Running head: COUNSELING AND DIVERSITY1

Counseling and Diversity

Kai A. Brown

COUN 501

Liberty University

COUNSELING AND DIVERSITY2

Abstract

Diversity has become a topic of great interest and importance over the past decade or two. With the world’s system beginning to merge it is important to be able to work with people from all types of backgrounds. There does not seem to be any area of life that is not affected by diversity. Counseling as a profession did not escape the changes that have come along with the changing world. That is, counseling is not exempt from addressing the issue of cultural diversity. In all actuality diversity in counseling is of great importance because counselor and Christian counselors specifically are to come along side of their clients and help them through difficulties and if the counselor does not know how to work with a diverse group of people then difficulty can arise. As the world’s population has become more diverse those who counsel have had to adjust and adapt to helping clients who differ culturally, religiously, and ethnically. This paper will address issues dealing with diversity in counseling. It will also seek to address the changes that have caused great change in the counseling profession as issues of diversity have helped to expand counseling as a whole. Codes of ethics from various counseling organizations will be surveyed to determine some of the general guidelines for dealing with culturally diverse clients. Competency is of great importance to any professional; however it is of greater importance professional counselors as they have been given the task of helping others learn to deal with life situations and helping them to attain a level of functioning above that which they currently display. This paper will look at how counseling and diversity helps counselors achieve that competency when dealing with cultural diverse clients.

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Counseling and Diversity

Diversity as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary online is “the condition of

having or being composed of differing elements: variety; especially: the inclusion of different

types of people in a group or organization: an instance of being composed of differing elements

or qualities.” (Diversity) It is important to have a good working definition of diversity because

often time’s counselors and counselees alike have some confusion about exactly what diversity is

and how to put cultural sensitivity into action. (Basso, Pelech, & Wickham, 2010) Diversity

affects every aspect of one’s life. Therefore it is important not only to understand diversity, but

to also be able to live and function in a multicultural society. According to research

Multiculturalism is a generic term that indicates any relationship between and within two or more diverse groups. A multicultural perspective takes into consideration the specific values, beliefs, and actions influenced by a client’s ethnicity, gender, religion, and historical experiences with the dominant culture. (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011, p. 115-116)

Therefore if it is important for all individuals to be able to function in a multicultural society

counselors need to be that much more aware of cultural differences with their clients and have

the ability to overcome those differences to be able to sever their clients well. It is therefore

imperative for counselors to respect diversity as a vital part of the helping relationship and to

realize that diversity in counseling is also an important part of practicing ethically. (D'Andrea, &

Sprenger, 2007) Those who embark upon a career in counseling or those continuing as

counselors must make sure that they have an understanding of the history of, the importance of

and the major themes of diversity in counseling as well as to know how diversity affects their

identity, functioning and ethical practice as a counselor.

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Brief History of Counseling and Diversity

Diversity in counseling has become an important topic in the counseling profession.

According to Hansen “The history of the counseling profession can arguably be understood as a

continuing effort to advance the value of diversity.” (Hansen, 2010, p. 17). As the counseling

profession has progressed over the years it became evident that some clients were not being well

served because of a lack of understanding of their cultural, ethnic, sexual orientation, and gender

needs were being overlooked. This was occurring not because counselors did not care, but

because they were unequipped to deal with these issues. According to Lago (2011), counselors

should work “therapeutically in a manner consistent with everyday practice, the person-centered

therapist who is working with clients deemed as ‘different’ and ‘diverse’ also needs to be

sensitive to a multiplicity of factors that are socially constructed and determined. (p. 235).

Therefore the need for multicultural competence arose in the counseling profession. The ACA

2005 states Multicultural/Diversity Considerations that, “Counselors maintain awareness and

sensitivity regarding cultural meanings of confidentiality and privacy. Counselors respect

differing views toward disclosure of information. Counselors hold ongoing discussions with

clients as to how, when, and with whom information is to be shared.” (ACA 2005, section B.1.a.,

p. 7) Therefore the need to be able to deal with a diverse population became one of the tenants of

doing no harm which is also an important aspect of the ACA 2005 and AACC 2004.

Further development in the area of diversity in counseling continues to occur. That is

why it is imperative that counselors continue to grow and learn throughout their counseling

career. This can be accomplished through continuing education. Continuing education provides

counselors with the ability to take classes on multiculturalism and diversity in counseling.

According to the AACC 2004,

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Christian counselors keep abreast of and, whenever possible, contribute to new knowledge, issues, and resources in Christian counseling and our respective fields. We maintain an active program of study, continuing education, and personal/professional growth to improve helping effectiveness and ethical practice. We seek out specialized training, supervision, and/or advanced certification if we choose to gain expertise and before we practice and advertise in recognized specialty areas of counseling and clinical practice. (AACC 2004, ES1-200, 1-230, p. 10)

The counselor can then study new and innovative methods of addressing issues with clients of

various cultures. Combining what has come before in the study of diversity in counseling and

adding new techniques will improve the counselor-counselee relationship. This will show the

importance diversity in counseling.

