Cultural Factors in Therapy

Course overview

This course provides a carefully description and analysis of cultural factors in therapy. The central issue is that psychotherapy was developed primarily within a European/American cultural context, but now many of our clients come from different cultural backgrounds. The solution has two parts: adapting therapy to the cultures of diverse clients, and helping clients adapt to the culture of therapy; this course covers both. It also explains connections between features of Western culture and aspects of therapy practice and provides instruction in important components of cultural competence for counselors. There are descriptions of basic aspects of European American, African American, Latino/a, Asian, and LGBT cultures, and step-by-step instruction in assessing clients' cultural identities, talking to clients about experiences of prejudice and discrimination, and working with clients' spiritual beliefs and practices in therapy.