We have heard from some textbook adopters that the breadth and depth of coverage of CCD has made it very difficult for instructors and students to digest the amount of material in a single course. This is a very legitimate concern but we would like to make several points.
First, although there may be differences of opinion, we have identified the first 11 chapters in Section 1 as providing the basic principles of cultural competence that can be applied across multicultural populations. These are foundational building blocks of multicultural counseling and therapy, which we believe all practitioners must acquire in order to move toward cultural competency. In our classes, for example, the first eleven chapters are mandatory for a semester course.
Second, although it would be ideal if all of Section 2, with the 13 specific populations could be covered, we never expected that all these chapters could be digested in a single course. Rather, we envisioned instructors selecting Section Two chapters that they felt were important for students to master. Some may choose to focus on racial/ethnic populations, others on sexual orientation and gender identity, others on poverty and disability, or any combination of special populations. Other instructors have used the special population chapters to allow students with interest in a particular group to do class presentations and term papers. Section 2 allows considerable flexibility and has unique appeal to professors and students.
Third, to aid in making the material less overwhelming, we have condensed, summarized, streamlined, and eliminated certain subtopics. In one case, two chapters were combined. We have tried our best to do so without violating the integrity of the content. Each of the major chapters (1 through 11) has been shortened but the special population chapters have maintained their original length. This latter decision was based on our belief that further shortening would result in the chapters having a “checklist” quality. Further, we are also aware that most instructors do not assign all special population chapters, but rather choose the ones most relevant to their classes.
Despite shortening major sections of the text, new advances and important changes in multicultural counseling suggest additional areas that need to be addressed. These include updating concepts to be consistent with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM‐5) categories and principles, the multicultural guidelines of the American Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association's (ACA) multicultural and social justice competencies, and Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards.
We also include the most recent research and theoretical formulations that introduce and analyze emerging important multicultural topics. These include the concept of “cultural humility” as a domain of cultural competence; the important roles of White allies in the struggle for equal rights; the emerging call for social justice counseling; the important concept of “minority stress” and its implications in work with marginalized populations; a new focus on microinterventions; reviewing and introducing the most recent research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) issues; major research developments in the manifestation, dynamics, and impact of microaggressions; and many others.
PEDAGOGICAL STRENGTHS
One of the main goals of the eighth edition has been to better engage students in the material and allow them to become active participants in digesting multicultural counseling concepts. We have increased our focus on pedagogy by providing instructors with exercises and activities to facilitate experiential learning for students. We open every chapter with broad chapter objectives, followed by more specific—and oftentimes controversial—reflection and discussion questions interspersed throughout, which allow for more concentrated and detailed discussion by students on identifiable topical areas.
Further, every chapter opens with a clinical vignette, longer narrative, or situational example that previews the major concepts and issues discussed within. Many of these are new and serve to anchor the multicultural chapter focus questions issues to follow. They add life and meaning to the chapter concepts and research. They serve as prompts to address the opening “course objectives,” but instructors and trainers can also use them as discussion questions throughout the course or workshop. To further stimulate interest and meaning to multicultural counseling concepts, we sprinkle at least two new features throughout the chapters: (a) Did You Know? and (b) By the Numbers. These new features provide brief facts and findings of interest that provoke thought and provide interesting insights. As in the previous edition, we have retained the “Implications for Clinical Practice” and “Summary” sections at the end of every chapter.
There are many other major resources available for instructor use. These are accessible to all instructors through the Wiley site. The use of videos and case studies are compatible with the topical issues in CCD.
1 Multicultural Video Series. A series of brief simulated multicultural counseling videos that can be used in the classroom or viewed online. Each video relates to issues presented in one of the first 11 chapters. They are excellent training aids that allow students to witness multicultural blunders by counselors, identify cultural and sociopolitical themes in the counseling process, discuss and analyze what can go wrong in a session, and suggest culturally appropriate intervention strategies. Following each video, Drs. Joel M. Fillmore and Derald Wing Sue discuss and analyze each session in the context of the themes of the chapter. Instructors have many ways to use the videos to stimulate classroom discussion and understanding.
2 Multicultural Counseling Casebook. In keeping with the importance of applying research and theory to work with culturally diverse populations, and client and client systems, we have accumulated a number of outstanding cases that will stimulate classroom discussion of issues related to race, culture, ethnicity, marginality and clinical work. These case vignettes, when used as a teaching/training tool by knowledgeable instructors can:Help students become culturally aware of their own values, biases, and assumptions about human behavior,Expand their awareness of other worldviews,Anticipate possible cultural barriers in counseling and therapy,Generate alternative counselor intervention strategies more consistent with the life experiences of marginalized populations.
3 Separate Case Study Book. For instructors who wish to present more in depth clinical cases that go beyond clients of color, we encourage them to use Sue, D. W., Gallardo, M., & Neville, H. (2014). Case studies in multicultural counseling and therapy. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
4 Multicultural Resources for Student Evaluation and Activities. On the Wiley website for CCD are the traditional tools for testing and facilitating student learning (test bank of multiple choice questions, true‐false items, essays, power point slides for classroom lectures/discussions, etc.) for each major chapter. With respect to the test items, questions are rated as to their difficulty. This allows instructors to balance the difficulty level of exams for their students.
APPRECIATION
An African American proverb states, “We stand on the head and shoulders of many who have gone on before us.” Certainly, this book would not have been possible without their wisdom, commitment, and sacrifice. We thank them for their inspiration, courage, and dedication, and hope they will look down on us and be pleased with our work. We would like to acknowledge all the dedicated multicultural pioneers in the field who have journeyed with us along the path of multiculturalism before it became fashionable. We also wish to thank the staff of John Wiley & Sons for the enormous time and effort they have placed in obtaining, evaluating, and providing us with the necessary data and feedback to produce this edition of CCD. Their help was no small undertaking, and we feel fortunate