STRATEGIES USED BY FOREIGN-BORN FAMILY THERAPISTS TO CONNECT ACROSS CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS Alba Ni ~ no Alliant International University Karni Kissil Private Practice Maureen P. Davey Drexel University With the growing diversity in the United States among both clinicians and clients, many therapeutic encounters are cross-cultural, requiring providers to connect across cultural differences. Foreign-born therapists have many areas of differences to work through. Thus, exploring how foreign-born family therapists in the United States connect to their clients can uncover helpful strategies that all therapists can use to establish stronger cross-cultural ther- apeutic connections. A thematic analysis was conducted to understand strategies 13 foreign- born therapists used during therapeutic encounters. Four themes were identified: making therapy a human-to-human connection, dealing with stereotypes, what really matters, and flexibility. Findings suggest that developing a deep therapeutic connection using emotional attunement and human-to-human engagement is crucial for successful cross-cultural therapy. Clinical and training implications are provided. Societal changes and technological advancements are altering the landscape of human rela- tions. Now more than ever, we are exposed to individuals and groups from different backgrounds. For example, developments in technology and transportation have facilitated more geographic mobility, migration, and communication (Platt & Laszloffy, 2013). This is especially true for the United States, a country that continues to have one of the highest levels of net migration in the world (World Bank, 2014). Also, a growing awareness of social barriers such as racial and eco- nomic discrimination is now making it possible for diverse groups that have historically remained mutually invisible or segregated, to start seeing and relating to each other. These global demographic trends and growing awareness are also experienced during thera- peutic encounters between therapists and clients (Vasquez, 2007). Thus, as family therapists, we will likely work with an increasingly diverse clientele. This will require the development of success- ful clinical strategies that help to establish strong therapeutic relationships with clients who are cul- turally different from us regarding culture of origin, family composition, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and other salient contextual variables. Providers need to learn how to connect across cultural differences to become culturally sensitive. Even though this has been recognized and accepted in extant literature (please see review below), studies that specifically describe Alba Ni~ no, PhD, LCMFT, Couple and Family Therapy Program, Alliant International University; Karni Kis- sil, PhD, LMFT, Private Practice; Maureen P. Davey, PhD, LMFT, Department of Couple and Family Therapy, Drexel University. We want to express our appreciation to the 13 foreign-born therapists who very generously shared their stories of struggle and success as therapists who are clinically active in the United States. Their ingenuity, creativity and perseverance made this paper possible. Address correspondence to Alba Ni~ no, Couple and Family Therapy Program, Alliant International University, 10455 Pomerado Road, DH-206A, San Diego, California 92131; E-mail: anino@alliant.edu January 2016 JOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY 123 Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 42(1): 123–138 doi: 10.1111/jmft.12115 © 2015 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy