Ruth Chu-lien Chao

Multicultural Competencies in Counseling Ruth Chu-lien Chao

Revision with unchanged content. What is it that contributes to counselors' multicultural counseling competencies? Is it gender? Ethnicity? Or cultural awareness such as color-blind racial attitudes? This book explores variables related to counselors' multicultural competencies: multicultural training, gender-role, ethnic identity, and color-blind racial attitudes. They all influence counselors' self-perceived multicultural counseling competencies. Analyzing 338 counselors' responses, the author found that it is not counselors' demographic categories but their multicultural training, gender role perception, ethnic identity, and color-blind racial attitudes that significantly contribute to multicultural competencies. Thus counselors' underlying cultural sensitivity appears more critical than their demographic categories to counseling culturally diverse clients. These results also indicated that multicultural training might do well to focus on enhancing counselors' awareness of their ethnic identities and racial attitudes, and sensitive perceptions of gender roles.