Importance of and Major Themes of Diversity in Counseling

The importance of diversity in counseling cannot be over-stated. The client’s well-being

and growth will be greatly affected if his or her counselor is unable to work with a diverse

population to the point that the client may be severely harmed by the counselor. Diversity

training allows the counselor to grow as a person and learn to adapt and deal with situations that

are unfamiliar. It is important that counselors are able to deal with a diverse group of people

because of the changes in today’s world. No longer are countries isolated and dealing only with

its own population. The world has become increasingly multicultural and globalized societies

and cultural competence has become more important and has taken on added meaning of not

only being able to function within a single homogenous culture, but to also be able to deal with

societal interactions that involve people from many different cultures that are different from that

of the counselor. (Chao, Okazaki, & Hong, 2011) This truly shows that the world is now truly

borderless and more people are becoming open to the possibility that counseling is a means of

improving their lives. With this being the case counselor are faced with larger segments of the

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population to come along side and help through various situations. No longer can counselors take

the same approach with every client.

There are many themes in diversity in counseling. It is important that when looking at

these themes of diversity in counseling that the main focus always remains on the client. It is also

important that counselors remember that cultural differences should be valued, appreciated and

understood instead of judged and dismissed. (Hansen, 2010) Counseling has evolved into a

client-focused industry. This has occurred because people are so different and individualistic in

American society. That is why any test or assessments used must be evaluated differently based

on different cultures. According to the ACA 2005 section E8, “Counselors recognize the effects

of age, color, culture, disability, ethnic group, gender, race, language preference, religion,

spirituality, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status on test administration and

interpretation, and place test results in proper perspective with other relevant factors.” Therefore,

counselors need to have the understanding that when dealing with counselees from different

backgrounds who are group-centered they cannot be treated or counseled in the same manner as

a counselee who is from a society that values individualism over the group. If a counselor did not

have this cultural knowledge they could do more harm to the client than good. So having an

understanding of various cultures and their worldviews is one of the reasons that diversity in

counseling has taken on such importance.

Counselors must gain a certain level of cultural intelligence. According to Chao and

colleagues (2011) cultural intelligence is defines as, “a multidimensional construct that refers to

individual’s ability to work effectively in culturally diverse settings. It consists of four major

components including metacognitive, cognitive, behavioral, and motivational cultural

intelligence.” (p. 264). This intelligence can also be displayed by the counselor’s willingness to

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work on and overcome his or her own issues with diversity. That is counselors must be willing to

work on their own issues with diversity with continuing education, seeking the advice of more

experienced and culturally diverse counselors, and or seeking counseling themselves. By

working on their own issues counselors do not abuse the power they have with their clients. This

abuse of power can be particularly harmful to the client and the inequities in gender and cultural

experiences, health, socioeconomic status, and other factors can undermine the ability for the

client to be authentic with the counselor. (Duffey, & Somody, 2011). This shows that the

counselor is willing to work on multicultural competency and intelligence, and it also shows that

the counselor is willing to put the welfare of the client ahead of any personal issues.

Finally, diversity and multiculturalism needs to remain an important focus of the

counseling profession. As counselors the client has to be the focus and in order to make this the

case understanding the counselee’s cultural, religious, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and

socioeconomic background is the only way to accomplish keeping the client first. It is imperative

that gender and gender roles be taken into consideration when working with diversity in

counseling. More importantly gender roles must be recognized as a crucial diversity factor in

practice and research. (Ruth Chu-Lien, & Nath, 2011) Gender is one of the major themes in

diversity in counseling.

Diversity and the Counselor Identity, Function, and Ethics

When looking at a counselor’s identity, function and ethics as it relates to diversity it is

important to understand that these three factors cannot be addressed separately. Diversity as it

relates to counseling to the counselor’s identity in that the personal experience of the counselor is

based on his or her own cultural background. That is why it is imperative that those intering the

counseling profession go through a multicultural counseling course which can help the counselor

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enhance the ethnic identity development of the counselor. (Rowell, & Benshoff, 2008)

According to Rowell and colleagues, “Goals in many multicultural counseling courses include

raising awareness of counseling students’ personal worldviews and biases and increasing their

understanding of worldview differences among groups of people.” (Rowell, & Benshoff, 2008,

p. 10) That is why it is important that a counselor has and understands his or her own identity so

that they can help others with identity issues. The ACA states, “Counselors also explore their

own cultural identities and how these affect their values and beliefs about the counseling

process.” (ACA 2005, Introduction, p. 4)

Ethics is of major importance for all counselors and how they function in a diverse

setting. Counselors need to understand how their client’s cultural background is affecting the

counseling relationship. A counselor’s function is also important when referring to diversity in

counseling. The ACA 2005 states, “Counselors actively attempt to understand the diverse

cultural backgrounds of the clients they serve.” (ACA 2005, Introduction, p. 4) How a counselor

functions ethically is also based on his or her cultural background. That is why it is important for

a counselor to have an understanding of his or her own personal cultural identity.

