Reviews the personal and intellectual forces that shaped one practitioner's approach to counseling. Reflects on five themes in which culture influences human existence: self-hatred, cultural differences, historical hostility, existential counseling, and traditional healing. (LSR)

In order to develop competence in cross-cultural counseling, awareness of one's own culture must be developed. To survive, cultures incorporate both obvious mechanisms, like a distinctive language, and less obvious mechanisms, like patterns of thought. Culture acts as an invisible veil which prevents us from being aware of the cultural filters…

Multiculturalism has been defined as the fourth force in psychology, one which complements the psychodynamic, behavioral, and humanistic explanations of human behavior. Pederson's (1991) definition of multiculturalism leads to the inclusion of a large number of variables making multiculturalism generic to all counseling relationships. Locke (1990)…

Most people in the counseling field conceive of Afro-American culture as a homogeneous and static entity. This article suggests serious limitations to this conceptualization, advocating that counselors try to understand Afro-American culture as an organization of diverse elements. (Author/GC)

Criticizes several clinical and theoretical perspectives on the family for paying insufficient attention to class and cultural distinctions both in constructing normative images of the family and in conceptualizing therapeutic intervention. Suggests that the "democratic" model of healthy family interaction is class- and culture-specific. (Author)

Locus of control is demonstrated as being an important individual belief for counselors to consider in their work. The influence of western cultural bias on research and therapy using locus of control is considered; areas of related theory are reviewed. Selected research is reviewed; implications for practitioners are discussed. (Author/EMK)

Discusses the nature of cultural dislocation in terms of self-validation issues, cultural conflicts, and cultural attachment. Presents cultural conflict model, which incorporates two cultural conflict dimensions. Explores counselor role as client-validator and help-seeking issues, with practical suggestions for increasing helper sensitivity in…