One Western size fits all

counsellor training in different countries and cultures

William West

pp. 70-77

in: Greg Nolan, William West (eds), Therapy, culture and spirituality, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015

Abstract

In 2006/7 I did some preliminary interviews with counsellor trainers in various countries (Russia, India, Kenya and England) intending to develop a research project exploring how Western counsellor training is delivered in differing countries and cultures. It soon became apparent that this was too ambitious, too big a task for one person or even a small team to undertake. However I did make several conference presentations at the time (West, 2007, 2008a, 2008b; West et al., 2007) drawing on these interviews. I will in this chapter re-visit this work to explore particular topics of relevance to this book around the cultural context of counselling.