Building Multicultural Competencies in School Counselor Trainees: An International Immersion Experience

Abstract

The authors describe an international cultural immersion field experience, make recommendations for counselor educators who want to establish a similar program, and present an example of a student's reflection on the experience as recorded in the personal multicultural competency portfolio.

International Cultural Immersion: Assessing the Influence of a Group Intervention on Intercultural Sensitivity for Counselor Trainees

“…Researchers (e.g., Alexander et al, 2005;Barden & Cashwell, 2014;Burnett et al, 2004;Canfield, Low, & Hovestadt, 2009;TomlinsonClarke & Clarke, 2010) have reported positive benefits of immersion experiences in developing helping professionals. However, results have been primarily qualitative and/or relied on anecdotal evidence such as participants' journals.…”

“…CI requires facilitators to create a safe environment in which counselors can challenge their existing worldviews and assumptions (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002;Barden & Cashwell, 2013;Paige et al, 2009). Group facilitators often engage trainees in educational group discussions regarding the larger socio-political-historical context of the communities in which trainees are immersed, and cultural values, beliefs, practices, and so on that individuals have encountered in the field (Alexander et al, 2005;Ishii et al, 2009), affording trainees a greater breadth and depth of understanding about the cultural context in which one is immersed. In addition to understanding content, CI positions trainees to experience being a culturally diverse "other," illustrating the struggles for minority clients and underscoring the influences of culture on behavior and the need for helping professionals to be culturally sensitive (Chung & Bemak, 2002).…”

“…Cultural immersion (CI), "direct, prolonged, in vivo contact with a culture different from that of the counselor trainee" (Pope-Davis & Coleman, 1997, p. 232), has been found effective at increasing cultural competence (Pedersen & Leong, 1997;West-Olatunji, Goodman, Mehta, & Templeton, 2011). Trainees process and debrief their field experiences in group, which is argued to be a critical component of CI (Lassiter, Napolitano, Culbreth, & Ng, 2008;Ribeiro, 2004;Shannonhouse, 2013) and the vehicle whereby trainees increase cultural competence (Abreu, Gim Chung, & Alexander, Kruczek, & Ponterotto, 2005). Debriefing in a group format is vital to process the strong emotions triggered by CI (Chung & Bemak, 2002).…”

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision Volume 2, Number 1

“…Counselor educators have widely expressed concerns about the challenges of facilitating race-related learning in the classroom (Alexander, et al, 2005;DayVines, et al, 2007;Estrada, et al, 2004;Fier & Ramsey, 2005;Rothschild, 2005;Swigonski, 1999). Student resistance due to anxiety regarding racial dialogue is specifically discussed.…”

“…Counselor educators are challenged to prepare counselors for racial and ethnic interaction. However, counselor educators report that facilitating educational experiences to address racism can be fraught with challenges (Alexander, Kruczek, & Ponterotto, 2005;Day-Vines, et al, 2007;Estrada, Frame, & Williams, 2004;Fier & Ramsey, 2005;Rothschild, 2003;Watt et al, 2009). Many of the challenges discussed were related to student anxiety and resistance to race-related dialogue.…”