As the population of the United States becomes more ethnically and culturally assorted, improved attention is being given to counselors' and therapists' capability in working with people of color. The literature in this area strongly suggests that the best way to accomplish counselor proficiency is to combine multicultural issues into all courses within training programs.
On the other hand, this recommendation has not been implemented in a lot of counseling or psychology training programs. Multicultural training for counselors and therapists is typically accomplished by including one or more specific courses in multicultural counseling within the training program. Current studies found that 42% to 59% of counseling programs need a multicultural counseling course. Some programs include multicultural counseling as an elective. (Brown, L. S. (1991)
In the last 15 years, increasing attention has been specified to multicultural issues in terms of study, preparation, and practice. Much of the multicultural literature and training has stemmed from counseling fields; for instance, most counseling psychology programs have integrated multicultural course work in their curriculum. Within this area of study, one emerging area of interest has been multicultural competencies; even though it is still in its infancy, in general, more than a few important developments have occurred. Multicultural counseling principles and competencies were recognized to offer reliability and moral guidelines for practitioners, educators, and organizations. Even though there has been general recognition of this model, the current conceptualization risks superficial interpretation and limited realization.
Race, culture, ethnicity, and additional factors are more and more recognized as significant variables in counseling practice, mental health services, and education. A lot of counseling psychology professionals has expressed a sense of urgency for the development of ethical standards and training guidelines to ensure appropriate services for the growing range of individuals and groups. Contemporary multicultural counseling training focuses principally.......
