This week I’m beginning a course on multicultural counseling. I can’t wait to jump in.
One of the textbooks we’re using is Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice, 6th Edition (Wiley, 2013), by Derald Wing Sue and David Sue. Here’s a bit of the description from the book’s product page:
Filled with numerous examples, authentic vignettes, and practical case studies, Counseling the Culturally Diverse, Sixth Edition remains the best source of real-world multicultural counseling preparation for students and an influential guide for professionals.
The first chapter (which is as much as I’ve read so far) begins with the personal (and professional) journeys of two readers of the book, as well as the author’s own such reflections. From the reflection questions on the very first page, readers of this sixth edition get the sense that they, too, are in for a challenging and invigorating journey. The first reflection question is:
In what ways do our personal reactions to topics of race, gender, sexual orientation, and oppression have to do with counseling diverse clients?
Then there is:
Who are you as a racial/cultural being? How often have you thought about yourself as a man/woman, White individual/person of color, or straight/gay?
The underlying assumption behind the question is that those in so-called majority statuses in each of the above categories will not have thought as much about such identities as those in minority statuses have. Indeed, this not having to think about it characterizes what folks refer to as white privilege, male privilege, and so on.
Self-understanding around issues of culture, the book suggests, is essential to the development and effectiveness of a counselor/therapist.
Finally, the author says,
[The book’s] goals are to enlighten you about how counseling and psychotherapy may represent cultural oppression and to provide a vision of change that is rooted in social justice.
I hope to have a chance to report more about the book in the future. (And if any of you reading this post has read Counseling the Culturally Diverse, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, or via this contact form.)
The book is here at Wiley and here on Amazon (affiliate link). In both places it’s available in print or electronically. Via Wiley, you can look at the full Table of Contents here (pdf) and read the first chapter in full here (pdf).
Words on the Word 
I used that book when I took that class with Dr. Polischuk. I found the Amazon reviews of that book incredibly accurate–it is a very polarizing book, yet it certainly helped me understand my “whiteness” especially in terms of pastoral counseling. I don’t want to say too much more so as to spoil your first read through, but I’d love to read your full review at the end of the class!
Thanks, Sam! Glad to hear from you about the book. I’ll try to post again.