Journal for International Counselor Education  2014  Volume 6 75

Multicultural Microskills:
Implementation on an Existing Design
Kristopher G. Hall
University of San Diego

Edrica D. Richardson
Broward College

The governing bodies (CACREP; ACA) of mental health counseling have mandated that
multicultural training be added to the counselor education curriculum. Counselor educators
have found ways to implement diversity issues into pedagogy using various methods, but there
has been a lack of focus on multicultural skills. This article will detail current multicultural
pedagogy and assessment, a brief history of microskills, and how counselors can use
microskills to enhance multicultural skill development.

Suggested reference:

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an

existing design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.

Keywords: Pedagogy, Multicultural, Microskills, Skill Development

P
reviously, there has been an attempt to address the need for diversity in counseling
and counselor education training beginning with Sue and et al. (1982) inciting the
call to ensure that all populations are being properly served. The Council for
Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) added several
measures in its standards to ensure that counselor educators address diversity in
instruction after several years of debate. Examples include the amount of faculty and
student diversification (CACREP, 2009). Consequently, researchers (Collins & Arthur, 2010;
Ellenwood & Snyders, 2006; Pedersen, 2000; Sue, 2001) have introduced training models
to prepare culturally aware students with several models and classroom instruction using
the Tripartite Model (TM; Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992) as a model for instruction
(Abreu, Chung, & Atkinson, 2000). These training models give counselor educators a
foundation to employ to ensure that they are compliant with recommended standards.
The TM includes strategies to employ multicultural knowledge, awareness, and
skills in best practices for multicultural engagement. Using the TM, counselor educators
have the opportunity to focus on multicultural skills as a means to develop multicultural
interaction, however, researchers (D’Andrea, Daniels, & Heck, 1991) have found that
multicultural pedagogy focuses primarily on knowledge of other populations and
awareness of self and others. Additionally, Quintana and Bernal (1995) asserted that the

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.
Journal for International Counselor Education  2014  Volume 6 76

counselor educators are only training students to be culturally aware, not culturally
proficient.
It can be inferred that what the profession may be lacking is a connection of the
knowledge and awareness portions of the TM to usable skills. By combining microskills,
discrete skills used to teach counseling concepts (Ivey, 1971), and multicultural skill
development, counselor educators can aid counselors-in-training in learning identifiable
techniques to use with diverse populations. Microskills in counselor training have been in
use for several years but their direct relationship to multicultural concerns has not been
thoroughly explored. This article provides a brief history of the multicultural competencies,
their impact on multicultural pedagogy and testing, and finally, attempts to combine
multicultural pedagogy with microskills training. The authors will conclude with
suggestions for future classroom instruction and research.

Multicultural Competencies

The multicultural competencies have been an important facet in the development of

multicultural counseling throughout their various iterations. The competencies were
originally created to address concerns that counseling did not properly attend to the
ethnically diverse (Sue et al., 1982); but as attention to the competencies grew, focus on
overall diversity increased, with ethnicity as one aspect of culture as a whole (Sue et al.,
1992). These building blocks later developed into the TM that is used today emphasizing
the primary tenets of knowledge, skills, and awareness. However, before this distillation,
Arredondo-Dowd and Gonzales (1980) began the call attention to what was a widespread
issue in mental health counseling.
Sue et al., (1982) and Sue, Arredondo, and McDavis (1992) continued the message
by highlighting the necessity for multicultural counseling through a call to action to the
American Psychological Association (APA). Sue et al., in particular, described several
culturally insensitive theories which were still in use by some therapists and actually may
have been harmful to clients. Arredondo et al. (1996), using the work begun in 1982 and
1992, operationalized the TM. The aims of the operationalization were to ensure that the
TM could be explained, in detail, for further use. By integrating Arredondo and Glauner’s
(1992) Personal Identity Model (PIM) with descriptive characteristics of the TM
dimensions, the authors sought to give practitioners clear guidelines on how to implement
multicultural counseling. Although previous articles detailed guidelines of best
cross-cultural practices, Arredondo et al. completed what was the most comprehensive
listing of multiculturally competent behaviors and how they applied to clients. The newly
detailed competencies opened the door to discuss mass adoption by counseling’s governing
bodies.
The ACA eventually endorsed multicultural competence in their 2002 Code of Ethics
and the current 2009 CACREP standards include several clauses which influence the
counselor education curriculum (ACA, 2003; CACREP, 2009). CACREP contains language
similar to the TM as it requires that the counseling curriculum include pedagogy which
contributes to expanding the attitudes, beliefs, and understandings of self and culturally

