Sandra Collins

Culture-infused counselling: A fresh look at a classic framework of multicultural counselling competencies

This paper provides an historical overview of discussions of competency for counselling practice across cultures and critiques the current frameworks of multicultural counselling competencies. A rationale is provided for a more inclusive definition of culture, a means of integrating additional domains of practice, and a shift away from the narrow focus on strategies and techniques. A new model of culture-infused counselling is proposed that is centered on the working alliance between counsellors and clients. It is argued that the concept of the working alliance is a pantheoretical and superordinate construct that provides a more sound organizational structure for the competency frameworks. Intervention strategies and techniques may then be assessed in terms of their contribution to the purposeful and collaborative work that characterizes a culturally sensitive working alliance. This conceptual shift has implications for the articulation of specific attitudes and beliefs, knowledge, and skills that contribute to multicultural counselling competence.

Culture-infused counselling: A model for developing multicultural competence

Cultural, personal, contextual, and universal factors integrate to form the personal cultural identities of both the counsellor and the client. These personal cultural identities may have a dramatic impact on the success of the counselling process and must be taken into account in both theory and practice. The culture-infused counselling model builds on the concept of personal cultural identity to form a conceptual framework for enhancing the multicultural competence of practitioners and for optimizing therapeutic outcomes with a wide range of clientele. The specific attitudes, knowledge, and skills required for multicultural competence are described, expanding upon and enhancing earlier theoretical conceptualizations of multicultural counselling competencies. This detailed elaboration of specific multicultural counselling competencies provides a foundation for counsellor education and continued professional development.

Social justice and career development: Looking back, looking forward

Social justice has underpinned career development work since its inception. Over time however, while awareness of social justice issues has been retained, the focus of intervention has largely remained individual. Further, career theory has been criticised for its lack of attention to cultural influences such as gender, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation, in peoples career development. In this regard, progress has been made to the extent that multicultural and diversity competencies have been identified and elaborated. However, such competencies maintain a predominant focus on interventions with individuals and there have been calls for career development to identify social justice competencies which necessarily suggest different roles and levels of intervention for career development practitioners. As the implications of globalisation become more apparent and societal inequity is perpetuated, it is timely to revisit the social justice origins of career development and consider how career development may position itself in the 21st century. This paper examines social justice in career development theory and practice, and considers implications for career development practitioners.

Web-Based Education in the Human Services: Use of Web-Based Video Clips in Counselling Skills Training

SUMMARY This use of web-based video clips for counsellor skills training is used in the Campus Alberta Applied Psychology Counselling Initiative which provides Masters-level counsellor education at a distance. The core counselling skills course is delivered through the Web using digital video clips of counselling skills demonstrations, chat room skills practice and weekly discussion forums. A follow-up face-to-face Summer Institute allows learners to receive live feedback on their skill development. Course content is grounded in the construct of the working alliance (Bordin, 1979). Course activities use Blooms taxonomies of learning objectives. Program evaluation suggests that learners are meeting competencies as they move from this course to practicum placements.

The Campus Alberta Applied Psychology Counselling Initiative: Web-Based Delivery of a Graduate Professional Training Program

SUMMARY The Campus Alberta Applied Psychology: Counselling Initiative is a collaboration between three universities in western Canada to offer a predominantly Web-based Master of Counselling program. This paper describes the basic structure of the program, the Web-based delivery system, communication tools employed, and the philosophical, pedagogical, programmatic, and administrative principles and concepts foundation to the development and implementation. Development of curricular content and learning processes have been driven by explicit examination of learner needs, a program-level competency matrix reflective of professional practice standards in the discipline of psychology, and deliberate and continuous formative evaluation and learner engagement in the process.