The global future of professional counseling: Collaboration for international social change

Social Justice and Multicultural Issues: Implications for the Practice and Training of Counselors and Counseling Psychologists

“…Such interventions, however, are generally limited in their ability to foster broader social change and, consequently, to bring about true social justice (Helms, 2003). Fairly recent writings (e.g., Blustein, Elman, & Gerstein, 2001;Eriksen, 1999;Fox, 2003;Jackson, 2000;Lee, 1997;Prilleltensky & Prilleltensky, 2003;Vera & Speight, 2003) have called for increasing numbers of counselors and counseling psychologists to engage in professional roles that attend more fully to social and contextual forces that affect people's mental health and well-being. As such, in conducting social justice work, some of these mental health professionals have adopted roles that have taken them beyond their offices to settings such as community centers, churches, school systems, and even legislative bodies for the purpose of facilitating systemic changes in response to social injustices (Hage, 2003;Kiselica & Robinson, 2001;Thompson, Murry, Harris, & Annan, 2003).…”

“…Her efforts also led her to realize that the numerical or physical representation of people from marginalized groups within certain contexts was not necessarily equivalent to the sharing of procedural power in such contexts. Thus, opportunities for counselor and counseling psychology trainees to participate in foreign exchange programs would expose students to different cultural ecologies and racial landscapes that could encourage them to reflect more deliberately on their status as helpers and as cultural beings (Lee, 1997).…”

Counselling and professionalism: A phenomenological analysis of counsellor experience

“…Such forums provide an outlet for the exchange of ideas and research as to how counselling can meaningfully respond to the contemporary metamorphism of professionalism (Baron, 2003). According to Lee (1997) such a cross cultural perspective of professionalism in counselling can transcend existing political barriers. For example, in recent years, significant steps have been taken to internationalise mental health interventions for substance use disorders (World Health Organisation, 2015).…”

An Internationalization Competency Checklist for American Counseling Training Programs

“…Though limited and primarily involving counseling psychologists, a number of authors have written about international competencies and internationalization of the counseling training curriculum, with most work having emerged since 2000 (cf., Giorgis and Helms 1978;Heppner et al 2008;Lee 1997;Leong and Ponterotto 2003;Leung 2003;AEgisdottir and Gerstein 2010). The need to internationalize the U.S. counseling training curriculum emanates from a recognition that the current training model is inadequate to meet the challenges of the day .…”