Acquiring Cultural Knowledge for Counselors in Training: A Multifaceted Approach

Abstract

In the cross‐cultural counseling literature many writers have suggested that counselors and counselor trainees should acquire knowledge about ethnic minority populations. More concrete suggestions are needed, however, regarding specific structures through which such knowledge might be gained. In this article the authors describe a multifaceted approach to acquisition of cross‐cultural knowledge that is a culmination of experiences and activities the writers have used in a course titled Counseling Ethnic Minorities. This approach is based on the premise that knowledge and cultural sensitivity can be achieved through a combination of cognitive, affective, and behavioral procedures. The course includes assessment of cultural knowledge, reading ethnic literature, multicultural action planning, and small‐group presentations. Students taking this course have judged the multifaceted approach to be a valuable experience for acquiring cross‐cultural knowledge and for developing cross‐cultural sensitivity. Most participants viewed the course as an important beginning to a lifelong process of learning.

Assessing White Racial Consciousness and Perceived Comfort with Black Individuals: A Preliminary Study

“…Each item requested the subject to evaluate his or her subjective comfort indicating high comfort (H), medium comfort (M), or low comfort (L) for each situation. The Comfort Assessment was developed as an expansion of similar assessments developed by Parker, Valley, and Geary (1986), the Transcultural Interaction Index, and the Situation Attitude Scale by Sedlacek and Brooks (1970). The researchers interviewed people in the university community concerning their comfort with Black individuals and developed the additional items from these interviews.…”

Spiritual Issues in Counseling: A New Course

“…Activities included didactic lectures, guest speakers, videotape presentations, reading literature (Carlson & Hawkins. 1994), clinical case studies, personal journal writing (Baldwin, 1991), experiential learning about a religious or spiritual practice different from one's own (Parker, Valley, & Geary, 1986), and participating in a spiritual growth activity for self-development. Examples of the latter included the options of participating in a spiritual growth discussion group sponsored through the university's Counseling Center for members of the class, or participating in individualized activities, such as seeing a spiritual director or going to yoga or meditation classes.…”

A theoretical framework for training monolingual school psychologists to work with multilingual/multicultural children: An exploration of the major competencies

“…A multicultural curriculum should therefore be multifaceted, consisting of a combination of assessment, review of the ethnic literature, personal involvement and the development of a small classroom group project (Parker et al, 1986). This approach utilizes the cognitive, affective and behavioral domains.…”