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Abstract

Guidance teachers and school counselors in non-racial schools in South Africa need to assess the relevance of their services for individuals from different cultures. The importance of providing relevant crosscultural guidance and counseling in school settings has been underscored by numerous empirical studies which indicate that traditional psychotherapy and counseling are often inappropriate for meeting the needs of culturally different clients. Atkinson, Morten, and Sue (1993) assert that despite recognition that cultural diversity requires multicultural rather than monocultural counseling practices, the systematic study of cross-cultural communication only took root in the late twentieth century. Only recently has the term “counseling” entered the South African lexicon and traditional fields of application such as psychiatry, clinical psychology, and social work have tended to represent mental health services. Since counseling services have entered the existing model of psychological services only in the last decade the terms “psychology” and “counseling” will be used interchangeably.

Author's Biographies

Joyce Hickson spent seven years in South Africa as Associate Professor in Counseling at the University of Witwatersrand, south Africa’s largest university. She was Director of Community and School counseling programs as well as a Licensed Psychologist. She holds rank as a Professor and currently is Director of enrollment Services Research and Community Development. She will soon become Director of the SACS Reaffirmation of Accreditation for CSU.

Donna Pascoe is originally from California and has an interest in gender issues and cross-cultural education. She received her Ph.D. in educational psychology from Auburn University and her major field of exertise includes research methods, standard setting, and use of multiple methodologies. Dr. Pascoe is an Assistant Professor in the Departmernt of Counseling, Educational Leadership, and Professional Studies at CSU.

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