Position Paper No.1 by Nurul Farhana Sulong (0724700)

Teaching Cross-cultural Counseling to trainee counselors is a waste of time. Instead, we should focus on equipping them with the skills and competencies for being good counselor. These have nothing to do with culture. Discuss the above opinion.

Nowadays, counseling area is important in order to help people to live their life meaningfully, more dignity and more appropriate. That is why as counselors should be well-equipped with the skills and competencies to be a good one in facing all the challenges. However, the statement that teaching Cross-cultural Counseling to trainee counselors is a waste of time is totally misjudge from my point of view. In fact, in my opinion, by teaching this element to the trainee counselors, it will help them to understand better the approach that advocates by Carl Rogers which is a counselor should have emphaty, congruence, unconditional positive regards and non-judgmental towards his or her clients. It is because when they become a counselor they will face different kind of people regardless of their race, gender, ethnic and religion. Eventhough they know all the skills and they are competenced enough as a good counselor, but if they do not how to approach their clients from biodiversity backgrounds, they will end up as a non-practical counselor. Further, they will face difficulty in dealing with their clients.

Besides, teaching Cross-cultural Counseling to trainee counselors also will be helpful since they will be exposed to one of the skills that they are needed in order to be a competent counselors. Good counseling is simply good counseling regardless of who is practicing it or on whom it is applied. So, either it is practiced by a trainee counselors or expert counselors, it is still good counseling if the counselors know how to tackle the clients’ conflict by developing a good communication skills with the clients successfully. In addition, it is needed to the trainee counselors to learn about the Cross-cultural Counseling since it will be helpful for them in handling their cases. Furthermore, as we know, what is defined as good in certain culture, may not be so accepted in the other cultures.

As an example, the client who are facing the prostitute dillema. In Western practice, it might be usual matteers and the counselors may face it using the skills they have learned and equipped. However, from the Islamic perspectives, it is different matter. Here, it is proof that Cross-cultural is needed to be taught to the trainee counselors. It is because it is practically need to use the Cross-cultural Counseling by putting the Islamic elements in the session especially when the counselors dealing with the Muslim clients that encounters with kind of dillema.

In a nutshell, I can conclude that it is crucial to the trainee counselors to learn about the cross-cultural counseling in par with equpping themselves well with the skills and competencies that is needed to be effective and brilliant counselors.