Books

Pub Date2008
ISBN9780805862041
Pages488
Link to Publisher

Principles of Multicultural Counseling and Therapy

Uwe P. Gielen (ed.), Juris G. Draguns (ed.), Jefferson M. Fish (ed.)
Taylor & Francis/Routledge

In an era of globalization characterized by widespread migration and cultural contacts, psychologists, counselors, and other mental health professionals face a unique challenge: how does one practice successfully when working with clients from so many different backgrounds? Gielen, Draguns, and Fish argue that an understanding of the general principles of multicultural counseling is of great importance to all practitioners. The lack of this knowledge can have several negative consequences during therapy, including differences in expectations between counselor and client, misdiagnosis of the client’s concerns, missed non-verbal cues, and the client feeling that she has been misunderstood. This volume focuses on the general nature of cultural influences in counseling rather than on counseling specific ethnic groups. Counseling practices from all over the world, not just those of Western society, are explored. Bringing together the work of a diverse group of international experts, the editors have compiled a volume that is not only concise and teachable but also an essential guidebook for all mental-health professionals.

About the Author

Having grown up as an internal refugee in West Germany, Uwe P. Gielen received his Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University in 1976, where he completed his dissertation under the guidance of the late Lawrence Kohlberg. He has taught at the City University of New York (1973-1980) and served as chairperson of the Psychology Department of St. Francis College, New York City, from 1980-1990. Presently he is Professor-Emeritus of Psychology and Executive Director of the Institute for International and Cross-Cultural Psychology at St. Francis College.

Juris G. Draguns was born in Latvia, completed primary schooling in his native country, graduated from high school in Germany, and obtained his undergraduate and graduate degrees in the United States. His PhD in clinical psychology is from the University of Rochester. In 1997 he retired from Pennsylvania State University as professor emeritus of psychology. Draguns has taught and lectured, in five languages, at the University of Mainz in Germany; Lund University in Sweden; East-West Center in Hawaii; Flinders University of South Australia; National Taiwan University in Taipei, University of the Americas-Puebla in Cholula, Mexico; University of Latvia and Baltic Russian Institute, both in Riga; and Baltic Defense College in Tartu, Estonia. He continues to pursue his interests in cross-cultural research on psychotherapy and counseling and other topics. Draguns is recipient of American Psychological Association’s Award for Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology and of an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Latvia, as well as Penn State’s Distinguished Emeritus Award. He is a past president of Society for Cross-Cultural Research.

Jefferson M. Fish (PhD, Columbia) is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at St. John’s University, New York, where he served as Department Chair and also as Director of the PhD Program in Clinical Psychology.  His specialties are cross-cultural psychology and clinical psychology.  Within cross-cultural psychology his writings have dealt mainly with varying cultural conceptions of “race,” the “race”-IQ debate, and Brazil; and he has been a Fulbright scholar in Brazil and China.  Within clinical psychology, he has written widely on psychotherapy as a social influence process, on social and cultural factors in therapy, and on brief therapy—including brief behavioral, cognitive, strategic, systemic, and solution-focused therapies, and on the use of hypnosis in brief therapy.  He has also been active in the field of drug policy, and his publications include international and American sub-cultural perspectives on the issue.