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.
Journal for International Counselor Education  2014  Volume 6 77

diverse clients (CACREP, II.G.2.b). The social and cultural diversity section of the CACREP
standards also requires that institutions teach theories of multicultural counseling as well
as social justice. The CACREP standards reflect that there has been an effort to change
multicultural pedagogy through accreditation regulation.
Changes in Pedagogy
Shifts in pedagogy have given more weight to multicultural concerns both before
and after the TM was widely adopted. Many programs implement a single course model
which includes a minimum of one course focusing on multicultural development (Hills &
Strozier, 1992). Sierra (1997) investigated multicultural training in marriage and family
therapy (MFT) programs and found that 56% of the programs surveyed required students
to take a multiculturally focused course while 44% offered the course as an elective. Later,
Inman, Meza, Brown, & Hargrove (2004), also analyzing MFT programs, observed that
nearly 80% of faculty and students reported at least one required diversity training course.
These two studies demonstrate that there has been a large amount of growth regarding
multicultural coursework in counselor training programs.
Some authors however, have argued for multicultural integration throughout the
counselor education curriculum in addition to a diversity focused course (Arredondo &
Arcineiga, 2001). D’Andrea et al., (1991) have suggested either a combination approach
using one course focused on multicultural issues with diversity concerns woven
throughout the counselor education curriculum or complete multicultural integration
where diversity is infused into every class. The combination approach has been the method
which most closely resembles CACREP standards and considered the most extensive and
improved pedagogy (Eifler, Potthofff, & Dinsmore, 2004; Valentin, 2006). Due to ease of
implementation, the combination approach has given counselor educators the most
flexibility while still maintaining compliance.
While the operationalization of the competencies are thorough in their explanations
of knowledge, skills and awareness, counselor educators are free to teach the competencies
in whatever form they see fit. This freedom of instruction gives educators the ability to
incorporate diversity using means best applicable to their student populations. Dickson
and Jepsen (2007) summarized the different methodologies used to teach the
competencies which include traditional, exposure, and participatory strategies, as well as,
multicultural clinical training experiences. These methods can be further summarized as
etic versus emic and didactic versus immersion. The following sections will detail these
training methods and how they have been employed in the classroom setting.

Etic versus Emic

The etic approach details that any theory can apply to any population due to the
universality of the human experience, and that existing theories and techniques are robust
enough to address any issue a minority may bring into counseling (Fukuyama, 1990;
Vontress, 1979). Techniques viewed using the etic lenses are seen to be culturally
generalizable or universal in scope (Fischer, Jome, & Atkinson, 1998). Vontress (1988)
theorized that humans share a universal culture with interventions applicable to all clients.

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.
Journal for International Counselor Education  2014  Volume 6 78

The etic approach also employs the common factors view of counseling which holds that
the curative factors of a theory are not in the specific interventions but in components
common to all theories (Fischer, Jome, & Atkinson). However, some multicultural theorists
take issue with this “one size fits all” approach to counseling.
Emic approaches instead use culturally specific theories and interventions to
address concerns based on the client's needs. Western models have been labeled
"culturally encapsulated," meaning these theories are applied regardless of cultural context
(Sue, 1997). The Western models can perpetuate monocultural beliefs due to lack of
analyses of the creator’s worldviews (Arredondo, 1998). Etic approaches to counseling,
however, either alter existing theory or create new models in order to conceptualize and
accommodate diverse clients. Emic approaches began development after the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 and Title VII which led to more minorities entering counseling and higher
education (Arredondo). Drummond (2000) believed that those who subscribe to emic
approaches to multicultural counseling understand the societal and systemic variables that
affect behavior and these variables can either be similar or opposite to majority culture.
Emic approaches encourage the counselor to understand the client both in context of larger
society and how they are affected as a minority while using interventions specific to the
client’s cultural needs. Stewart (2002) warned that failing to view client behavior within
cultural context may marginalize the client by believing they may share the same
worldviews.

