Cross-cultural competencies for counsellors in Australasia

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Cross-cultural competencies for counsellors in Australasia

KATHRYN M GOW Introduction

The original intention had been to work up a register of communication competencies that would be useful across cultures for a broad cross section of professionals who sought to work in other countries. After surveying the literature on cross-cultural skills and multicultural skills, the author noted that most of the articles related to counselling competencies. The outcome was the delineation of multicultural and intercultural competencies for counsellors and welfare workers practicing within their own country.

While many articles have been written about cross-cultural and intercultural

competencies for counsellors in the USA and other countries, only a few authors have stressed the importance of multicultural skills for counsellors/welfare workers in the Australian context. Australia has a diverse cultural population mix, and it is necessary for counsellors and welfare workers, in all areas of work, to be competent in their dealings with people from many different cultures. New Zealand is now facing an influx of peoples from different cultures, which may change its cultural balance. In spite of the apparent lack of interest, or emphasis, in cross cultural skills, a

concurrent study (Litchfield, Gow & Sheehan, 1999) determined that academics, who trained counsellors, and employers of counsellors did not differ significantly in their views about the importance of cross-cultural competencies for graduates. Of the 31 competencies included in the survey, both employers and academics agreed that 28 of them were very important. However that study worked from a restricted pool of available cross-cultural competencies.

This paper reports from the base of a wider literature source and the author notes that in Australia, the term multicultural competencies may be a more appropriate term for counsellors, whereas in New Zealand the term intercultural may be more appropriate. The source tables of competencies in this paper do not necessarily differentiate between the two concepts, but the term intercultural will be taken to indicate that a counsellor and client come from two different cultures both of which represent sizeable portions of the population in the community, whereas the term multicultural will be taken to apply to a situation where the counsellor works in a community in which there are a variety of cultures co-existing, or where there may be only one "dominant" (in terms of population size) culture co-existing with a number of other cultures.

What Is Culture?

The author takes the following definition of culture as being the most appropriate for the purposes of the present discussion. Culture can be defined as "an abstract concept that refers to learned and shared patterns of perceiving and adapting to the world. Culture is reflected in its products: the learned, shared beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviours that are characteristic of a society or population" (Fitzgerald, Mullavey -O'Byrne, & Clemson, 1997, p. 3).

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Why Do Counsellors Need Cross Cultural Competencies? Globalisation and migration

Kim (1991) highlights the need for cross-cultural competencies because of the increasing complexity in communication between two or more different cultures, different cultural milieus and the "unprecedented movement and contact across boundaries of human communities" (p. 259). This movement across cultures has grown out of the development of the global village, with the increased "technology development, globalisation of the economy, widespread population migrations... and the demise of the nation-state in favor of sub- and supranational identifications" (Chen & Starosta, 1996, p. 355).

Several countries are characterised by their multiracial, multicultural, and

multilingual societies. In the past, the encapsulated counsellor has operated primarily within a monocultural and monolingual perspective (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1995, p. 626).

Sociopolitical influences

Sue, Arredondo, and McDavis (1995) suggest that counselling occurs within a

sociopolitical context and that both the counsellor and the client are influenced by the present and historical experiences of their cultures and events that occur in society. Counsellors need to recognise and acknowledge these influences on the counselling session.

Client perceptions

Generally, it is acknowledged that clients may have different cultural perceptions of their problems and treatments. "When service providers decide what the problem is and the behaviours associated with that problem without sufficient feedback from the client, it leads to systematic inattention to the client's perception of what is wrong and this can lead to noncompliance, dissatisfaction and poor treatment outcome" (Woll, 1996, p. 69).

Normal and abnormal behaviour can be defined differently depending on the culture, and it is important for counsellors to be aware of the different conceptualisations. Take the example of societies that revere persons who hear voices, when many other societies would hospitalise such a person: "what is normal to one can be abnormal to another" (Kraft, 1979, cited in Dilliard, Andonian, Flores, Lai, MacRae, & Shakir, p. 1992).

