- Multicultural counselling as the fourth major theoretical direction in career
counselling (1990 – to present) as a corollary of traditional approaches in
counselling: psychodynamic, cognitive-behaviouristic and existentialist-humanist
(Zakár, et al. 2004). Multiculturalism is well grounded theoretically; there is an
acute need for adopting documents of professional ethics to strengthen the
awareness of multicultural aspects. In 1991, Pedersen publishes an issue of the
Counselling and Development Journal dedicated to multiculturalism as the fourth
force in counselling, which broaches various perspectives of the self: existential,
behavioural, cognitive, social (Sue, 1996, apud Launikari et al., 2005).
Theoretical background
Socio-demographic context
Population mobility is a defining feature of the contemporary society. This phenomenon
increases the incidence of cohabitation of various cultures, obliging them to follow norms
that are considered foreign, which is a major stress and inadaptation factor.
Cultural differences manifest themselves by “different systems of values and life styles”,
but their identification does not allow the formulation of generalities for certain cultural
groups, since differences within a group are often considerable (Zakár et al, 2004, apud
Sue & Sue 1982).
In intercultural contact, people “seek to build or rebuild in the eyes of the ‘other’ a new
identity (in relative opposition to the stereotypes the others are perceived to have
regarding one’s self), wish to be reassured and look for positive feedback to confirm their
‘new identity’ ... (these stereotypes are ‘advantageous’ for reasons of intellectual and
informational ‘laziness’ (Jigău et al, 2004).
Cultural fundamentals requiring specific interventions
Helping practices are culturally conditioned. Since not all cultures have formal
counselling and the euro-centric vision of the world is different from other life visions,
the theory and practice of formal counselling are not easy to apply to people from other
cultural contexts. Since it emerged in Western culture, psychology serves people in this
culture best. Peavy and Li (2003, apud Launikari and Puukari, 2005), warn “if
psychology and the activities based on it (such as counselling) do not change their
approach to counselling people form other cultures, current theories and practices will
become outdated and irrelevant for ever larger groups of people”. Counselling as social
support is not common in most cultures.
There are cultural dimensions that must be taken into account when the guidance process
takes place in intercultural contexts (Launikari and Puukari, 2005).