Didactic versus Immersion

Kim and Lyons (2003) defined didactic instruction as teaching strategies that
include intellectual exercises, reading, writing, and Socratic discussions. This definition can
also be opened to include in-class experiential activities. Generally, during classroom
instruction, the four primary ethnic groups of races are presented (White,
African-American, Asian, and Latino) along with differences in values and worldview (Sue,
1997). Lecture preceded by in-class experience can help to ease student’s potential
preliminary nervousness and defensiveness regarding multicultural learning
(Tomlinson-Clarke, 2000). Reading and intellectual exercises have been found to help to
increase multicultural knowledge, while the processing of in-class experiential activities
bolsters awareness (Abreu, 2001), satisfying two out of the three tenets of the TM. Abreu
introduced a didactic training approach using existing empirical research on stereotyping
and selected theories to help to illuminate biased opinions and perceptions which may be
outside of the student’s awareness. The author employed classroom instruction to explore
personal biases without direct contact with other cultures; however, it is important for
students to experience contact with other cultures to have the opportunity to learn directly
from the cultures they may be exposed to. Therefore, it is important for counselor
educators to include classroom experiences where students are in contact with other
cultures.
Cultural immersion engages students in meaningful and direct interactions which
will potentially increase cultural understanding and empathy (Tomlinson-Clarke and

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.
Journal for International Counselor Education  2014  Volume 6 79

Clarke, 2010) allowing students to develop multicultural competence through experience

with other cultures. Immersion activities include internships, where students are
purposefully placed with populations of differing ethnicities, and study abroad programs.
First-hand involvement with different cultures and ethnicities is also essential for
multicultural skill development (Sue, 1997); giving students the opportunity to apply the
knowledge and awareness learned in their multicultural courses. Students who engage in
direct cross-cultural immersion activities experience expanded worldviews (Platt, 2012;
Tomlinson-Clarke & Clarke), sensitivity to client needs (Tomlinson-Clarke & Clarke), and
application of cultural sensitivity to client sessions (DeRicco & Sciarra, 2005). It can be seen
from these studies that students benefit from experiences where they are able to practice
synthesizing all three parts of the TM.
Multicultural training is a standardized requirement for all CACREP programs but
implementation is left to the discretion of the counselor educator. Priester et al. (2008)
completed a study which analyzed multicultural pedagogy and what classroom strategies
were most prevalent among counselor educators. The authors analyzed syllabi from 64
master’s level, introductory multicultural training courses, categorizing TM emphasis as
well as specific activities used. Results of the study found that 84% of syllabi placed the
highest level of emphasis on multicultural knowledge while 41% placed the highest
emphasis on awareness of self and others. Multicultural skill development had the highest
emphasis in 12% of the classes with 48% having a low level of emphasis and 28% with no
mention at all.

