This is a core course for counselling students. The underpinning premise of the counselling programme is that every counselling encounter is a cultural encounter, whereby the counselling relationship is situated in both a cultural context, and the parties involved bring their unique cultural backgrounds to the relationship.
Students on this course will explore the following major themes:
A. Contextual perspectives, including social-cultural, historical and political contexts, and foundationally the implications of te Tiriti o Waitangi for counselling practice, identity development and social change.
B. Counsellors: the influence of cultural background on counsellor personal and professional identities and the influence on counselling relationships. Included are differences in counsellor/client cultural backgrounds, world views and values; appropriate skills development; examination of notions such as ‘assessment’, ‘empowerment’, and other concepts; validating culturally preferred practices; working with colleagues and within institutions; examining institutional practices.
C. Clients and their issues, such as: specific topics and client cultures relevant to the needs of counsellors in their counselling practices.