Topic 9 Counselling in A Multicultural Society

The influence of culture
on the practice of
professional counselling
Jeffrey ANG
Temasek Design School
Temasek Polytechnic
Singapore
Alison Ang; Linnet Foong; Noor Faridah; Magdeline Hor; Siew Kee, Hor;
Cheong Tong Wai, Mohamad Sham
1
The influence of culture on the practice of professional counselling
Background
 Qualitative research – based on the thematic analysis of
experiences of the participants.
 Small scale, focus group relating their counselling

experience within polytechnic context.
 Therapeutic relationship is enhanced when the counsellor

and client share a common culture.
2
Three key findings:
1. Counselling in Singapore is a challenging

vocation due to the country’s multicultural,
multiracial population.
2. Cultural similarities and differences affect the

therapeutic relationship between client and
counsellor.
3. Counsellors need to be aware of cultural

diversity and shape their counselling practice to
fit the client’s worldview.
3
What is Counselling?
 Counselling is about helping people cope with

problems and opportunities
(Ivey & Ivey, 2007)
 Action-oriented – techniques are used to facilitate

a process of engagement, problem and solution
exploration, action implementation, evaluation and
termination
(Corcoran, 2005; Lynch, 2002)
4
What is Culture?
 “A set of shared assumptions where people can

predict each other’s actions in a given
circumstance and react accordingly.”
(Haviland, 1975)
 “An integrated pattern of human behavior that

includes thoughts, communications, actions,
customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of a
racial, ethnic, religious or social group”
(Cross et al.1989)
5
Singapore demographics
 Singapore has a population of 4.5 million.
 It is a multiracial country
 Chinese majority (75.2%)
 Malay (13.6%)
 Indian (8.8%)
 Eurasian and other groups (2.4%).
 Growing population of 800,000 non-residents of
foreigners on short-term permits in 2005
(Source: Singapore Department of Statistics, 2007; Wikipedia).

6
.
What is Worldview?
 Refers to what a person perceives and

understands of the world.
 Culture influences worldview, which in turn

influences the counsellor-client relationship.
7
Finding 1
Counselling in Singapore is a
challenging vocation due to our
multicultural, multiracial population.
8
 Singapore’s population—diverse nationalities,

races, cultures and religions.
 “Each individual is a composite of several

dimensions of diversity (class, ethnicity, gender,
physical ability/disability, sexual orientation, race,
religion, and so forth)”
(DeJong and Berg (2001)
9
 To be effective counselors, we need to understand

our own cultural conditioning, the conditioning of
our clients, and the sociopolitical system of which
they are a part.
(Corey, 2005)
10
“I counselled a sexually promiscuous

teenage girl who decided to abort.
Being brought up in a traditional
culture with a firm belief that abortion
is taboo, I find it hard to counsel my
client without being affected by the
tendency to impose my personal values
on my client.”
(Counsellor F)
11
“My teenage client had started to smoke heavily,

return home late (as late as 3am), and had
tongue and ear studs since she joined the poly.
Her mother had stereotyped her friends as
“bad” because they smoked.
It was difficult for me not to agree with her mum…

as a mother myself, I would have been equally
upset if my daughter had behaved in a similar
manner.”
(Counsellor L)
12
“As I listened to him, I found myself feeling

uncomfortable regarding his delusions which
are clearly a distortion of fundamental
Biblical truths. As a Christian, my personal
core values have become deeply entrenched in
Christian values and beliefs…”
(Counsellor J)
13
“When an Indian agrees, or acknowledges,

he shakes his head – which is very
confusing. Normally, we shake our
head to disagree. So we have to be
extra careful and cautious when
interpreting the “head shaking”
mannerism.”
(Counsellor H)
14
Finding 2
Cultural similarities and differences

affect the therapeutic relationship
between the client and counsellor.
15
 Therapeutic relationship between the client and

counsellor is built on:
 collaborative effort
 co-construction of stories and meanings
 interaction of their individual cultural
frameworks
(Sciarra, 1999)
 Matching of cultural framework of the client and

counsellor is beneficial in enhancing the
therapeutic process
(Tseng, 2001)
16
Cultural similarities helpful
“I was able to connect to the client’s mother

better when I spoke in Malay to help her
understand her daughter’s situation.
Speaking in my client’s language and being
able to relate to aspects of their culture
allowed me to break the ice and build a
meaningful therapeutic relationship.”
(Counsellor F)
17
“John started to use Mandarin to describe

some of his feelings to me. I realized that
with a common understanding of the
Chinese language, we were able to break
the language barrier and establish closer
rapport.”
(Counsellor L)
18
“I counseled a student who was having

computer game addiction. As a gamer
myself, I was able to empathize and see
from his viewpoint where gaming can be
fun and relaxing instead of being just a
waste of time.”
(Counsellor S)
19
Cultural differences create ineffective relationships
“I have grown up with a strong conviction that

marriage is sacred institution that should
not be trivialized, and separation or
divorce would be furthest from my mind.
I see the influence of my culture or beliefs

directing me to try to bring the couple back
together, rather than adopting a neutral or
even negative stance.”
(Counsellor J)
20
 Counsellor to be aware that his personal biases,

values, or beliefs will not interfere with his ability to
work with client during the helping process
(Corey, 2005).
 Counsellor to be aware of issues of cultural

transference and counter-transference
 To be constantly improve on awareness,

knowledge and skill and to be able to counsel
from a multicultural perspective.
(Ivey & Ivey, 2007).
21
Finding 3
Counselors need to be aware of