Multicultural Competency Skills

Arredondo et al. (1996) outlined several skills that would mark a culturally
competent counselor detailing the behaviors of a culturally skilled counselors paired with
explanatory statements of specific activities which would demonstrate these attitudes. The
dimensions of the text include counselor awareness of their own values and beliefs,
awareness of the client’s worldview, and culturally appropriate intervention skills. Within
each of these sections, the TM was used to detail culturally appropriate behaviors for
counseling. Giving particular attention to the section “Culturally Appropriate Intervention
Strategies,” the authors give insight into specific skills that counselors should bring into the
helping relationship. These include the ability to engage in a variety of both verbal and
nonverbal helping responses, exercise institutional intervention skills, seek culturally
appropriate faith based consultation, psychoeducation, testing, and antidiscrimination
(Arredondo et al.).
Although multicultural skills are detailed for counselor educators, the
aforementioned Priester et al. (2008) study showed that counselor educators instead
choose to emphasize the knowledge and awareness portions of the TM as opposed to skills.
The “skills” section in Arredondo et al’s (1996) competencies, specifically those within the
values and worldview sections lean towards knowledge or awareness instead of applicable
skills that could be used during the counseling session. For example, section A.I.C.1 of the
competencies states that culturally skilled counselors seek consultation, further training,

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.
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refer clients when necessary, or use a combination of all of these to improve understanding
of diverse populations (Arredondo et al.). The explanatory statements following this
competency detail how counselors should refer clients to another counseling professional
if clients are out of their scope of practice but do little to help counselors understand how
to address clients during session. The Arredondo et al. competencies are the basis of
several models and standards, which may be the reason for the reduced emphasis on
concrete skill development in counselor training.

Training Models and Assessment

It is beyond the scope of this article to detail every multicultural training model;
nonetheless, multicultural training models also employ didactic or immersion
methodologies to encourage multicultural learning. Didactic models include Collins and
Arthur’s (2010) Culture Infused Counseling model and Sue’s (2001) Multidimensional
Facets of Cultural Competence. Immersion models include Ellenwood and Snyders’ (2006)
Inside-Out Approach to Teaching Multicultural Techniques and Pedersen’s (2000) Triad
Training Model for immersive techniques. Each of these models includes portions of the TM
in their applications to coincide with the competencies required by the governing bodies.
Counselor educators have attempted to comply with CACREP standards through the
adaptation of pedagogy by creating various models and modes of instruction. However, the
Priester et al. (2008) have found that counselor educators may not be using the full range
of teaching interventions available to them, particularly, focusing on a few activities.
Additionally, there is little to no emphasis on the skills component of the TM, leaving
knowledge and awareness as the primary indicators for multicultural competence.
As a result of multiculturalism gaining traction within counselor education
programs, several instruments were created to measure the level of student/practitioner
multicultural competence and the effectiveness of the changes in pedagogy. The
assessments created measured several constructs which were related to multicultural
competence, using the TM as a reference, but very few actually sought to measure only the
items found on the TM. The three primary instruments that measure specifically
knowledge, awareness, and skills are the Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI;
Roysicar-Sodowsky, Taffe, Gutkin & Wise, 1994), the Multicultural Awareness, Knowledge,
and Skills Survey (MAKSS; D’Andrea et al., 1991), and the Cross-Cultural Counseling
Inventory (CCCI; LaFromboise, Coleman, & Hernandez, 1991). Of these three assessments,
the CCCI is the only observation based measure, with the MCI and MAKSS being self-report,
however, each of these assessments measure competence in the context of the entire TM,
not multicultural skills specifically.

Microskills

Brief History

Microskills were developed as a means to integrate didactic instruction with

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.
Journal for International Counselor Education  2014  Volume 6 81

applicable skills. Prior to the development of microskills, counselor training focused

