Counseling Diversity in Context

Within the field of counseling there is growing recognition that being a culturally skilled and socially motivated counselor requires a commitment to supporting change within the broader environment. While many of us value social justice, in reality, few of us are confident in how we might effectively promote it. This book provides an excellent guide for how each of us might begin to include social action in our work. -- Kimberly Howard, Boston University

Divided into two parts, the book provides a structural understanding of the context in which cross-cultural counseling takes place, and a model, informed by intersectional analysis, to support counselors in playing a more activist role in helping to change that context.

Wellness is an important goal of counseling work, but the limits of promoting it are reached more quickly for individuals living in disadvantaged circumstances. How then can counselors be effective in a context that produces and reproduces structural inequality?

In Counseling Diversity in Context, Jason Brown addresses this question, exploring the possibilities and limitations of counseling, as well as the forces that help and hinder communities, while demonstrating the need for alternatives to mainstream psychological approaches. Divided into two parts, the book provides a structural understanding of the context in which cross-cultural counseling takes place, and a model, informed by intersectional analysis, to support counselors in playing a more activist role in helping to change that context. Brown encourages counselors to not only understand the social problems that contribute to personal challenges faced by clients but to also raise awareness and promote change.