Pain perception, tolerance and expression of that pain are another typical example where people from various cultures may differ. Studies cited in Woll (1996) have found that people differ in the way they experience pain, what is labelled as symptoms, how they communicate pain and symptoms, beliefs about causes of problems, attitudes toward helpers, and what they expect or want from treatment. Communication competence across cultures

Sue, Arredondo and McDavis (1995) suggest cross-cultural competencies can be organised into counsellor beliefs and attitudes, knowledge and skills. The most

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immediate issue relating to working with people from other cultures is that of communication. No assistance can be rendered without effective communication. General communication competence across cultures

Wiemann (1977, cited in Martin, 1986) defines communication competence as "the ability of an interactant to choose among available communicative behaviors in order that he [she] may successfully accomplish his [her] own interpersonal goals ... while maintaining the face and line of his [her] fellow interactants within the constraints of the situation" (p. 17). Communication competence has also been defined specifically in terms of effectiveness and appropriateness. While effectiveness refers to an "individual's ability to produce intended effects through interaction with the

environment" (Chen & Starosta, 1996, p. 356), appropriateness generally refers to the "ability of an interactant to meet the basic contextual requirements of the situation" (Chen & Starosta, 1996, p. 357). The distinction between these two concepts is very important when we think about a counsellor responding appropriately to people from different cultures either on their own soil or on foreign soil. It is only if they respond appropriately that they can be effective.

To be effective however, they must have a range of cultural communication skills and knowledge and the appropriate attitudes towards, and valuing of, cultural diversity. The level and spread of these skills range from basic cultural awareness skills through to complex global competencies. From the perspective of the counselling

environment, they may vary according to the population mix and can change depending on whether one is counselling in an intercultural, multicultural or cross-cultural context.

Culturally competent counsellors

Generally speaking if we go to the literature, we can find any number of authors who will list what they think culturally competent counsellors should do or not do. Some of the researchers (Sodowsky et al, 1994) have used factor analysis to determine the underlying structure of these skills, so we can more easily grasp the fundamentals for training purposes.

Overall, the literature reveals that culturally competent counsellors are required to have a knowledge of different cultures, beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviours (Ponterotto, 1998; Sodowsky, Taffe, Gutkin & Wise, 1994), to be aware of their own prejudices and biases (Arthur, 1998), to be able to recognise and recover from cultural mistakes (Sodowsky, Kuo- Jackson & Loya, 1997), to understand the family roles within various cultures (Fitzgerald, Mullavey-O’Brien & Clemson, 1997), to be able to communicate with other cultures (Arredondo, Toporek, Brown, Jones, Locke, Sanchez & Stadler, 1996; Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992) and to be aware of the cultural limitations of testing instruments (Prediger, 1994).

Counsellors also need to be able to project an impression that they are willing to advocate for the person from a different culture, are comfortable with using non-traditional methods of assessment (Sodowsky, Taffe, Gutkin & Wise, 1994; Sodowsky, Kuo-Jackson & Loya, 1997), are able to work with interpreters

(Fitzgerald, Mullavey-O'Brien & Clemson, 1997), and understand how race, culture and ethnicity may affect personality formation, vocational choices, manifestation of

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psychological disorders, help seeking behaviour, and the appropriateness of the counselling approach (Prediger, 1994).

In particular circumstances, the counsellor must be able to respect religious and spiritual beliefs and values, including attributions and taboos, be able to respect indigenous helping practices and respect help-giving networks among cultural communities. Valuing bilingualism and not viewing another language as an

impediment is also important (Arredondo et al., 1996; Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992).

Dilliard et al. (1992) suggest counsellors need: to be open and willing to learn about cultural issues; to use self reflection and have an awareness of their own feelings and biases; to have knowledge of the language, values, and customs of a particular culture; to be open to different ways of 'doing' therapy; and to recognise the different meanings that therapy and treatment may have for people of different cultures. Lynch (1992) highlights the following competencies as important for multicultural counsellors: self awareness - developing an understanding and appreciation of one's own culture; having culture specific awareness and understandings by (a) studying and reading about the culture; (b) talking and working with people from the culture; (c) participating in daily life of the culture; (d) learning the language of the culture; having awareness of communication issues - high context versus low context cultures, nonverbals of particular culture (eye contact and facial expression, proximity and touching, body language, gestures); listening to individuals/families perspective; and acknowledging and respecting cultural differences, instead of minimising them. Pope-Davis and Ottavi (1994) cites the APA position paper (1980) that recommends adoption of the following competencies for multicultural counselling:

• Being culturally aware and sensitive to own cultural issues

• Being aware of own values and biases and affects of these on minority clients

• Understanding of sociopolitical system with regard to minority clients

• Being comfortable with differences in beliefs between counsellor and client

• Being sensitive to the need to refer client to members of their own culture

• Possessing specific knowledge and information about the culture they are working with

• Having knowledge and understanding of general characteristics of counselling

• Being able to generate a wide variety of verbal and nonverbal responses

• Being able to accurately send and receive verbal and nonverbal messages

Lee and Kurilla (1997) are concerned with the training of counsellors and note that it is an ethical responsibility in such training to ensure: the professional development of counsellors; the upgrading of their skills to accommodate clients of different

backgrounds; the use of techniques and treatments consistent with client’s values and life experiences; and the knowledge about when to refer to more suitable counsellors if their counselling client is from a different culture, or if the matter is beyond the counsellor’s expertise.

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The focus of this paper

Few of the articles address the different needs of the varying contexts and it is the intention of this paper to do so in a simple manner. The author took the contents of the major literature review and then posed some simple questions of the findings: (1) what does the literature say about the most basic building blocks in successful cultural interactions when communicating with any person who comes from a culture different from one’s own? (2) for those persons who wish to work in other countries, such as in Asian or African countries, where there is a cultural group which is quite different from that which they are used to, what advice do the authors give about being globally or cross-culturally competent? (3) what do the articles and books tell us about what skills counsellors need when they live and work in a country like New Zealand where there are two major cultures living together? (4) what can the research teach us about being a culturally competent communicator if we work in an area or region, where many different cultures co-exist, such as in Melbourne? The paper does not deal with the normal range of counselling competencies, a register of which is available for purchase from the School of Psychology and Counselling at the Queensland University of Technology.

The author obtained over 176 articles written in this area over the past 20 years, with the majority being published in the past 10 years, and then either leaned or extracted more than 300 competencies in the cross/multi/inter/cultural arena. They have been collated and reduced in this paper under the categories: (1) basic cultural awareness expertise; (2) global competencies; (3) intercultural competencies and (4)

multicultural competencies.

Basic cultural awareness expertise

According to Dilliard et al., (1992, p.721), cultural competence is “an awareness of, sensitivity to, and knowledge of the meaning of culture”. The first source table, Table 1, elaborates on this fundamental requirement by adding other basic communication competencies that all professionals, regardless of their discipline or business, need to demonstrate in order to operate successfully with people of other cultures.

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Table 1: Basic cultural awareness expertise

Item Competency Source Page

1 Possessing an awareness/understanding of own cultural values and biases Arredondo, Toporek, Brown, Jones, Locke, Sanchez & Stadler, 1996; Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992

57-62; 482 2 3 4 5

Possessing an awareness of others' worldview:

Possessing an awareness of own negative and positive emotional reactions towards other racial and ethnic groups

Possessing an awareness of own stereotypes and preconceived notions held towards other racial and ethnic groups

Possessing specific knowledge and information about the particular group with whom they are working

Arredondo, Toporek, Brown, Jones, Locke, Sanchez & Stadler, 1996; Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992

62-67; 482

6 Being able to respect religious and spiritual beliefs and values, including attributions and taboos

67-73; 482/3

7 Understanding the meaning and importance of cultural differences -appreciating and respecting differences

Carney & Kahn, 1984 116

8 Recognising the importance of validating the diverse world view of others Carney & Kahn, 1984 116

9 Having knowledge of social roles in other cultures Carney & Kahn, 1984 116

10 Being able to recognise a cultural concern Coleman, 1996 223

11 Having cultural sensitivity Davidson, 1998 8

12 Understanding gender roles and gender-related activities across cultures Fitzgerald, Mullavey O'Bryen & Clemson, 1997

12

13 Embracing one's own racial identity McRae & Johnson, 1991 134

14 Being able to self-monitor cultural bias Pierce, 1993 3

15 Possessing a sense of identity, esteem and respect for other cultures Pierce, 1993 3

16 Possessing the ability to examine and challenge the validity of own beliefs, assumptions and actions

Pierce, 1993 7

17 18 19

Having knowledge of diverse cultures and oppressed groups (ie, history, traditions, values, customs, resources, issues)

