Collection: Working with Diversity

Counsellors generally pride themselves on being open, tolerant, non-judgemental, non-racist professionals, but that stance doesn’t mean that every counsellor is equally competent to work with all clients. For instance, what should an Australian counsellor know and be able to do in order to be successful with indigenous clients? Numerous courses directly address the topic of counselling Australian aboriginal clients. Several other courses examine the dynamics that occur in therapy when therapists encounter clients whose ethnicities or backgrounds are different from dominant, mainstream culture. These may be clients referred to by one diversity expert as "conquered people" and it is relevant for counsellors to understand how members of such groups may fall prey to internalised oppression, as racism develops in the community at large.

Diversity also comes in the form of LGBTI issues, and counsellors considering working with these and gender-diverse clients must come to grips with numerous understandings adhered to by the gay and gender-diverse communities if they wish for such clients to feel "met" in therapy. The courses in this collection discuss all of these topics, and are as varied as the populations they are intended to serve. They may help to kick-start the process of educating the professional helper about how to work respectfully and with insight when treating diverse clients.