Culture-Centered Counseling

Dr. Paul B. Pedersen shows how recognizing the centrality of culture can augment therapy and result in effective treatment of all clients. This approach involves recognizing cultural assumptions and acquiring knowledge and skills to get beyond them, something that may be done no matter what treatment model a therapist might use. The video demonstrates how inclusive cultural empathy with a divergent contextual focus differs from conventional convergent and individualistic interpretations of empathy. In this session, Dr. Pedersen works with a young Latina woman named Maria who is trying to become more assertive in her interpersonal relationships. Dr. Pedersen helps Maria begin to find a way to be assertive without sacrificing the traditions she wants to preserve from her heritage.