Therapist multicultural competence

The results of this qualitative investigation provide a framework for conceptualizing the practice of multiculturally competent therapy, and identify the characteristics of multiculturally competent therapists. Clinic managers employed in clinics or social service agencies in two Midwestern cities each nominated a white clinician on staff whom they considered to be multiculturally competent. All of the clinicians had been in practice for a minimum of five years, provided individual psychotherapy, and served a client population that included at least 15% ethnic and racial minorities. A total of four white clinicians were interviewed about their personal characteristics and qualities, how they define multiculturally competent therapy, and how they understand multicultural competence as a developmental process.;The results of this study support much of the extant literature on multicultural competence, such as the role of clinician personal qualities and the need to acknowledge the social inequities that contribute to mental health problems. Yet, the results also suggest other important facets of multicultural competence. A major finding of the study is that the clinicians nominated by their clinic managers as multiculturally competent expressed a willingness to work with all clients. Additionally, another finding stresses the role of relationships with co-workers, clients, and supervisors in developing multicultural competence after formal training has ended. The findings suggest that multicultural competence extends beyond individual clinical work to involvement on an institutional level and in the community. While more work needs to be done in order to more fully understand what multicultural competence looks like in practice, the four clinicians in this study offer unique perspectives on what it looks like for them.