primarily on conceptual skills and content areas (Ivey, 1971) with the results of this
method producing counselors who were at similar levels of skill to experienced counselors
in the field (Truax & Carkhuff, 1967). Through an analysis of pedagogy, researchers (Ivey;
Truax & Carkhuff) found that practitioner behaviors were ignored in favor of
didactic-intellectual and relationship-oriented approaches. In essence, students were being
taught what counseling was, and what it should look like, but not specifically how it should
be accomplished. Truax and Carkhuff sought to bridge the gap between these two
approaches, giving counselor educators a means to link theory to practice (Ridley, Kelly, &
Mollen, 2011).
Using Rogers’ work with empathy as a base, Truax and Carkhuff (1967) introduced
classroom interventions which integrated concepts such as empathy and genuineness.
Students were shown 25 hours of taped therapy where they practiced recognizing
genuineness, warmth, and empathy. Later, the students were encouraged to engage in
role-play, then real sessions, using their new skills, which were analyzed with a supervisor
(Ridley, Kelly, & Mollen, 2011). However, Ivey (1971) introduced the concept of microskills
to the counseling world with the intention to teach singular skills for mastery in order to
reduce the complexity of therapy (Ridley, Kelly, & Mollen).
Ivey and Ivey (2003) defined microskills as “communication skill units of the
interview that will help [the student] interact more intentionally with a client (p. 22).”
Their textbook, Intentional Interviewing and Counseling: Facilitating Client Development in a
Multicultural Society includes a hierarchy where skills increase in complexity at the latter
stages (Ivey & Ivey). The authors encouraged counselors-in-training to work through the
hierarchy, beginning with ethics and multicultural competence and ending with
determining personal style and theory. Microskills may be particularly useful with
beginning counselors as they simplify abstract concepts into discrete, learnable skills. For
example, the concept of empathy can be broken down to include attending behavior,
minimal encouragers, open questioning, summarization of content, and reflection of feeling
(Ivey, 1971). Taken singularly, these skills seem to be innocuous but when combined, they
have the ability to make the client feel heard and understood. Thus, Ivey has succeeded in
taking an abstract concept and distilling it into observable skills. The work of Truax &
Carkhuff, and later Ivey set the standard of current counseling pedagogy.

Multicultural Microskills

Ivey and Ivey (2003) stated that there have been more than 450 completed studies
on microskills, yet research on microskills with a multicultural emphasis has been given
less attention. Although the CACREP standards include multicultural engagement, current
pedagogy emphasizes general skills, which does not necessarily make a counselor
multiculturally skilled (Bradley & Fiorini, 1999). While it may be unrealistic to develop
specific skills to address the plethora of information acquired from the multicultural
knowledge learned during counselor training (Alberta & Wood, 2009), knowledge must be
paired with awareness and skill development for counselors in training to be culturally

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.
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competent (Copeland, 1982; Das, 1995; Merta, Stringham & Ponterotto, 1988; Pedersen,
1988). Johnson (1987) believed that students are trained about cultures as a whole but not
how to operate within them, suggesting that there is a lack of synthesis in training using the
TM. Students can be taught to operate within culture by synthesizing existing multicultural
knowledge with general skills being taught throughout the counselor education program.
While it is true that there is a vast amount of cultural learning and understanding that takes
place during counselor training, the mechanism for synthesizing this information already
exists within the microskills model (Sue, 1997).
Microskills are currently used in techniques courses to introduce students to the
profession of counseling. The skills are then reinforced throughout the curriculum,
particularly practicum and internship, giving students concrete skills for use during client
interactions. There have been attempts to integrate microskills with multicultural
education but the efforts have not been uniform. Ridley et al. (2011) analyzed four widely
used counseling techniques textbooks and found that only two out of the four textbooks
applied microskills to diverse populations throughout the text. The remaining two books
gave cursory attention to multicultural concerns or included special populations as an
addendum to the primary text. These findings, in addition to counselor educator
preference, suggest that students may not be receiving proper instruction in how to apply
the microskills in a multicultural fashion.
Previously, Sue (1997) observed that microskills and multicultural pedagogy had
yet to converge, suggesting that textbook authors would have to show change from both a
theoretical and behavioral standpoint if students were to learn how to apply microskills to
multicultural populations. The findings of Ridley et al. (2011) suggest that there has been
progress in microskills training, but true integration is still lacking. Researchers (Arthur &
Januszkowski, 2001; Sue) have found that students may be prepared to practice after
receiving training in multicultural counseling but may feel unprepared when faced with
cross-cultural interactions, suggesting an inability to synthesize knowledge, awareness,
and skills.
There must be adjustments to microskills depending on the cultural identifications
of the client. Sue (1997) conducted a qualitative study investigating how Asian-American
students responded to microskills when adjusted to fit their culture. The author found that
microskills such as empathy and summarization had to be adjusted to fit client preferences,
suggesting that multicultural clients perceive microskills outside of the way they are
taught. He concluded by saying, “We believe that for cross-cultural training
to be effective, initial communication skills must be developed. This
means focusing on microskills development for the different cultural
groups and identifying common alibis and differences. (p. 186).”
It should be noted that general skills are distinct from multicultural skills (Schaefle,
Smaby, Maddux, LeBeauf, 2007) and some cultures may not respond to certain microskills.
However, researchers (Schaefle, et al.) have shown that there is some overlap between
general skills and multicultural skills with culturally sensitive counselors rating higher in
general skills than culturally neutral counselors when observed by counseling students
(Coleman, 1998). Coleman asserted that for general skills to be effective, they must be

