Examples, exercises, case studies
Unpleasant counselling experiences (Launikari et al., 2005): Antoinette B., an African
refugee in Norway, describes the sources of dissatisfaction in the counselling relation
generated by a counsellor who did not consider multicultural aspects:
- paying increased attention to the woman in counselling the family (an
immigrant couple) is frustrating because both clients come from a culture
where women have a secondary role; - the counsellor’s lack of trust regarding her statements about family health
and validity of vaccinations; - the fact that Antoinette comes from a culture where feelings are not
expressed openly made the counsellor ignore her displeasure, with negative
effects on the counselling process; - she had expected the counsellor to encourage her: “you are a nice person, you
are strong, and you are going to succeed in this new country”, which did not
happen; - she was never told that she could approach personal issues during the
counselling session; all these issues have accumulated and she treated them
exclusively at home as she had been used to in the culture of origin (many
other immigrants she knew did not confess their real problems to the
counsellor for fear they might get into trouble with the authorities).
Solving a social and religious conflict
The graduation exam for the 8th grade was programmed on a Saturday, but Adventist
communities refuse to send their children to the examination, on the grounds that their
religion forbids any kind of activity that day. Consequently, it is decided to postpone the
examination for the respective religious groups.
Similarities and differences
The purpose of the exercise is to become aware of ways the clients of counselling
services are similar in a secure and supportive environment. For this, seats are placed in a
circle, one less chair than the number of participants, and they are asked to sit down. The
person left standing in the middle of the circle is asked to continue the phrase “Who has /
is ...” with something true about themselves and also valid for one of the people sitting
down (e.g. ... blue eyes? ... brown shoes? ...a teacher? ... from Algeria?). One person
sharing that feature will give up his or her chair to the person standing, and at the same