Having knowledge about the ways that cultural differences affect verbal and non-verbal communication

Having knowledge about how gender, class, race and ethnicity, language, nationality, sexual orientation, age, religion or spirituality, disability, and ability affect individuals and their experiences

Pope & Reynolds, 1997 271

20 21 22

Being able to identify and openly discuss cultural differences and issues Being able to assess the impact of cultural differences on communication and effectively communicate across those differences

Having a capability to empathise and genuinely connect with individuals who are culturally different from themselves

23 Displaying respect (conveyed through eye contact, body posture, voice tone and pitch)

Ruben (in Dean & Popp, 1990) 407

24 Being empathic and accommodating towards other cultures through communication

Sudweeks, Gudykunst, Ting-Toomey & Nishida, 1990

215

25 Possessing an awareness of similarities and differences of cultures, background/lifestyles and attitude/values

Sudweeks, Gudykunst, Ting-Toomey & Nishida, 1990

215

26 Possessing an awareness and sensitivity of own cultural heritage and valuing and respecting differences

Sue, Bernier, Durran, Feinberg, Pedersen, Smith& Vasquez-Nuttall, 1982

49

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An examination of Table 1 shows that these skills are not just confined to counsellors; they are the ingredients for successful interactions for all persons working with people different from their own culture, regardless of what culture that might be and in whatever occupation they might earn their living.

From the basic building blocks, we can then move to the more global skills needed generally by people working in foreign countries. These are much more demanding and their inclusion by several authors acknowledge that working in another country moves us out of our physical, mental and psychological comfort zone.

Table 2 lists several items of global and cross cultural competencies that are "a must" for those professionals who travel to other countries to work.

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Table 2: Global Competencies

1 Possessing a commitment to lifelong learning about other cultures and oneself

2 Being able to speak and comprehend unfamiliar languages Fish & Wood, 199? 44

3 Being able to work with interpreters Fitzgerald, Mullavey O'Bryen & Clemson, 1997

11

4 Possessing knowledge of other languages and cultures Sudweeks, Gudykunst, Ting-Toomey & Nishida, 1990

215

5 6

7

Possessing an awareness/understanding of own cultural values and biases

Possessing knowledge about communication style differences across cultures, and how to anticipate the impact these differences have on others

Ongoing learning to improve own understanding and effectiveness in working with culturally diverse populations

Arredondo, Toporek, Brown, Jones, Locke, Sanchez & Stadler, 1996; Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992 57-62; 482 8 9 10

Being able to incorporate new learning and prior learning in new situations

Being able to gain the trust and respect of individuals who are culturally different from themselves

Having a capability to accurately assess their own differences, cultural differences, and universal similarities

11 Having advanced cultural sensitivity - awareness of another culture based on knowledge and first hand acquaintance

Dana, 1993 219

12 Recognising culturally prescribed communications, etiquette, and problem solving approaches that arise from unique cultural histories (style)

Dana, 1993 220

13 Understanding the target culture - political, economic, social, cultural, religious, historical, and other factors

Paige, 1986 145

14 Understanding situational factors of the target culture - host counterpart expectations of the sojourner, job clarity, openness to foreigners, host country relationship to sojourner's nation, host country aspirations, development goals

Paige, 1986 145

15 Understanding personal characteristics of host country counterparts, if possible

Paige, 1986 145

16 Understanding the nature of the occupational position the sojourner will be entering into, if applicable

Paige, 1986 145

17 Understanding theories of social change and development Paige, 1986 145

18 Having a capacity to assess situational factors in the field that will affect the work of the sojourner

Paige, 1986 149

19 Being motivated to integrate into host country Janssens, 1995 163

20 Having an open mindedness towards new ideas and experiences Gudykanst, Wiseman & Hammer (in Dean & Popp, 1990)

407

21 Being accurate in perceiving differences and similarities between sojourner's own culture and the host culture

Gudykunst, Wiseman & Hammer (in Dean & Popp, 1990)