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.
Journal for International Counselor Education  2014  Volume 6 83

applied in a culturally relevant manner. Currently, microskills are taught in a generalized

fashion due to their foundational nature in counseling pedagogy; however, multicultural
microskills will allow students to operate within the client’s culture.

Implications for Counselors

Counselor educators can ensure that students are receiving culturally sensitive
instruction in regards to microskills training by addressing the deficiencies presented by
Sue (1997) and Ridley et al. (2011). Microskills have been in use for at least 40 years and
have been repeatedly tested (Ivey & Ivey, 2003) but the profession has not soundly
addressed how they can be linked to multicultural competence. Sue and Pedersen (1997)
have attempted to address this gap but counselor educators can also pick up the mantle
through focus on new training models, multicultural skill assessments, and curriculum
integration.

Training Models

Although counselor educators have created training models to assess overall

competence, there is still a need to develop models which integrate microskills with
multicultural training. Microskills give students an easily assessable bank of skills to
integrate with the multicultural knowledge and awareness that is attained in other classes.
Pedersen (2000) has developed a 10 week program which outlines microskills with
multicultural development; however, the effectiveness of this intervention has not been
tested. Counselor educators have the ability to integrate these two concepts in either their
multicultural or counseling techniques courses to allow students opportunity to practice
the necessary skill integration. By creating training modules which include didactic
instruction, microskills, and cultural immersion, students will have the practical knowledge
necessary for multicultural engagement, a familiar set of skills to draw upon, and an
opportunity to practice their newly acquired skill set with the appropriate population.

Assessment

This article has highlighted the lack of research regarding multicultural microskills.
Popular multicultural assessments, due to their basis in the TM, measure competence as a
whole, creating research which does not address skill development. However, counselor
educators may be sending students to see clients only somewhat prepared to see diverse
clients (Sue, 1997) and it is difficult to measure student skill levels with the current
measurements. It has been shown that classroom interventions can create multiculturally
competent counselors (Collins & Arthur, 2010; Ellenwood & Snyders, 2006; Pedersen,
2000; Sue, 2001), and outcome studies show that clients are aware of multiculturally
competent counselors (Li, Kim, & O’Brien, 2007; Pope-Davis et al. 2002); however updated
research including student perspectives of multicultural skill development is lacking.
Therefore, there is a need for assessments which measure multicultural skills through an

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

design. Journal for International Counselor Education, 6, 75-89.
Journal for International Counselor Education  2014  Volume 6 84

adaptation of current microskills assessments or the creation of new assessments.