cultural diversity and shape their
counselling practice to fit the
client’s worldview.
22
Three dimensions of multicultural counselling

competencies :
i) Awareness of own assumptions, values and
biases;
ii) Understanding the worldview of the culturally
different client;
iii) Developing appropriate strategies and
techniques.
Nelson-Jones (2006)
23
(i) Awareness of own assumptions, values and

biases
“The counsellor should be aware of the

existence of cultural similarities/differences
that may contribute to the issue of
transference and counter-transference.”
(Counsellor A)
24
(i) Awareness of own assumptions, values and biases
“My personal belief of what a family unit

should be greatly influenced my
counselling approach… but, I recognized
that I should not impose my own values
but rather adopt a neutral stance and see
the client from his own world.”
(Counsellor J)
25
 Personal, familial, sociological, and cultural filters

continue to influence the way we listen to our
clients.
 The stronger our cultural filters, the greater the

likelihood of bias.
 Prejudices, whether conscious or not, distort our

understanding.
Egan (2007)
26

different client.
“To be able to understand my Eurasian client,

I need to acquire knowledge about
traditions, values and beliefs of that
particular cultural group which would
enable me to help my client identify
solutions that are acceptable to him/her. I
also need to know the principles of the
Roman Catholic belief before I can
understand why my client is rebelling
against it.”
(Counsellor L)
27

different client.
“To understand my foreign student from India,

I would have to talk to some of my
colleagues from India to understand the
student’s concerns better. Another way
would be to read up or watch a video
about Indian culture.”
(Counsellor H)
28
iii) Developing appropriate strategies and techniques.
“The range of clients that I encounter

will constantly shape and reshape
my style and approach towards
counselling.”
(Counsellor A)
29
iii) Developing appropriate strategies and techniques.
“I realized that if I cannot detach

myself from my personal beliefs
which may hamper my ability to
help my client, I should be prepared
to refer the case to another
counselor.”
(Counsellor H)
30
Conclusion
 Increasing globalization
 Worldwide cultural changes
 An increasingly diverse environment
 Be familiar with the complexities and
intricate issues relating to multicultural
counselling.
31
Conclusion
 Be aware of how our worldview may

influence their perception of other cultural
groups.
 We need to adopt an open stance, be

flexible, and be willing to modify
strategies to fit the needs and situation of
our clients.
(Corey, 2005; Brammer, 2004)
32
Conclusion
 Actively incorporate a multicultural

dimension in our counselling approach
 Initiate open discussions with clients

regarding issues of race and ethnicity”
(Cardemil & Battle, 2003)
 Work towards multicultural competence

as we develop knowledge of the many
cultural groups we meet.
(Ivey & Ivey, 2007, p. 45).
33
Conclusion
 We should use methods and define goals

that are consistent with the life
experiences and cultural values of their
clients.
 We should also continue to modify and

adapt our interventions to accommodate
cultural differences.
(Corey, 2005; Brammer 2004).
34
THE END
THANK YOU!
Jeffrey Ang
Temasek Design School
angcs@tp.edu.sg
35

Topic 9 Counselling in A Multicultural Society

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The influence of culture

 Small scale, focus group relating their counselling

 Therapeutic relationship is enhanced when the counsellor

Three key findings:

1. Counselling in Singapore is a challenging

2. Cultural similarities and differences affect the

3. Counsellors need to be aware of cultural

 Counselling is about helping people cope with

 Action-oriented – techniques are used to facilitate

 “A set of shared assumptions where people can

 “An integrated pattern of human behavior that

(Source: Singapore Department of Statistics, 2007; Wikipedia).

 Refers to what a person perceives and

 Culture influences worldview, which in turn

 Singapore’s population—diverse nationalities,

 “Each individual is a composite of several

 To be effective counselors, we need to understand

“I counselled a sexually promiscuous

“My teenage client had started to smoke heavily,

It was difficult for me not to agree with her mum…

“As I listened to him, I found myself feeling

“When an Indian agrees, or acknowledges,

Cultural similarities and differences

 Therapeutic relationship between the client and

 Matching of cultural framework of the client and

Cultural similarities helpful

“I was able to connect to the client’s mother

Cultural similarities helpful

“John started to use Mandarin to describe

Cultural similarities helpful

“I counseled a student who was having

Cultural differences create ineffective relationships

“I have grown up with a strong conviction that

I see the influence of my culture or beliefs

 Counsellor to be aware that his personal biases,

 Counsellor to be aware of issues of cultural

 To be constantly improve on awareness,

Counselors need to be aware of

Three dimensions of multicultural counselling

(i) Awareness of own assumptions, values and

“The counsellor should be aware of the

(i) Awareness of own assumptions, values and biases

“My personal belief of what a family unit

 Personal, familial, sociological, and cultural filters

 The stronger our cultural filters, the greater the

 Prejudices, whether conscious or not, distort our

ii) Understanding the worldview of the culturally

“To be able to understand my Eurasian client,

ii) Understanding the worldview of the culturally

“To understand my foreign student from India,

iii) Developing appropriate strategies and techniques.

“The range of clients that I encounter

iii) Developing appropriate strategies and techniques.

“I realized that if I cannot detach

 Be aware of how our worldview may

 We need to adopt an open stance, be

 Actively incorporate a multicultural

 Initiate open discussions with clients

 Work towards multicultural competence

 We should use methods and define goals

 We should also continue to modify and

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