407

22 Being able to be astute non-critical observers of their own and other people's behaviours

407

23 Being able to establish meaningful relationships with people in the host culture

407

24 Being able to deal with psychological stress Hammer, Gudykunst & Wiseman (in Dean & Popp, 1990)

408

25 Being able to adjust to different societal systems Abe & Wiseman (in Dean& Popp,1990)

408

26 Being able to communicate effectively a) to deal with unforeseen problems b) to enter meaningful dialogue with others c) to communicate misunderstandings in i) different communicate systems ii) different educational systems

Dean & Popp, 1990 410

27 Being able to adjust to different cultures and deal with a) stress

b) unfamiliar situations c) pressure to conform

Dean & Popp, 1990 410

28 Being able to deal with a) different societal systems

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b) changes in life styles c) to deal with social alienation d) different political situations

29 Being able to establish, develop and maintain interpersonal relationships

Dean & Popp, 1990; Hammer, Gudykunst & Wiseman (in Dean & Popp, 1990); Abe & Wiseman (in Dean & Popp, 1990)

410

408

30 Understanding worldwide business environment from a global perspective

Adler, 1995 11

31 Learning about many cultures Adler, 1995 11

32 Working with and learning from people from many cultures simultaneously

Adler, 1995 11

33 Adapting to living in foreign cultures Adler, 1995 11

34 Using cross-cultural skills on a daily basis throughout one's career

Adler, 1995 11

35 Interacting with foreign colleagues as equals Adler, 1995 11

36 Using transpatriation for career and organisation development Adler, 1995 11

37 Having cultural and organisational understanding Bigelow, 1994 5

38 Using diplomacy Bigelow, 1994 5

39 Being able to negotiate with managers from other cultures Choi & Kelemen, 1995 vii

40 Being able to adapt to different environments Choi & Kelemen, 1995 vii

41 Being able to work effectively in situations of cultural conflict Choi & Kelemen, 1995 ix

42 Being receptive to foreigners, political/ economic/ social conditions in the second culture, and being clear about expectations regarding the role and position of foreigners

Paige, 1986 137

43 Understanding the target culture - political, economic, social, cultural, religious, historical, and other factors

Paige, 1986 145

44 Understanding the psychological and social dynamics of the intercultural experience and have command of key concepts e.g., intercultural effectiveness, competence, development,

adjustment, learning, culture shock, cultural differences, and re-entry adjustment

Paige, 1996 150

While some of the competencies listed in Table 2 appear to be solely ascribed to working in a foreign country (such as those contributed by Paige and Janssens, Gudykunst et al., Dean and Popp, and Adler), you will notice that many of these competencies are also those that could be comfortably included under multi- or inter-cultural competencies. This overlap does not mean, however, that they are not

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Intercultural competence

Intercultural Communication Competence (also referred to as intercultural

effectiveness, intercultural skills, or cultural competence) is based in effectiveness and appropriateness, with emphasis on the context of the situation. It is "the ability to negotiate cultural meanings and to execute appropriately effective communication behaviors that recognise the interactants' multiple identities in a specific environment" (Chen & Starosta, 1996, p. 359).

Intercultural Communication Competence is the "overall internal capability of an individual to manage key challenging features of intercultural communication: namely cultural differences and unfamiliarity, intergroup posture, and the accompanying experience of stress" (Kim, 1991, p. 259). This is true not just of intercultural communication in the way that I have originally portrayed it, but also of any situation in which a counsellor is required to work with people from other

cultures. However intergroup posture may be highly relevant in the New Zealand and in Australian communities where the population of aboriginal people is high. It may also be true that a counsellor would suffer more stress working in a foreign country where they are in a minority culture.

Table 3 contains elements that have been referred to in the literature as intercultural competencies/skills, and as such could be seen to be more relevant to the New Zealand community than much of the Australian community, except where are

approximately equal numbers of persons from two cultures. There are several items in Table 3 that refer directly to counsellors and welfare workers. In areas where there are a mix of aboriginal and Caucasian peoples, such competencies are essential.

