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Textbook Critique: Final Paper Assignment
Camila Leyva
Department of Psychology, Liberty University
PSYC 351: Multicultural Counseling and Research Issues
Dr. Busarow
August 4, 2025
Textbook Critique: Final Paper Assignment
Introduction
We all live in a very large, diverse and changing world. In which counselors must be
rightly equipped with multicultural skills that allow them to serve clients from different spiritual,
cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The course textbook, Counseling The Culturally Diverse by Sue
et al. (2022), teaches us the right foundations to develop and apply skills to be multicultural
competent counselors. Although our textbook has many strengths, it also has some areas of
growth. For example, sometimes it presents contrast with the Christian worldview. For this
paper we will examine two key concepts of the textbook, discuss the contributions of new
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research, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the textbook, and finally reflect on how
Christian perspectives and multicultural views can both coexist to bring better professionals.
The Competent Counselor
Multicultural skills start within, counselors must understand themselves fully before they
can serve others. In our textbook we discussed several areas that will improve multicultural
skills. One of the most important ones being cultural self-awareness, which is the act of
analyzing your own cultural background, biases and values. This helps counselors recognize how
their worldview affects their perception in life. Like the communication style they use, the
perception of their client, and their counseling approach. This awareness also helps counselors
to avoid forcing personal values into clients and promote a space of respect and understanding.
As the textbook explains, culturally competent counselors are “aware of their own values and
biases and of how they may affect diverse clients” and they also are “comfortable with
differences that exist between themselves and their clients in terms of race, gender, sexual
orientation, and other social identity variables” (Sue et al., 2022, p.34).
A second essential concept is understanding microaggressions, which are very little and
often unintentional comments or behaviors that transmit a negative message to some group of
individuals. These can be, for example, assumptions or stereotypes that although they might
seem minor, could lead to some emotional harm. The textbook describes them as “brief and
commonplace daily verbal or behavioral indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that
communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults that potentially have a
harmful or unpleasant psychological impact on the target person or group” (Sue et al., 2022,
p.71). Reflecting on this helps counselors analyze the ways in which they might unintentionally
negatively affect the clients. There are different types of microaggressions, such as
microassaults, microinsults and microinvalidations. Which is why it is important for counselors
to constantly work on understanding the wording and actions they use, so it is optimal for
clients from different genders, races, and cultural backgrounds.
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Supporting Research
In the article authors Tittler et al. (2022) explore some of the complexities of counseling
racial minorities. They focused on two main topics: ethnocultural empathy, which is the
understanding of other cultures, and insight, which refers to how well counselors can
understand themselves. They hypothesized that counselors with lower levels of insight and
higher levels of concern before counseling racial minorities would be less confident and less
understanding, resulting in inferior multicultural skills.
The participants of the study were 130 graduate counseling trainees, who were surveyed
with validated scales that measured concerns, empathy, insight and self-efficacy. The data was
analyzed with Hayes PROCESS models. Results showed that students who were nervous about
counseling racial minority clients often were less assertive and less comprehensive. But students
with more insight were much less affected (Tittler et al., 2022).
This study strengthens the idea that by helping future counselors develop both empathy
and self-understanding, it can lead to a more effective treatment for patients from different
races. It will improve counselors' multicultural skills and construct them better for clients from
all around the world. This research connects with the course's textbook which highlights
selfawareness and cultural sensitivity, showing how personal development is a crucial point that
is just as important as academic preparation for counselors.
Textbook Critique
For this course, our class textbook was Counseling the Culturally Diverse by Sue et al.
(2022), in my opinion, it is a well-structured and developed book. I think one of its strengths is
how it has specific information about how to help clients from different minority groups. Which
I find helpful because it's not given as general information to all populations but rather
organized into smaller groups of people. I appreciated how the textbook took the time to talk
about each one separately instead of clumping it all together. Another strength of the textbook
is how it includes reflection questions throughout the chapter, this often helped to reflect and
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dig deeper into my understanding of the readings. It challenged me to think on my own
perspective, biases and assumptions. It was also helpful to see how the textbook included real
life examples of how conversations might look with different patients, this is something that I
found practical and unique, making it easier to connect to the material that was taught.
In addition, the textbook is supported by a lot of research, which makes it reliable and
trustworthy, although one downside I noticed is that some of the sources were a little old,
which I think is of no good use especially with topics like this that get updated quickly. That's
why I believe one weakness of the textbook is the occasional use of sources that might be
outdated. Another downside is that some chapters were very dense and packed with
information. Which felt really overwhelming at times, and seeing so much information at once
seemed impossible to get through. And lastly, another weakness that I noticed is how it lacked a
Christian or faithbased perspective. While the book does a great job when talking about other
areas it never addresses how Christianity or a Christian based counselor would take on different
situations (Sue et al., 2022).
Personal Reflection and The Christian Worldview
One part of the textbook that does not completely align with a Christian worldview is its
approach to sexuality and gender identity, specifically how it affirms LGBTQ+ lifestyles without
acknowledging any opposing spiritual perspectives. The book talks about accepting and
affirming all gender identities as a crucial part of multicultural skills. And while I understand the
importance of treating every patient with respect, I think the suggestions of the textbook could
create conflict with Christian teachings about sexuality. As a Christian, we are called to love all
people, in the Bible we learn “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (ESV,
2001, John 13:34). But also, to be firm with biblical truths “Do not be conformed to this world
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” (ESV, 2001, Romans 12:2). The Bible also
speaks about how sexual relations where create specifically by God to be between a man and a
woman within marriage.
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This could possibly bring some tension into a Christian counselor who wants to be
multiculturally competent but at the same time stay faithful to the word of God. I believe that
counselors should never reject clients who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, but they could
personally disagree with some of their lifestyle choices. In my opinion it is very possible to show
compassion without fully affirming everything about their way of living. As we love our neighbor
as our own self, we should treat all clients with equal empathy, grace, and humility while also
staying true to Christian teachings.
Conclusion
Multicultural competence is foundational for counselors working in today's diverse
world. The textbook and supporting research helped me understand on a deeper level the
importance of self-awareness, empathy and cultural sensitivity. At the same time, I learned to
recognize that some ideas of the textbook don't fully line up with the Christian worldview,
especially when it comes to topics like sexuality. As I continue my educational path, I hope I can
apply daily the insights learnt from this course, showing respect and compassion to all clients,
while also staying rooted in my beliefs and faith.
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References
Sue, D. W., Sue, D., Neville, H. A., & Smith, L. (2022). Counseling the culturally diverse:
Theory and practice (9th ed.). Wiley.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. (2001). Crossway Bibles.
Tittler, M. V., Liu, S., Wei, M., Cheng, D., & Wang, C. (2022). Concerns about counseling racial
minority clients: Ethnocultural empathy, insight, and multicultural intervention
selfefficacy. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 16(4), 420–428.
https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000333
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