COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

Counseling and Psychotherapy

Multicultural And Integrative Counselling

Multicultural And Integrative Counselling

Discuss the following

“On the whole the theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy have served the dominant groups in society and largely ignored the problem of people who are disadvantaged against”

Introduction

To date much of the literature and research on multicultural counselling and therapy is based on the assumption of a mainstream culture discriminating against cultural and racial minorities. Advocates of multicultural counselling and therapy assert that the Euro-American bias of mainstream therapy approaches causes Western-oriented therapists to fail many of their actual and potential minority group clients (D'Ardenne and Mahtani, 1999; Palmer and Laungani, 1999; Sue et al., 1996; Sue and Sue, 1999). Counselling and psychological services are underutilized by minority groups for reasons such as mistrust, perceived irrelevance, and insensitivity to their cultural norms and personal meanings. Assessment may insufficiently take into account cultural differences in how clients communicate or in how specific behaviours are perceived. Some therapists may fail to understand the chronic stresses attached to being in a cultural minority group. In addition, therapists may not fully grasp the negative impact of racism which for many black clients is the most painful experience of their lives (Mohammed, 2000). Furthermore, therapists may focus too much on dealing with individuals rather than dealing with them in the context of their families and community networks. Another criticism is that of the under-representation of the cultural diversity of the general population within the membership of professional counselling organizations (Bond, 2000).

Without denying any of the above points, in reality multicultural counselling is a much more complex and varied endeavour than the above paragraph indicates. The main purpose of this article is to broaden readers' perceptions of the field of multicultural counselling and therapy, since some important areas may be receiving insufficient theoretical, research and practical attention.

Critical Approach

For beginning counselor practitioners, it makes sense to select a primary theory that is the closest to their basic beliefs. It is essential to learn that theory as thoroughly as possible, and at the same time be open to discovering ways of drawing on techniques from many different theories. By beginning to work within the parameters of a single theory, practitioners will have an anchor point from which to construct their own counseling perspective. However, simply by adhering to a primary theory does not imply that a practitioner can apply the same techniques to all clients. It is essential to be flexible in the manner in which techniques are applied to a diverse range of clients. On the topic of therapeutic flexibility, Paul's (1967) question is relevant: “What treatment, by whom, is the most effective for this individual with that specific problem, and under what set of circumstances?” Regardless of what model clinicians may be working with, they must decide what techniques, procedures, or intervention methods to utilize, when to use them, and with which clients. It is useful for clinicians to avoid becoming wedded to a favorite set of techniques that they apply in ...