Multicultural Counseling Competence: A Construct in Search of Operationalization

Abstract

The work of many great scholars has proliferated a sizable body of knowledge on the construct of multicultural counseling competence. However, the construct’s operationalization remains obscured, perplexing, and frustrating to practitioners who attempt to translate the scholarship into practice. We identify ten definitional problems that prevent the construct from evolving into a cohesive form that can inform practitioners’ work. These include: an indistinct purpose, culturally general/culturally specific divide, terminological interchange, confusing competency with competence, lack of integration, no definition, ambiguity, equivocation, circular reasoning, and divergence. Furthermore, the three major models of the construct—skills-based, adaptation, and process-oriented—share six limitations. They lack interdependence, prescriptive methods, deep incorporation of culture, coherent designs, conclusive research support, and they are oversimplifications. We call on the community of our fellow scholars to collaborate in reconceptualizing this complex construct into a sound, applicable guide for practitioners’ work with diverse clients.

Oppression is not “culture”: The need to center systemic and structural determinants to address anti-Black racism and racial trauma in psychotherapy.

“…We write about and call for change at the systems level; yet when it comes to attempting to teach or learn what matters in psychotherapy to help clients heal from the harms of interlocking systems of oppression, we continue to default to the language of “individual differences,” “culture,” and “multiculturalism.” Even beyond the popularize-and-whitewash dynamic, when our language leads us to analysis at the individual level on the basis of sanitized concepts of “cultural difference,” we cannot hope to somehow land on analysis of oppression at the systems and structural level. I agree with Ridley et al (2021) that we must be more precise in our language and intentional in our definitions. We diverge, however, in the belief that the path forward is in any iteration of the word “culture.” Even though Ridley et al (2021) note that at the core of the issue is the “unaddressed meaning of multicultural” (p. 509), they nonetheless suggest that culturally responsive psychotherapy requires “… the intentional incorporation of culture” (p. 510).…”

“…Even beyond the popularize-and-whitewash dynamic, when our language leads us to analysis at the individual level on the basis of sanitized concepts of "cultural difference," we cannot hope to somehow land on analysis of oppression at the systems and structural level. I agree with Ridley et al (2021) that we must be more precise in our language and intentional in our definitions. We diverge, however, in the belief that the path forward is in any iteration of the word "culture."…”

Predictors of cultural humility in counselors‐in‐training

“…A possible factor affecting the relationship between multicultural counseling competence and CH is that despite widespread use, self-report multicultural counseling competence scales have been criticized for several limitations. These include (a) tendency to measure anticipated rather than actual behaviors or attitudes correlated with multicultural competence; (b) social desirability (Constantine & Ladany, 2000), and disagreements on the meaning of multicultural counseling competence (Ridley et al, 2021). Therefore, Cartwright et al (2008) underscored the need for researchers to be cautious in using self-report instruments as a primary means to assess individuals' multicultural competence.…”

Counseling Across Cultures: A Half-Century Assessment

“…Clinical scientist-practitioners assert the need for firm guidelines for community application (David et al, 2014) and a uniform definition based on a critical reevaluation of the construct of multicultural competence (Ridley et al, 2021) as well as a look at the specific predictors of multicultural competence (Huey et al, 2014). La Roche (2021) has reviewed the recent changes in the APA multicultural guidelines and clarified the implications of the new "cultural psychotherapies" (p.112) paradigm for the globalized work environment.…”