Challenges Associated With Counselling Multicultural Clients

Abstract

The chapter is about different situations that therapists face challenges in and outlines what a therapist can do when faced with these challenging situations. The challenges covered are: challenging the competency of the therapist of color; transferring minority animosity to clients of other cultures; unrealistically viewing the therapist of colour as a super minority therapist; overidentification with the client; encountering clashes in cultural values; encountering clashes in communication and therapeutic styles; multicultural competence in a therapist; therapist of colour needing to prove competence; dealing with expressions of racist attitudes/beliefs/behaviors from clients; receiving and expressing racial animosity; and dealing with the stages of racial and cultural identity of therapists and clients. This chapter is to create awareness in therapist and help build multicultural competent therapist.