ABSTRACT
As humans, counselor trainees’ life experiences play a major role in determining their visions, thoughts, understandings, and perceptions of others. As such, counselor trainees come into a training environment with collective experiences and perceptions about people in general; their own cultural, community and family experiences; and specifically, their understandings and knowledge, or the lack thereof, of other cultures or the culturally different. All of the aforementioned factors also impact the world of the counselor trainer or counselor educator. This chapter will undergird the critical elements that impact the cognitions and behaviors of counselor trainees in becoming effective practitioners and professional counselors in counseling people across cultures. It will also discuss the importance of having competent counselor educators who are and will be assisting and training counselor trainees with critical and unbiased understandings about people across cultures. Particular focus will be placed on multicultural counseling skills, self-awareness, belief systems, assessing and diagnosing of clients from different cultures, personal growth, and professional development of counselor trainees.