Biblical Values

The Bible deals with diversity as well. Throughout biblical times there were a vast

number of other nations that God used to both help and hinder the progress of His chosen people.

This is evident in Ezekiel which states,

You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners residing among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe a foreigner resides, there you are to give them their inheritance,” declares the Sovereign Lord. (Ezekiel 47:22-23, NIV)

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God made provision for foreigners who had come alongside His people to be blessed and partake

in the life and land He had given them. It is the Christian counselor’s responsibility to do the

same for anyone with whom they come in contact professionally. That is a counselor’s

effectiveness is affected by his or her ability to explore and understand the religious and spiritual

needs and beliefs of their clients. (D'Andrea, & Sprenger, 2007)

There are also other biblical versus that address the issue of diversity. God made many

nations out of one man. This is seen in Acts which states,

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ (Acts 17:26-27, NIV)

In making all nations God created diversity. In creating a diversity God ensured that all men

would be different, unique so that His relationship with mankind would be individualize; each

man having his own personal relationship with God thus relating to one another individually.

That is why in the counseling relationship it is imperative that the counselor gain an

understanding of the counselee and his or her background because it can help the counselor gain

insight into the counselee as a whole. Other scripture references can be found throughout both

the Old Testament and the New Testament that attest to God’s desire for diversity. According to

Clinton (2002),

The early church gathered men who represented different cultures and varied specialty skills to work for the common goal of evangelism. Clearly, it’s time to follow this example and make connection with other counselors whose specialties, ethnicity, and fresh ideas help serve those in need. You can find a Christian colleague who can help enhance your cultural and special-interest awareness. (p. 617).

Counselor’s, like Jesus Christ need to be able to relate to all types of people. As a part of the

counselors’ mission they should take the approach that Jesus took. This is expressed in Matthew,

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When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat withtax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who

need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:11-13, NIV)

Jesus has laid the ground work for Christian counselors to follow. Christian counselors must take

the command seriously and meet the needs of those who come seeking help regardless of their

diverse backgrounds. The AACC 2004 gives the Christian counselor good guidelines,

Christian counselors are bound to honor the ethics and rules of one's profession, church, or employing organization in every way possible. However, when these ethics and rules are in direct opposition to God, and if unable to harmonize the mandates of Scripture with these rules, we declare and support the right of Christian counselors to elect nonadherence to those ethics and rules that offend the way of Christ. (AACC 2004, ES-300, 5-310, p. 26)

As a Christian counselor God and His Word are central to any and all counseling activities and

decisions.

Personal Reflection

Reflecting on what has been learned throughout this course in general and doing the

research for this paper I realize the enormous responsibility that is place on counselors as they

take on clients in general. However there are even more pressures in dealing with clients who

come from cultural, religious and or ethnic background that differ greatly from that of the

counselor. As I approach my career and life calling in the counseling profession I realize the

importance in becoming multicultural competent. That means it is my responsibility as a

Christian counselor to gain an understanding of those who are of different religious backgrounds

as well as those who do not believe any God. I must also learn about different cultures, races,

sexual orientations and socio-economic groups. I must be vigilant to make sure that I am not

allowing my difference from my client to cloud my judgment and affect my ability to serve my

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client’s best interest. According to the AACC 2004 section ES1-100, 1-102, “Christian

counselors avoid every manner of harm, exploitation, and unjust discrimination in all client-

congregant relations. Christian counselors are also aware of their psychosocial and spiritual

influence and the inherent power imbalance of helping relationships.” (p. 6). Because of this I

will seek to serve my clients with their best interest and well-being as the primary goal.

Focusing on education or continuing education will be an important part of my journey as

a counselor. It will allow me to keep up with new and innovative techniques that can be included

in my counseling. That includes innovations in the area of diversity and multiculturalism.

(Dickson, Jepsen, & Barbee, 2008) Because society is changing almost daily and the fact that the

borders of the world are continually becoming non-existent it is likely that as I counsel I will be

dealing with people who are very different from me. That means having an understanding of

their worldview regardless of how it differs from my own worldview, will give me the ability to

better understand the view point of the client. Competent counselors take time to understand the

client’s worldview and by doing so they make themselves aware of their positive and negative

emotional reactions toward other racial and ethnic groups that may do harm to the helping

relationship. (Corey, 2011) So for me it is important to work on my own issues to make sure that

I am doing all that I can to serve my clients to the best of my ability.

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American Counseling Association (2005). ACA Code of Ethics. Retrieved September 2, 2011,

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