While it is well known that multicultural issues have garnered recent prevalence in the field of counseling, the concerns faced by Native Americans continue to be under researched (Garrett & Pinchette, 2000). Although there are now several multicultural competency measures that are continuously undergoing validation research (see review by Constantine & Ladany, 2001; Ponterotto, Reiger, Barrett, & Sparks, 1994;) these instruments fail to consider specific counseling competencies when providing psychological services to Native American clients, their families, and communities. The purpose of this study was to identify the multicultural competencies a mental health professional should possess when working with Native American clients. These competencies were identified via the Delphi technique and qualitative methods were utilized to analyze the data. A panel of three expert checkers was used to reduce researcher bias when summarizing and interpreting each Delphi Round. Nominations for a panel of experts were solicited from the APA Monitor, counseling and psychology list serves (both national and local), anthropology list serves, personal contacts, and via nominations, self or other. Invitation letters were sent to those who expressed interest in the project and a final panel of thirteen experts agreed to participate in the project. Over the course of two years, only one panelist dropped out of the project. Three Delphi Rounds were completed and the results yielded numerous areas for consideration when assessing a mental health professional's competency when working with Native American clients. These included an understanding of heterogeneity amongst and between Native Americans, understanding historical and socio-political factors that influence the counseling process, and a demonstration of core counseling competencies necessary for any successful therapeutic course of treatment. The panel's consensus was that construction of a scale measuring counseling competencies with Native American clients was not feasible. Instead, several areas for further investigation were offered as well as more qualitative forms of investigation in the area of assessing counseling competencies when helping Native American clients. Theoretical, empirical, and applied implications are offered in an effort to further define the meaning of cultural competencies when assisting Native American mental health clients. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/180268 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Rountree, Clare M. |
| Contributors | Gerstein, Lawrence H. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xiv, 338 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n------ |
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