Cross-Cultural Counseling

The rapport established in the counseling process is the line of communication that must be maintained. The difficulties that arise when a white counselor is working with a black counselee stem from the separate status that has caused blacks and whites to develop unique approaches to dealing with their environment. The perceptual distortions and hostility contribute to barriers in the counseling relationship.

Minorities are so disadvantaged that when one of them has succeeded he is suspected by members of his own racial and ethnic group (Vontress, 1973, 7). Minorities believe the achiever must have collaborated with the enemy to have succeeded. They are also consumed with envy because they have not succeeded. This ambivalence is magnified when the minority group suffers from self-hatred. In a black-black counseling dyad, the client's ambivalence and self-hatred must be considered. The self-hatred c

. . .
studying their psychological and sociological background, a sensitive white counselor can structure the atmosphere to allow the black student to freely express himself. For the white counselor to be effective in working with black students, the white counselor must understand the economic and social problems of the black student and must also be aggressive to make the black student recognize his abilities. A study reported by Phillips (1971) examined the nature of black and white student attitudes toward white counselors in an inner city high school. The responses did not reflect a favorable attitude toward the counseling situation. Black student responses were significantly lower than white responses. Black females emerged as having a lower attitude than black males. Black females may be confused by their changing roles as the black male becomes a stronger figure in his culture. Cimbolic (1972) reported a study that investigated how black students rated counselor effectiveness and whether the ratings reflected race of experience level of the counselor. Results of this study showed that subjects did not favor counselors on the dimensions of effectiveness and skill level as a function of race. They favored the counselor
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Blacks United, Student Unions, Willie Mays, , Hurley Rickard, Native Americans, People Spanish, black students, Vontress Racial, white counselors, Guidance Journal, Counselor March, black student, minority students, counseling process, counseling minority, white counselor, black white, effective counseling, counseling minority students, students feel, 1971 48 stated, guidance journal 1970, journal 1970 489, white counselors effective,
Approximate Word count = 2291
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Cross-Cultural Counseling