HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CROSS-CULTURAL COUNSELING

At first, let us be clear that cross-cultural counseling here we refer to counseling for persons with different cultures. In the Mediterranean civilizations of ancient Egypt or the Roman Empire, the difficulties arising from the cultural differences between the dominating and the dominated people were a matter of concern, including the question of the cultural superiority of the ruling people. Here I would like to share some history of cross-cultural counseling that I have read.

HISTORY OF CROSS-CULTURAL COUNSELING

• Cross-cultural counseling arose in the United States in the middle of the 20th century.
• Its history is linked to that of the American Counseling Association (ACA) that was created in 1955 under the name of the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA).
• The objective of counseling for minorities during the fifties was to assimilate them into the dominant North American culture rather than to emphasize the differences as in multicultural counseling. “Counseling for all” was considered as the principle or an objective to be met at that time.
• In 60th, counselors began to feel more responsible for counseling different populations.
• 1966: APGA convention marked a turning point when the first call was made for counseling for the culturally-disadvantaged.
• Interest in cross-cultural counseling grew substantially during the 70th, with a number of studies carried out into counseling for people from different cultures or the culturally-disadvantaged.
• 1972: The creation of the Association for Non-White Concerns was the basis for today’s Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development founded in 1985.
• Then the word “Multicultural counseling” referred to all minority groups, including people of different race or ethnic group, women, the handicapped or those subject to discrimination because of their differences.
• 80th & 90th: Multicultural counseling developed tremendously not only through research but also in practical applications.
• It has been acknowledged that the theories, techniques, strategies, and interventions learnt and used by counselors are unsuitable for working with diverse groups.