and decision-making. The course will address common clinical themes including guilt related to boundaries, emotional over-responsibility, achievement pressure, loyalty conflicts, role strain, and differing expectations between generations. Participants will learn practical strategies for increasing cultural humility, assessing family dynamics, supporting identity development, and helping clients navigate autonomy without imposing culturally narrow treatment goals. Through case examples and applied discussion, attendees will gain practical tools for supporting a population increasingly represented in clinical practice.

Objectives:

1. Identify cultural, relational, and intergenerational factors that contribute to tensions between family obligation and autonomy among first-generation clients.

2. Recognize common emotional and clinical presentations associated with role strain, guilt, identity conflict, and acculturation stress.

3. Apply culturally responsive interventions that support client autonomy while honoring family and cultural contexts.

Scope and Limitations Disclosure
This course provides licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals with an overview of culturally responsive approaches for working with first-generation clients navigating family and identity concerns. Participants will learn practical assessment and intervention strategies relevant to outpatient clinical settings. This training does not provide comprehensive multicultural specialization or certification in family systems or immigration-related mental health treatment. Participants are expected to apply course material within their professional scope of practice, ethical standards, and ongoing commitment to cultural humility.

Financial and Commercial Disclosure
The presenter has no relevant financial relationships or conflicts of interest to disclose. Any references to therapeutic frameworks, cultural concepts, interventions, or resources are included solely for educational purposes. Participants are not required to purchase any additional materials to complete this course.

Refund Policy – Live CE Trainings (Virtual & In-Person)
All registrations for live CE trainings are subject to this refund policy. By enrolling, participants agree to these terms. Cancellations made 7 days or more prior to the scheduled training date are eligible for a full refund minus a $25 administrative fee, or participants may elect to receive a full credit toward a future training. Cancellations made less than 7 days before the scheduled training are non-refundable; however, registrations may be transferred to another eligible training or another attendee with prior written approval. Participants who fail to attend a scheduled live training, do not complete attendance requirements, or fail to satisfy course participation requirements are not eligible for refunds or CEUs. If a training is canceled or rescheduled by the provider, registrants will be offered either a full refund or the opportunity to transfer to another training. Refunds will not be issued if participants are unable to earn CEUs due to incomplete attendance, failure to complete required evaluations, or licensing board eligibility restrictions.