Volume_4_Issue_1_Digest

TPC D igest 5 Lorraine J. Guth, NCC, is a Professor and Clinical Coordinator at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Garrett McAuliffe is a Professor at Old Dominion University. Megan Michalak, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at Antioch University New England. Correspondence can be addressed to Lorraine J. Guth, IUP Department of Counseling, 206 Stouffer Hall, Indiana, PA 15705, lguth@iup.edu. T he standards set by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Re- lated Educational Programs (CACREP) require programs to provide curricular and experiential opportunities in multicultural- ism and diversity. The integration of diversity issues into counselor training programs has been done in a number of ways. For example, multicultural courses have often focused on developing trainees’ cross-cultural competen- cies in the following three broad areas: aware- ness of their own cultural values and biases; knowledge of others’ customs, expectations, and worldviews; and culturally appropriate intervention skills and strategies. A body of literature has examined the prog- ress that educational programs have made in incorporating these aspects of diversity into the curricula. However, these studies mainly examined the impact of training that was con- ducted in the United States, leaving out the potential added value of personal cross-cultural ex- perience in an in- ternational context. Furthermore, the research conducted on study abroad experiences has fo- cused predominantly on the undergradu- ate college student population in disciplines other than counsel- ing. Given the potential impact of direct cross- cultural experience, a living-learning study abroad experience for counselor trainees might be a powerful way to deepen cultural under- standing and responsiveness. Counselors Abroad: Outcomes of an International Counseling Institute in Ireland – DIGEST Lorraine J. Guth Garrett McAuliffe Megan Michalak