Multicultural counseling and therapy (mct)

u02d1 Multicultural Counseling and Therapy (MCT) In the helping profession, insensitive counseling and therapy can result in cultural oppression rather than liberation (Constantine, 2007). In a nutshell, it is a helper’s role in multicultural counseling and therapy to create an environment that cultivates the optimal development of the client and their systems, using what he or she has identified as culturally significant as it pertains to the helping relationship (Sue, 2012). There are many implications associated with multicultural counseling and therapy for counseling practice for example: making certain that you are focusing on action orientation and expanding your repertoire, making sure you do not over generalize or stereotype and making sure you do not become arrogant and begin thinking that clinical work is superior to other forms of helping. Traditional roles and practices were often times one dimensional in terms on the counselor/therapist experience or knowledge of culture different from their own (Ortiz, 2011). Approaches to helping were put into practice from a “ universal” perspective. In multicultural counseling and therapy, roles and practices are based on that client’s cultural norms and are integrated into treatment. In multicultural counseling and therapy the client’s social and cultural background is of the utmost importance. This information will help you understand who your client is and this insight will allow you to construct a plan of treatment that truly cultivates the optimal development of that client. Without question, multicultural counseling and therapy approach to treatment will present the challenge of counselors intervening at the systems level because few counselors have been trained to change systems. Thus if the clients problems reside in oppressive environmental conditions most counselors are ill prepared social or environmental change agents (Sue et al, 1996). References Constantine, M. G. (2007). Racial microaggressions against African American clients in cross-racial counseling relationships. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Ortiz, F. (September 16, 2011). Multicultural Competency Development. In Presentations. Retrieved April 19, 2012, from http://www. slideserve. com/presentation/151863/Multicultural-Competency-Development-Fernando-A-Ortiz-PhD. Sue, D. W., Ivey, A. I., Pederson, P. B. (1996) A Theory of Multicultural Counseling & Therapy, Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Sue, D W. Evolution of Psychotherapy. In Handouts. Retrieved April 19, 2012, from http://www. evolutionofpsychotherapy. com/old-site/handouts/handouts/multicultural_counseling. pdf.