In recent years, an important focus has been placed on training counsellors to attend to cultural diversity. In an effort to assist counsellors in this process, models of Multicultural Counselling Competencies (MCC) have been developed for work with adult populations. Unfortunately, little attention has been given to adapting these models or developing specific models for counselling with adolescents. While clinical guidelines have been proposed for counsellors working with culturally diverse youth, they have yet to be empirically tested. The present study investigated the MCC which former adolescent clients believed to be important to them when they attended counselling. Participants included 20 women between the ages of 18 and 23 who sought counselling when they were between the ages of 12 and 19. Participants completed an in-depth qualitative interview about their counselling experiences and were asked to discuss the aspects of counselling they found to be most and least helpful. The interview data was analyzed using phenomenological methodology. The components of cultural competence (counsellor awareness, knowledge, and skills) proposed in the tripartite model of MCC and the multicultural counselling relationship were used as points of entry in the data analysis process. The results of this study provided support for the integration of these competencies in counselling with female adolescents. However, participant's accounts indicated that the competencies of awareness, knowledge, skills, and relationship are not sufficient for culturally competent counselling to occur. Additional MCC were found to be important for work with female adolescents, including cultural sensitivity, family interventions, and help beyond counselling. The results of this study have important implications for the training and practice of psychology. Obtaining the viewpoint of female clients who attended counselling during their adolescence was invaluable, as they offered a unique perspective, which was not previously available in the literature. This unique viewpoint informs us about the specific needs of female adolescents and provides useful information about the MCC counsellors may need to develop in order to work with this population.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.115620 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Kassan, Anusha. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 003134111, proquestno: AAINR66590, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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