A Multicultural Counseling course (MCC) brings unique challenges and rewards to both instructors and students. Given its unique challenges, the "process" of teaching a MCC is as important as, or even more important than, the "content." Drawing from extant literature and the authors' experiences, this paper discusses such…

International cultural immersion provides an in vivo, authentic, cross-cultural experience that can enhance multicultural awareness, knowledge and skills. This article examines the impact of an international immersion on graduate counseling students' cultural self-awareness using a qualitative approach. Five graduate counseling students…

Multiculturalism has been a topic of scholarly discourse and inquiry for the last three decades. As the philosophical commitment to multiculturalism continues to be endorsed by the counseling field, it is becoming increasingly imperative that we integrate theory, research, and practice in an applied and compelling manner. This article provides the…

This retrospective qualitative study investigated the experiences of 12 international students in a postgraduate counselling programme at a higher education (HE) institution in the UK. Results from an earlier empirical study on these students (Pattison, "Counselling and Psychotherapy Research" 3: 107-113, 2003) were mapped against…

Multicultural counseling competencies (MCCs) have typically been measured with instruments designed for and normed on mental health professionals - for example, MCCTS-R; Holcomb-McCoy ("Professional School Counseling" 4:195-208, 2001); MCI; Sodowsky et al. ("Journal of Counseling and Development" 41:137-148, 1994);…

This synthesis of the literature on cross-cultural immersion experiences gives emphasis to the need for effective pedagogy for enhancing multicultural counseling competency, with cultural immersion being a potentially valuable training tool. The authors examine the empirical literature towards identifying both helpful and hindering structural and…

In recent years, the use of culturally appropriate humor as a tool for change within the parameters of counseling has grown within the literature. In comparison, the art of storytelling has had little attention within the literature as a tool for strategic change. This article outlines a framework for the use of humor and storytelling as…

The development and consequences of licensure for counseling psychologists in Taiwan are presented to promote cross-cultural awareness surrounding issues in the counseling psychology profession. The national licensure statute for counseling psychologists in Taiwan was established by the Taiwanese Legislature in 2001. While the licensing system…

With disasters on the rise, counselors need to increase their cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills to work with affected communities. This study reports outcomes of a four-week immersion experience in southern Africa with six counselor-trainees. Data sources for this qualitative study were: daily journals and demographic forms. Outcomes…

Literature on international experiences highlights their significant impact on the development of cross-cultural knowledge and awareness. Using practical examples derived from literature on multiculturalism, the multifaceted dimensions of international experiences are critically reviewed as an essential process for counselors dedicated to…

Africans, especially the Senegalese, have been the largest visible immigrant group in the United States (US) over the last 30 years. The cultural understanding necessary for effectively providing for their mental and other health needs is limited. This article involves a first-person phenomenographic (Marton 1986) account of an investigation of…

This paper explores the ramifications of masculinized military culture and operational stress on cross-cultural adaptation. The author examines how characteristics of military culture may obstruct effective cross-cultural adaptation by promoting a hypermasculinity that tends to oppose effective management of trauma, and thereby suppresses skills…

This research involved an exploratory intervention to determine the effectiveness of using a deliberate psychological education (DPE) approach that incorporated issues of ethics, multicultural competence, oppression and diversity. The study attempted to discern if the DPE model used could make a difference in the promotion of ego development…

Counselors who are culturally encapsulated are likely to create client mistrust and to misinterpret clients' cultural norms. This article presents the Cultural De-Centering Model (CDCM) as a constructive-developmental method for helping future counselors to be less ethnocentric in their work. The goal of the CDCM is to increase counselors'…