Counseling Nigerian Students in United States Colleges and Universities

Career Counseling With African Immigrant College Students: Theoretical Approaches and Implications for Practice

“…Moreover, it is important for counselors to maintain a semistructured, June 2007 • Volume 55 directive counseling approach that allows for mutual collaboration and negotiation between client and counselor throughout the counseling process. According to Idowu (1985), the counselor should validate and honor the feelings of the client as well as integrate the opinions of relevant family and community members. On the basis of her work with Nigerian students, Idowu recommended that "The counselor's role should be that of an arbitrator and a mentor" (p. 509).…”

Professional Issues: Common Stressors Among International College Students: Research and Counseling Implications

“…Culture shock. Culture shock (Furnham h Bockner, 1 986) has been noted as one of the main concerns regarding international college students' mental health (Idowu, 1985;Parr & Bradley, 1991 ;Williamson, 1982). It is not unusual for international students to find some of their values incompatible with values of the host culture (Liberman, 1994).…”

“…Without adequate financial resources, basic survival becomes an issue. Financial factors have been cited as one of the essential elements that form stressors during international students' adjustment to the new environment (Idowu, 1985;Oropeza & Fitzgibbon. 1991).…”

Hospitality Begins with the Invitation: Counseling Foreign Students

“…Foreign students are generally much more reluctant than their American counterparts to initiate a counseling relationship (Sue & Sue, 1977). Idowu (1985) reported that an informal survey revealed that fewer than 2% of Nigerian students had any contact with college counseling centers. This small percentage is probably similar for foreign students from other countries.…”

“…When in doubt regarding signals sent or received in communication, the helper should seek clarification before assuming that verbal and nonverbal signals are identical across cultures. Idowu (1985) provided two specific examples from the Nigerian culture. First, to look directly in the eyes of a person with whom one is speaking is to show disrespect in Nigeria.…”