REFLECTIONS ON CROSS-CULTURAL COUNSELING

POSITION PAPER NO.1


Culture has been defined as the shared values, traditions, norms, customs, arts, history, folklore, and institutions of a group of people (http://www.getceusnow.com/portal/file/crosscultural.html). As I will become one of the future counselors, I totally disagree with the statement of “Teaching Cross-cultural Counseling to trainee counselors is a waste of time.” But, it cannot be denied that skills and competencies for being good counselors are essential and important part of counseling process. I think that teaching cross-cultural counseling is also important for trainee counselors as they will deal with different clients from diverse and various cultural backgrounds. There are some reasons can be as my argument why I disagree that teaching Cross-cultural counseling to trainee is a waste of time. Firstly, trainee counselors need some knowledge of cross-cultural counseling in dealing with culturally different clients effectively. Secondly, the teaching of cross-cultural counseling is helps trainee counselors to build up self-awareness.
In my humble opinion, I disagree that teaching cross-cultural is a waste of time because as trainee counselors need some knowledge cross-cultural counseling for going through in the effective process of counseling with culturally different clients. For me, studying the cross-cultural counseling can best provide a beneficial template of knowledge for getting to know the clients who have a particular cross-culture. Besides that, the knowledge of cross-cultural will help counselors actively attempting to understand the worldview of one’s own culturally different clients without negative judgments. This means that trainee counselors should study about cross-culture in depth as to know what they may be projecting to the client as well as to ensure the effective process of counseling ongoing smoothly without any shortcomings. For example, trainee counselors should know that different culturally clients may have different eye-contact or self-disclosure in accordance with their own culture as the clients will not feel uncomfortable during the counseling sessions.


Another reason why I am disagree just because despite skills and competencies are essential and important for being good counselors, but trainee counselor also need to be cultural competence counselors as they have to practice with cultural competency in one or more cultures that are different from their own. So, that is why they should build up self-awareness in terms of awareness of one's own culture, awareness of individual differences, and awareness of diversity by learning cross-cultural counseling. Moreover, if the trainee counselors master in self-awareness of that particular cross-cultural, they can avoid stereotypes and biases that can undermine their efforts in doing counseling sessions with diverse cultural clients. For instance, when the counselors have self-awareness of other cultures, they will make some impact on attitudes and behaviours such as understanding, non-judgmental, and respectful in dealings with people whose culture is different from their own as well as become flexible and skillful in responding and adapting to different cultural contexts and circumstances.
But then, some people agree that 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 counselors. They believe that skills and competencies are important before a particular counselor can effectively work with clients as well as he or she must has developed general skilled competence as a counselor. For example, good skilled and competence counselors are master to engage in several of verbal and nonverbal helping responses. They are also able to send and receive both appropriate verbal and nonverbal messages.
As a conclusion, I believe that teaching Cross-cultural Counseling to trainee counselors is not a waste of time nevertheless skills and competencies are needed in order to bear good counselors. For me, a little bit of understanding and knowledge of worldview of cross-cultural clients also should be emphasized in order to be not only good skilled and competence counselors but also as cross-cultural competence counselors. So, that is why teaching Cross-cultural Counseling to trainee counselors is essential as I cannot deny that skills and competencies have to be built up in the early for being good counselors.


PREPARED BY: NUR ATIFAH BT AWANG (0813250)