Multicultural Counselling

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Multicultural Counselling

• Dr. Sauli Puukari
• University of Jyväskylä

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What is multicultural guidance and counselling?

• The concept multicultural is difficult to define
  because there is no agreement about what is
  included in culture
• Broadly defined, all groups of people who
  identify themselves or have connections to each
  other based on some shared aims, needs, or the
  similarity of background, belong to the same
  culture (Axelson 1993, 3).

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What is multicultural guidance and counselling?

• In multicultural guidance and counselling, a
  counsellor and a client are different.
• These differences are generated by a certain
  culture via the effects of socialization or
  child-rearing in a certain ethnic community
  (Locke 1990, 18).

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What is multicultural guidance and counselling?

• There are two major trends in multicultural
  counselling
• The universal trend emphasizes that all
  counselling is multicultural all individuals
  belong to many cultures that are different from
  those of others
• The culture-specific trend emphasizes the
  importance of culture-specific knowledge and the
  special nature of certain cultural groups.
  According to this trend, a cultural group is
  defined mainly by race and ethnic background

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Basic Assumptions in Multicultural Counselling

• Basic assumptions of the theory of multicultural
  counselling and therapy - MCT (Sue, Ivey
  Pedersen 1996, 13 - 29)
• Six basic assumptions expressed as propositions,
  each proposition consists of several sub-items

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MCT Basic Assumptions

• Proposition 1
• MCT is a metatheory of counselling and
  psychotherapy
• It offers an organizational framework for
  understanding the numerous helping approaches
  that humankind has developed.
• Each theory represents a different worldview.

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MCT Basic Assumptions

• Proposition 2
• Both counsellor and client identities are formed
  and embedded in multiple levels of experiences
  (individual, group, and universal) and contexts
  (individual, family, and cultural milieu).
• The totality and interrelationships of
  experiences and contexts must be the focus of
  treatment.

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MCT Basic Assumptions

• Proposition 3
• Cultural identity development is a major
  determinant of counsellor and client attitudes
  toward the self, others of the same group, others
  of a different group, and the dominant group.
• These attitudes are strongly influenced not only
  by cultural variables but also by the dynamics of
  dominant-subordinate relationships among
  culturally different groups.

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MCT Basic Assumptions

• Proposition 4
• The effectiveness of MCT is most likely enhanced
  when the counsellor uses modalities and defines
  goals consistent with the life experiences and
  cultural values of the client.
• No single approach is equally effective across
  all populations and life situations.
• The goal of multicultural counsellor/therapist
  training is to expand the repertoire of helping
  responses.

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MCT Basic Assumptions

• Proposition 5
• MCT theory stresses the importance of multiple
  helping roles developed by many culturally
  different groups and societies.
• Besides the basic one-to-one encounter aimed at
  remediation in the individual, these roles often
  involve larger social units, systems
  intervention, and prevention

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MCT Basic Assumptions

• Proposition 6
• The liberation of consciousness is a basic goal
  of MCT theory.

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Factors of Multicultural Counselling Competence

• Sodowsky et al. (1994) presented a general
  multicultural model of counselling competence
  formed by four lower level factors
• multicultural awareness
• multicultural counselling knowledge
• multicultural counselling skills
• multicultural counselling relationship

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Basic Elements in a Counselling Relationship

• Basic human relationship
• Transference relationship
• Working alliance

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Adaptation to a New Culture A Model by Sue
Sue (1990)

• One model to describe the adaptation process
• Different stages have been identified
• Individual differences in adaptation are
  substantial

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Adaptation to a New Culture

• 1. Stage Conformity
• Characterized by intense excitement and euphoria
  associated with being in a new culture. The
  majority culture represents the desired outcome.

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Adaptation to a New Culture

• 2. Stage Dissonance
• Eventually, the fun and excitement associated
  with the tourist phase gives way to frustration
  and real stress.
• Failure events once considered minor and funny
  are now perceived as stressful.
• The new environment requires a great deal of
  conscious energy that was not required in the old
  environment, which leads to cognitive overload
  and fatigue.

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Adaptation to a New Culture

• 3. Stage Resistance and Immersion
• Strong returning to ones own old culture
• Ones own and the new culture seen as opposing
  each other

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Adaptation to a New Culture

• 4. Stage Introspection or reorientation
• People eventually realize that the problems
  associated with the host culture are due to real
  differences in values, beliefs, and behaviours
• This stage can also be called growing realism
  good and bad is seen in every culture

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Adaptation to a New Culture

• 5. Stage Integrative awareness stage
• At this point, individuals actively engage the
  culture with their new problem-solving and
  conflict resolution tools with some degree of
  success.
• Usually it means integration of ones own and the
  new culture.

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Different Roles of Counsellors Working with
Culturally Different Clients

• According to Atkinson et al. (1993) a minimum of
  three factors should be taken into account when
  selecting a proper approach to work with a
  culturally different client
• the clients level of acculturation
• the locus of the problems aetiology, and
• the goals of helping

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Different Roles of Counsellors Working with
Culturally Different Clients

• adviser
• advocate
• facilitator of indigenous support systems
• facilitator of indigenous healing systems
• consultant
• change agent
• counsellor
• psychotherapist

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Development of Multicultural Guidance and
Counselling

• Development of multicultural guidance and
  counselling is important!
• It is both a national and international challenge
• It is a continuous process

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What is Important?

• Loving and caring for our fellow human beings
• All people need other people to become loving and
  caring people

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References

• Atkinson, D. R., Thompson, C. E. Grant, S. K.
  1993. A three-dimensional model for counseling
  racial/ethnic minorities. Counseling Psychologist
  21 (2), 257-277.
• Axelson, J.A. 1993. Counselling and development
  in multicultural society. 2. ed. Monterey, CA
  Brooks/Cole.
• Locke, D. C. 1990. A not so provincial view on
  multicultural counseling. Counselor Education and
  Supervision 30 (1), 18-25.
• Sodowsky, G.R., Taffe, R.C., Gutkin, T.B. Wise,
  S.L. 1994. Development of multicultural
  counselling inventory A self-report measure of
  multicultural competencies. Journal of
  Counselling Psychology 41 (2), 137 - 148.
• Sue, D.W. Sue, D. 1990. Counselling the
  culturally different. New York Wiley.
• Sue, D.W., Ivey, A.E. Pedersen, P.B. 1996. A
  theory of multicultural counselling therapy.
  Pacific Grove Brooks/Cole.