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Counselling skills training

In recent years there has been an astonishing increase in the provision of “Counselling” in many different forms, and for many different kinds of “problems”. The empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of Counselling remains complex, but there are now a host of Counselling Skills and Counselling training courses.  Counselling has also been “exported” to low income countries, often as part of “trauma” and “psychosocial” programmes in humanitarian contexts.

Counselling Skills are primarily taught through practical and experiential learning - but these practical approaches are underpinned by specific theoretical and cultural assumptions relating to the individualistic experience of “self”, the experience of “self” taken for granted in North American/European culture. It can be forgotten that this individualistic view of self is alien to more than half the world’s population. Psychological understanding from some Western counselling theory can be useful, but, wherever it takes place, Counselling must always validate the uniqueness of each individual’s life, culture and language.

Counselling skills training provided for international contexts has a number of unique features:

• All courses are designed and facilitated specifically to ensure that the expression of feelings and concepts of emotional healing within local culture and language remains the dominant contribution.

• Cultural imperialism is minimised by the tentative introduction of Western theories of counselling, with a clear message that their relevance may be limited, and that many assumptions underpinning Western Counselling theory are not necessarily “universal”.

• All opportunities are taken, including the design of experiential tasks, to utilise and validate participants’ pre-existing knowledge, experience and indigenous language.

See: (opens PDF file in new window)

Gilbert, J. (2006) Cultural imperialism revisited: Counselling and Globalisation. International Journal of Critical Psychology, Special Issue: Critical Psychology in Africa, 17, 10-28.

Gilbert, J. (2005) International Responses to the Psychological Aftermath of the Tsunami Disaster: a Plea for Thoughtfulness and Care

Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal, 16(1), 5-6.

Gilbert, J. (2001) Cross cultural issues in Counselling Skills Training: Lessons from Lesotho. (Parts 1 & 2)

The Health Exchange, April, 18-19. & The Health Exchange, June, 22-24.