| Summary: | Two aims were central to the present research: 1. To discuss and examine the existing attitudes and self reported specific practice orientations of white psychotherapists/counsellors in their work with Black Clients and 2. To identify what influenced the ability of psychotherapists/ counsellors to work appropriately with the culturally different. Three main methods of data collection were used; the Postal Questionnaire provided a national sample of members from The British Association for Counselling and involved a usable sample of 360 respondents. The Postal Questionnaire comprised two parts. Firstly, that of a demographic data gathering section and a 5 point Likert-type scale to obtain counsellors' attitudes towards Black clients. Secondly, a Video Vignette Rating Questionnaire or Counter transference Inventory which was also a 5 point Likert type instrument. With this latter inventory, 107 counsellors in training were asked to rate their feelings and reactions to either an African-Caribbean, White English, or South Asian female 'client', each of which were matched on a number of variables. All had the same script; claiming to be distressed due to unplanned pregnancy. The third research instrument was a semi-structured interview schedule with which twenty counsellors were interviewed regarding their beliefs and practice orientations with Black client groups. This research did not directly observe practice but contains specific measures of counsellors' self reported practice orientations and attitudes to practice (as operationalised in Chapter Five) mainly dealing with uses of interpreters and family. The results suggest that with some self reported practice orientations. and with some attitudes, counsellors do show measured levels of Eurocentrism and negative counter transference. Significant gender differences were found, p<.001, in the emotional response of men compared to women towards the video vignette 'clients' but no gender differences were found in the Cultural Awareness Inventory. The results suggest that reading and training is an effective change agent in preparing counsellors for cross-cultural work. Furthermore, the counsellors' ages and academic qualifications are statistically significant predictor variables. The results also suggested that direct experience of working with African-Caribbean Clients, but not South Asian clients, was a Significant predictor variable of the score on the Cultural Awareness Inventory. Possible reasons are tentatively discussed in the context of Batson et ai's Personal Distress Theory and Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Theory. Recommendations are made for the training and supervision of counsellors which may suggest necessary curriculum changes to counsellor training courses.
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