The inclusion of culturally sensitive course materials in graduate school and training programs.

Abstract

America's growing cultural diversity increases the probability that psychologists will serve people of differing cultural backgrounds. A survey conducted by the Subcommittee for Culturally Sensitive Models for the Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs ofAPA identified psychology and counseling internships and graduate school programs utilizing training materials for psychological services to Afro-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Pacific Asian people. Methods of utilizing APA, state associations, and licensing requirements are described to insure that training psychologists to serve ethnically diverse populations will assume a national level of uniformity.We are constantly becoming aware of the multiplicity of experiences and skills needed to provide mental health services to those in need of them. Along these lines, mental health practitioners also need to develop culturally sensitive attitudes when working clinically with culturally diverse persons. Available data suggest that cultural sensitivity, or the lack thereof, influences virtually every aspect of the therapeutic relationship, including diagnosis and assessment (Cannon & Locke, 1977;Gynther

Experiential Involvement as an Adjunct to Teaching Cultural Sensitivity

“…Based upon their survey and written responses related to the survey, the authors concluded that there was a general reluctance on the part of the directors of clinical psychology training programs or the professors in these programs to perceive cross cultural issues in therapy as important topics of study. These general conclusions have been endorsed by a number of other investigators in this field (e.g., Jones, 1985; S. Sue, 1983; S. Sue & Zane, 1987;Wyatt & Parham, 1985).…”

In Search of Multicultural Competence Within Counselor Education Programs

“…A survey of counselor education programs conducted by McFadden and Wilson (1977) revealed that less than 1% of the respondents reported any instructional requirement for the study of diverse cultures by their counseling students. More recently, Wyatt and Parham (1985), through the auspices of the Subcommittee for Culturally Sensitive Models for the Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs of the American Psychological Association (APA), conducted a nationwide survey to assess the specific types of culturally relevant course material and experiences that were offered to graduate students. Their survey was sent to graduate psychology departments, counseling centers, APA-approved internship programs, and APAapproved counseling doctoral training programs.…”

Multicultural Issues in Predoctoral Internship Programs: A National Survey

“…In one study examining the status of multicultural training in internship sites, Wyatt and Parham (1985) found that 36% of programs they surveyed did not offer exposure to multicultural training situations. A decade later, Murphy et al (1995) investigated multicultural issues in university counseling center internship sites and found that over 96% of their participants reported some level of formal training in these issues, albeit "low" (i.e., 4 to 5 hours per year).…”