CAREER_COUNSELLING_EN

Multicultural Counselling

Petre BOTNARIUC

Institute of Educational Sciences, Bucharest

History

The main stages of multicultural counselling are, according to Launikari and Puukari:

1. The birth of multicultural counselling (in the 1950s). The awareness of
   intercultural problems emerges in the 1950s when American counsellors begin to
   consider the problems of African-Americans and other minorities affected by
   segregation, racism and prejudice, principally aiming to “assimilate minorities
   into the American society” (Copeland, 1983; Jackson, 1995, apud Launikari et
   al., 2005). The first articles appear in the specialized literature on the way
   counselling can take into account the cultural background of minority groups.


2. Early multicultural counselling (in the 1960s). In this period “the aims of
   counselling begin to change from assimilating minorities to recognition and
   appreciation of cultural differences” (Copeland, 1983, apud Launikari et al.,
   2005). The stress falls on the counsellor’s availability to answer the client, and on
   multicultural research to identify specific needs “of the culturally different /
   disadvantaged” (Jackson, 1995, apud Launikari et al., 2005).


3. Crystallisation of multicultural aspects in counselling (1970s – 1980s). The
   interest in multicultural counselling increases significantly in many countries
   over the world. The limitations of traditional psychological instruments that was
   culturally biased and not valid for other cultures than the dominant one are
   highlighted. The accent shifts now on the entire counselling process, by including
   multicultural modules in the initial counsellor training (Hills; Strozier, 1992,
   apud Launikari et al., 2005).