(2016) Science and education, 2-3, 16-24. Odessa.

Mariam Arpentieva,
Doctor of Psychology, associate professor, senior researcher,
Department of Developmental Psychology and Education,
Kaluga K E. Tsiolkovsky State University,
26 Boldin str., Kaluga, Russia 

MULTICULTURAL PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELLING: PECULIARITIES OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 

 The article deals with a topical problem of cross-cultural interaction in psychological counselling and psychotherapy – its investigation will help consultants to be more accurate at all stages of interrelations with a client: understanding problems that caused disorders in the client’s life, in minimization of culturally-determined mistakes of understanding a client, problem situations in their life, etc. There is the lack of studies on the problems of cross-cultural specificity of the consultative contact in the process of professional training, that is why many consultants in real practice stay in the state of intolerance and internal “encapsulation” to the problems of cross-cultural contacts. In the situation of multicultural contact they try to be leaded by their own, usual for them criteria of evaluating the behaviour of the client who belongs to other ethnocultural group; keep behaving according to the norms of their own culture. Consequently, the purpose of the article is to analyze the ways of creating interaction of the multicultural consultative contact. The analysis of scientific researches has shown that opportunities and restrictions of multicultural counselling are connected with the measure which expresses how its subjects are ready and eager to develop inclinations to self-understanding (in particular as members of a certain ethnocultural group); to develop abilities to understand another person as a representative of human society and a concrete ethnocultural group; to understand peculiarities of the situation of interaction and making a dialogue with an interlocutor. There is a comparison of multicultural and anti-psychiatric prospects of counselling and their contribution to the development of practice of psychological help and danger of cultural encapsulation. Key statements of universal (transcultural) and focused (alternative) approaches in multicultural counselling, their opportunities and limitations have been examined. In the productive counselling there is a process of harmonization of different aspects of relations, an internal congruence of stereotypes (ways) of understanding oneself and others, a large outer harmony: models of communication, schemes and strategies of understanding, values of communication, polyethnic interaction. Encapsulation within a particular ethnic, professional, confessional and other culture leads to the dependence of the consultant from his/her own definitions, models of communication, techniques, values, to a low tolerance for unusual and unclear situations that happen in relations with clients: ethno-cultural, confessional and professional and other groups.

 multicultural counselling, cross-cultural interaction, mutual understanding, cultural encapsulation.

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