‘I was seeing more of her’: international counselling trainees' perceived benefits of intercultural clinical practice

Abstract

International counselling trainees' perceived benefits of intercultural clinical practice. Counsellor education in Britain is steadily turning into a multicultural environment. The limited relevant literature focuses on the challenges that 'culturally different' and international trainees may encounter. The aim of this paper is to elucidate a rarely exposed aspect of international counselling trainees' training experience, namely, the benefits they identify in practising across languages and cultures during placement. The illustration of this positive perspective is pertinent to the profession, as it expands existing knowledge on international trainees' experience of clinical practice and it challenges the prevailing conceptualisation of this situation as potentially problematic. It is argued that a shift towards a more holistic understanding of this population's counselling experiences is likely to have particularly useful implications for counsellor education and the profession more broadly.

International Counseling Students’ Practicum Experience in a Counseling Program in the United States

“…Due to cultural differences between ICSs and their clients, ICSs faced unique challenges (Liu, 2014). However, they often found the experiences of cross-cultural counseling to be rewarding and positively impacting their clients and themselves (Georgiadou, 2015). Growth was achieved by utilizing resources, receiving support and feedback from their peers, and relying on the training process at the sites.…”

“…Despite those challenges, ICSs reported benefits of conducting cross-cultural therapy (Georgiadou, 2015;Lau & Ng, 2012). For example, Georgiadou (2015) interviewed 11 ICSs in the United Kingdom, and they reported experiences with clients that promoted clients' awareness of cultures, emotions, and thoughts; built closer relationships with clients who had similar experiences as them; enhanced anonymity with clients; and advanced the students' personal and professional development.…”

Linguistic Minority International Counseling Psychology Trainees’ Experiences in Clinical Supervision

“…Recognizing that ICP trainees render a perspective that is different and not in any way deficient can have positive implications for ICP trainees and their clients. Misunderstandings that can arise from miscommunications between a linguistic minority ICP trainee and a native English-speaking client can provide opportunities to engage in conversations about diversity with clients and help them to develop in this area of growth (Georgiadou, 2015). The linguistic diversity of ICP trainees can also broaden their client base and provide a point of connection with clients who also speak English as a second language (Georgiadou, 2015; Rabinowitch, 2019).…”

“You look like them”: Drawing on Counselling Theory and Practice to Reflexively Negotiate Cultural Difference in Research Relationships

“…The doctoral study from which this work and the example derives was born out of the desire to investigate and understand international trainees’ experiences of counselling practice in unfamiliar cultural and/or linguistic contexts (Georgiadou 2014, 2015). From this, ‘cultural difference’ was examined through a subjective prism of what has been described as a sense of ‘alterity’ (Smith 2015) or of ‘not being from here’ (Kissil et al 2013).…”