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Table 3: Intercultural competencies for counsellors

1 2 3 4 5 6

Utilising culturally appropriate intervention strategies

Being able to respect indigenous helping practices and respect help-giving networks among cultural communities

Possessing value of bilingualism and not view another language as an impediment

Possessing knowledge of family structures, hierarchies, values and beliefs from various cultural perspectives; having knowledge of community where cultural groups reside and resources within the community

Possessing an awareness of relevant discriminatory practices at the social and community level that may be affecting the psychological welfare of the population being served

Possessing specific knowledge about own racial and cultural heritage and how it personally and professionally affects own definitions of, and biases about, normality/abnormality and the process of counselling

67-73; 482/3

7 Understanding the helping systems indigenous to other cultures Arthur, 1998 99 8 Understanding that one can assist culturally diverse clients without

having to become like them

9

10 11

12

Being aware that guidance activities need to include culturally diverse materials

Being aware of the relationship between culture and health beliefs Being aware of the relationship between culture and help-seeking behaviour

Being aware that parental roles are different in each culture

Coleman, 1996 223

13 14 15

Being able to design culturally relevant interventions Knowing what type of interventions are culturally appropriate Being able to design programs that maximise access to treatment by culturally diverse clients

Coleman, 1996 223

16 Having intercultural effectiveness skills - transition stress management, relationship building, cross-cultural communication, negotiation techniques

Kealey & Protheroe, 1996 147

17 Having successful intercultural communication across cultures and contexts

Koester & Olebe, 1988 234

18 Knowing the relative similarity of the target culture with one's own culture Paige, 1986 137 19

20

Knowing information about culturally appropriate resources and how to make referrals

Having knowledge about identity development models and the acculturation process for members of oppressed groups and its impact on individuals, groups, intergroup relations, and society

21 Having positive regard for the other culture Wiseman, Hammer & Nishida, 1989

363

22 Being able to respond to others in descriptive non-evaluating and non-judgmental ways

Ruben, 1976 (in Koester & Olebe, 1988)

236

What these competencies are portraying is the imperative to spend time and money on developing alternative systems, products, and services. The justification for this can be based on the large numbers of potential clients in each of the two cultures, as opposed to attempting to do this for every cultural group resident in Australia and New Zealand. The production of reading and audio/visual materials in the language of each culture, special training courses for counsellors working in the bi-cultural

environment, and the use of greetings, signs, symbols and gestures in both languages should be mandatory.

Multicultural Communication Competencies

If we deal with the situation in Australia where a counsellor/welfare officer works in Melbourne, then in addition to the basic competencies outlined in Table 1, a

professional has to have specific skills in order to be effective in one's role in a multicultural environment. "Multiculturalism recognises the existence of a wide variety of multiple groups; an individual belongs to and is influenced by many different cultural groups at different times" (Swanson, 1993, p. 41).

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Any professional needs to (a) understand the different experiences of members of various cultural groups and (b) understand the barriers to communication across cultures that exist as a result of these differences. In addition, a competent multicultural counsellor has to (c) possess a specific set of abilities that can

potentially make a counsellor culturally skilled" (Pope- Davis & Dings, 1995, p. 288). Table 3 examines those competencies that counsellors, who work in a multicultural region, require. Also note that several of these competencies would reflect those required of any effective professional, and not just a counsellor.

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Table 4: Multicultural competencies for counsellors

1 Being able to recognise the limits of own multicultural competency and expertise

57-62; 482

2 Possessing an ability to familiarise self with relevant research and the latest findings regarding mental health and mental disorders that affect various ethnic and racial groups

62-67; 482

3

4

Possessing clear and explicit knowledge and understanding of the generic characteristics of counselling and therapy and how they may clash with the cultural values of various cultural groups

Possessing an awareness of institutional barriers that prevent minorities from using mental health services

