Twelve years ago, when I was an international student in the University of Missouri, I was struggling with a group of severely distressed clients in my practicum. One day, my supervisor came to give a warning, "Ruth, you need to do something definitive today to help these clients. Or else, you might fail in this practicum. You are too quiet, and you haven’t given any intervention to treat any symptom." I was shocked. "Are you saying that I just need to do something to pass this practicum?" My supervisor bluntly confirmed, "Yes, just do something positive."

Well, needing to "do something" to pass told me that all I was here for was for therapy alone, i.e., reducing symptoms. Were the clients happy after such therapy, however? Honestly, I could not tell. So, I assigned homework, that these clients simply identify one thing they want to do over the weekend, to make them happy. All of them looked at me in disbelief. Some said they never heard of such odd homework. Others said this is too easy to be homework. Then, thorough discussions on each client’s homework followed. In the next session when clients returned, every client’s face was shining. We reviewed the homework, and I was much impressed to learn that it is clients’ mutual laughter that makes the real difference in life.

Today, now serving as an Associate Professor, as I look back to my work with that group, I am so much more appreciative of my clients who taught me that reducing symptoms is not identical to being happy, as a lack of problems does not always imply being proud of oneself. In that group therapy, my co-therapists and I were able to combine treatment to reduce symptoms while promoting positive affect, to make counseling a holistic process toward clients’ happy and confident living.

All this amounts to my journey in integrating traditional counseling therapies with positive psychology of joy. In this journey, I was inspired by my personal awareness of myself as a Taiwanese whose positive personality features differ considerably from positive features in Western culture, such as forbearance, which could be seen as pessimism in the West is, in contrast, thoughtfulness admired in Asia and Taiwan. Thus, positive personality characters are intensely culture-related. The present book attempts to integrate these cultural differences in positive characters to assist multicultural clients.

My writing of this book was supported by countless people in countless ways. My precious clients taught me how to manage distress while enhancing their well-being. My professors in the University of Missouri, Drs. Puncky Heppner and Glenn Good, gave their endless assistances during my struggling years as an international student. My friend and colleague, Dr. Wendy Jordanov at Tennessee State University, shared much laughter and tears to invigorate my teaching.

Here at the University of Denver, I am lucky to have mentors Drs. Cyndy McRae, Kathy Green, and Maria Riva, who provide tireless and immediate support at various junctures! Finally, but not the least, I much appreciate my family who always stand by me, and my KM who unfailingly stands solidly behind me in my lonely struggles. These are just a handful of precious people, among many others, without whom this book would never have seen the light of day.