Multiculturalism and Rehabilitation Counselor Training: Recommendations for Providing Culturally Appropriate Counseling Services to American Indians With Disabilities

Abstract

American Indians exhibit health‐related problems at younger ages, as compared with the general population. They also have a disproportionate number of deaths related to alcoholism, accidents, homicides, pneumonia, influenza, diabetes mellitus, and tuberculosis as compared with the general population. In terms of mental health, depression and adjustment reactions are common problems, with the suicide rate among American Indian adults being more than twice as high as that for the general population. This article delineates specific steps necessary to successfully recruit and retain American Indians in counselor training programs, proposes a curriculum for training counselors to effectively provide services to American Indians with disabilities, and discusses the responsibility of counselor educators to concern themselves with the “job placement” of their graduates.En comparación con la población engeneral, los indios americanos tienen problemas de salud a edades más jovenes y tienen un número de mortandad deproporcionada debida al alcoholismo, acidentes, homicidios, neumonía, gripe, diabetes mellitus, y tuberculosis. En terminos de salud mental, reaciones a depresión y adaptación son problemas comunes, con la media de suicidios superior al doble de la cifra para la población general. Este artículo delinea medidas específicas que son necesarias para atraer y retener indios americanos en programas de entrenamiento de consejería, propone un programa para entrenar consejeros para el suministro eficaz de servicios a indios americanos incapacitados, y discute la responsabilidad de los educadores de consejeros para implicarlos en la búsqueda de un empleo para sus graduados.