67-73; 482/3

5 Understanding cultural factors experienced by minorities Arthur, 1998 91 6 Continually improving in competencies to service culturally diverse

clients

Arthur, 1998 91

7 Being aware of the negative perceptions of professional helpers held by members of culturally diverse groups

Arthur, 1998 91

8 Having a developed understanding of the ways in which cultural values and biases influence ways of operating in professional relationships(self-awareness)

Arthur, 1998 95

9 Having knowledge of alternative approaches to cross-cultural counselling

10 11

12 13

Being aware that context can influence help- seeking behaviour Being aware that guidance activities need to include culturally diverse materials

Being aware of the relationship between culture and health beliefs Being aware of the relationship between culture and help-seeking behaviour

Coleman, 1996 223

14 Being aware and understanding how one's values, attitudes, and beliefs might affect the therapeutic relationship

McRae & Johnson, 1991 134

15 Understanding how race, culture, ethnicity, etc, may affect personality formation, (test/inventory scores), vocational choices, manifestation of psychological disorders, help seeking behaviour, and the

appropriateness of the counselling approach

Prediger, 1994 72 72

16 Possessing knowledge of the potential bias in assessment instruments and using procedures and interpreting findings, while keeping in mind the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the clients

Prediger, 1994 72

17 Possessing training and experience in the use of traditional assessment and testing instruments; awareness of the cultural limitations of testing instruments

Prediger, 1994 72

18 Demonstrating a broad understanding of diverse subgroups Robinson & Bradley, 1997 287 19

20 21 22 23

Being successful in the retention of minority clients Recognising and recovering from cultural mistakes Using non-traditional methods of assessment Self-monitoring oneself as a counsellor

Tailoring structures versus unstructured therapy to the needs of minority clients

Sodowsky, Taffe, Gutkin& Wise, 1994; Sodowsky, Kuo-Jackson & Loya, 1997

141;11

24 Adopting culturally relevant case conceptualisation and treatment strategies; cultural information; multicultural counselling research

Sodowsky, Taffe, Gutkin & Wise, 1994; Sodowsky, Kuo-Jackson & Loya, 1997

142;11

25

26

Possessing an awareness of institutional barriers which prevent minorities from using mental health services

Possessing an awareness of own values and biases and how they may affect minority clients

49

27 Being committed towards improving counselling methods to make them appropriate to different populations

Woll, 1996 71

28 Displaying a commitment to developing multicultural competence in spite of the many challenges that are involved in the process including a commitment towards social justice issues and a general appreciation of cultural diversity

Ponterotto, 1998 5

29 Having knowledge of racial and cultural variables - racial identity; ethnicity; acculturation; worldviews; socio-cultural influences; value differences

Sodowsky, Taffe, Gutkin& Wise, 1994; Sodowsky, Kuo-Jackson & Loya, 1997

139;28

30 Possessing a good understanding of the sociopolitical system's operation in own country with respect to its treatment of minorities

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There are some specific competencies here such as "possessing an awareness of institutional barriers that prevent minorities from using mental health services" and "understanding how race, culture, ethnicity, etc., may affect personality formation, (test/inventory scores), vocational choices, manifestation of psychological disorders, help seeking behaviour, and the appropriateness of the counselling approach" that are clearly necessary for counsellors working in a multicultural society.

Summary

Certainly the themes of awareness, sensitivity, knowledge, attitudes and values runs through these four contexts in which I have classified these competencies. Basic cultural awareness is a critical factor in any job where one works with a

person/persons from cultures different from their own.

The perceived importance of cultural competence has been discussed in our other paper (Litchfield, Gow & Shehan, 1999) presented at this conference. Another paper on Social Science competencies by the same authors (Gow, Litchfield, Sheehan & Fox, 1998) demonstrated that both employers and educators rated cross cultural understanding as highly as many other areas of professional competence. However, if we look at the curriculum for counsellors and welfare workers and other professionals that work with peoples from differing cultural backgrounds, the emphasis on cultural competence may be deficient in many courses of training.

In such a migratory world, it is imperative for training institutions to emphasise cultural competence as a significant feature of a professional graduate's portfolio of competencies needed for the workforce of the 21" Century.

Acknowledgments

My thanks to Alicia Birch and Kirsten Vallmuur for assisting with the compilation of material for this paper.

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