Multicultural Counseling

Western-oriented counseling services focus on the individual person and tend to ignore the prevalent multicultural diversity or socio-political influences that may have resulted in cultural conditioning and different world views of non-Western ethnic groups (Seeley, 2004). Cultural competency in counseling is required to enable understanding of both diverse background and socio-demographic concepts. Ethnographic inquiry is a culturally competent approach that can enable the counselor assist a client from a different cultural background (Seeley, 2004).

The client, in this case, is a foreign student in Canada is facing a problem with the basis of inadequate knowledge about the Canadian culture that has led to intercultural misunderstandings. This has made the student withdraw into forlorn and wants to escape by quitting school.

Ethnographic inquiry is a suitable way to assist this client. By understanding that from the client’s cultural worldview, laughing at someone is meant to embarrass them, the counselor is able to provide him with information about the Canadian culture. Contrary to his culture, the Canadian culture considers it inappropriate to laugh at someone who has manifested an awkward or embarrassing behavior. Instead, Canadians will only laugh loudly if something is genuinely funny. Also, the professor-student relationship is mostly informal and professors love to joke and laugh together with their students. Therefore, the client should never have reason to feel that he was being mocked at. In future, he should appreciate that he has made a funny statement and can even join in the laughter.
In conclusion, intercultural misunderstandings occur because of different world views adopted by Western and non-Western cultures. Western psychology is often individual-centered as opposed to collective orientation preferred by majority of non-Western cultures, indicating that the counseling approach plays a vital role in helping the foreign student to fit in. Ethnographic inquiry is an excellent approach for a counselor providing psychotherapeutic intervention to a non-Western client. Ethnographic inquiry enables the counselor to grasp the client’s cultural world and to offer alternative treatment based on culturally competence.

Reference:

Seeley, K., M. (2004). “Short-term intercultural psychotherapy: Ethnographic inquiry”. Social Work, 49 (1): 121-130.