Repositioning cross-cultural counseling in a multicultural society

Abstract

This article examines the nature and limits of the existing cross-cultural counseling discourses in order to search for a more culturally sensitive cross-cultural counseling approach. The authors pinpoint the inherent cultural deficiencies of the existing modification-based cross-cultural counseling approaches and advocate that the cross-cultural counseling process should be an inter-subjective interaction between the counselors and counselees, both of whom are products of their own culture. Cross-cultural counseling therefore should be seen as a contextualized cultural activity which requires the open-mindedness and sensitivity of the practitioners to the cultural influence of both their clients and themselves.