Curriculum Integration

The microskills training method is well established and prevalent in counselor

education (Ridley, Kelly, & Mollen, 2011) however, with modification, counselor educators
can ensure that students are receiving instruction that includes multicultural skill
development. Counseling techniques courses are student’s initial contact with microskills
and it is there where counselor educators can have the most impact, giving students a tool
box of easily assessable multicultural microskills. Sue (1997) asserted that multicultural
microskills training can be integrated into regular skills training by focusing on the
modifications necessary for clients of different cultures, warning that it is a “disservice” to
teach microskills to counselors-in-training without adapting these skills to fit specific
clients. The authors suggests broadening microskills to include all cultures at the outset,
instead of teaching microskills from a purely Western perspective microskills will: a.
eventually eliminate the distinction between regular and multicultural microskills; b. give
students the ability to manipulate skills for client adaptation; and c. give minority students
increased self-efficacy through teaching others about how to apply microskills to their
cultural group (Sue). The authors also ask that instructors caution students from imposing
stereotypical assumptions about clients, but rather create a space to understand the client’s
level of acculturation and open space for exploration of the client’s values.
Microskills training begins in counseling techniques courses but can continue
throughout the counselor education curriculum. James, Milne, and Morse (2008) detailed
techniques for practicum supervisors which combine scaffolding with microskills to
improve supervision like promoting the use of developmentally appropriate open ended
questions to model the microskills. The authors also noted previous research that stated
supervisors can use verbal and nonverbal behavior, reflection, and experiential exercises as
microskills. If combined with a multicultural focus, the supervisor has the ability to
reinforce previously learned skills and customize the knowledge to demonstrate proper
usage with the client. For example, the supervisor could use open ended questions to draw
out information about the client’s cultural needs during supervision. The supervisee in turn
could use these same types of questions during the cross-cultural counseling session to
elicit information or think about how to best pose questions.
Choice of classroom text can also be used to integrate microskills with multicultural
counseling. Pedersen and Ivey’s (1993) book Culture-Centered Counseling and Interviewing
Skills addressed microskills such as attending skills, questioning, and confrontation and
how they can be adapted to multicultural populations. Using “synthetic cultures” meant to
mimic the four major ethnicities studied in multicultural counseling, Pedersen and Ivey
detail the stereotypical relational tendencies of each culture and how to adapt the
microskills to fit that culture. The authors feel that presenting four different techniques will
aid counselors “match the right method with the right person at the right time in the right
way” (p. 85). Pedersen and Ivey (2007) teamed up again to detail ten group microskills and
exercises for use in instruction. Ridley et al’s. (2011) analysis of microskills training

Hall, K. G., & Richardson, E. D. (2014). Multicultural microskills: Implementation on an existing

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textbooks listed both Ivey and Ivey (2007) and Hill, Stahl, and Roffman (2007) as authors
who teach microskills with an emphasis on multicultural populations. They noted that both
of these authors weave multicultural concerns throughout the text, instead of at the end of
chapters or as addendums' (Ridley, et. al).

Conclusion

Contained within the ACA Code of Ethics (2005) and the CACREP Standards (2009)
are sections and clauses devoted to multicultural training. Section F of the ACA Code of
Ethics, which is devoted to counselor training and supervision, containing clause F.2.b
details that competent supervisors are aware of multicultural issues in the supervisor
relationship. Continuing, clause F.6.b requires counselor educators to infuse
multiculturalism material into all courses and professional development workshops.
CACREP has multicultural requirements for program accreditation woven throughout their
standards. The body requires programs recruit, employ, and retain a diverse faculty and
staff (ACA Section J, CACREP Section U). CACREP requires that students have an
understanding of multicultural trends, theories, intervention strategies, as well as the TM.
Counselor educators have attempted to adhere to CACREP standards by adapting
pedagogy to include exposure to multicultural experiences and increases in multicultural
knowledge. Additionally, assessments based in the TM have been created to measure the
effectiveness of counselors and counselor training. These changes have gone from single
class models to cross-curriculum inclusion; however, counselor educators have neglected
to deeply integrate multicultural skill development into counseling techniques courses, a
foundational course in counselor training. Counselor educators have the opportunity to use
multicultural microskills to teach students to adapt basic skills to any population, a trait
important in multicultural engagement.
Cultural and ethnic minorities have begun to seek more services and counselor
training programs have adapted to attempt to address their concerns. However, there is
still little knowledge on what specific skills are applicable to these populations outside of
Western teachings. By combining microskills training with a multicultural focus, students
will be given options regarding best practices with diverse populations. Instead of putting
their clients into a box, students will be given a wide range of tools to use when addressing
their needs.

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