TPC_Digest_Volume_2_Issue_2

economies and cultures in which local communities actively react to the process by absorbing and/or resisting the ideas introduced by the West. We examine three ways in which globalization may have an impact on the counseling field and on the people living in the international communities. First, we explore how globalization impacts the transfer of western values; which in turn influences the local cultures’ ideas and experiences of mental health and wellness. For example the spread of western conceptualizations of mental health can change how symptoms are conceptualized in international communities. There also are certain aspects involved in the globalization process itself such as increased mobility, which can affect the types of problems individuals in the local community may present in counseling. Second, we consider the commoditization of the helping relationship. For example, in the U. S. paying for a service which involves an inherently intimate relationship works within a capitalistic framework. However, we believe counselors should be wary of assuming counseling as a commodity will automatically translate in communities where capitalism is not the dominant worldview. Finally, we consider the issues with access and the structural limitations of international counseling. Given the issues of access within the United States, if counseling is structurally established internationally with a similar economic model and if there is limited structural support for services, then we continue to risk providing services only to those with the most means. Given the potential impact globalization can have on the counseling field and the international community counselors serve, a more global perspective of counseling is needed. Counselor education programs should consider this global perspective, and international counselor education programs need to be developed as well. We have the obligation to widen our lens to include not only the systems of our community, but to the connected world as a whole. TPC Digest