Transformative Learning through International Immersion: Building Multicultural Competence in Family...

TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING THROUGHINTERNATIONAL IMMERSION: BUILDING

MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE IN FAMILYTHERAPY AND COUNSELING

Teresa McDowell, Kristen Goessling, and Tatiana MelendezLewis & Clark College

This study explores the experiences of graduate students who completed one of two inter-national courses facilitated by family therapy faculty in a U.S. master’s-level counselingpsychology department. Participants reported that international courses were personallyand professionally transformative. Spending time in a foreign country gave them opportu-nities to learn from cultural differences, ultimately increasing the social and global aware-ness required for multicultural sensitivity. Experiential learning, reflection, and dialogueresulted in raised critical consciousness among participants. In this article, we discuss thetransformational learning processes embedded in international courses and the potentialbenefits of these experiences on the development of multicultural sensitivity in family ther-apists and counselors in training.

In recent years, there has been a call to internationalize educational programs in thehelping fields, including counseling psychology (e.g., Pedersen & Leong, 1997; Leong & Blusten,2000; Leong & Ponterotto, 2003), social work (e.g., Leta, Pezaris, & Drews, 2002), schoolpsychology (e.g., Nastasi, Varjas, Bernstein, & Jayasena, 2000), and family therapy (e.g., Fang,McDowell, & Holland, 2006). This call extends to counselors taking a leadership role inpromoting cross-cultural ⁄national understanding. According to Leung (2003), those in thecounseling profession

should be in the forefront to initiate international contacts and communication, tofacilitate goodwill among citizens of the world, to form equal alliances with mentalhealth professionals worldwide, and to use global perspectives and knowledge to meetlocal needs in diverse cultural contexts. (p. 417)

The emerging focus in the United States on international relations is an outgrowth of themulticultural agenda that has focused almost entirely on diversity within our own country(Leung, 2003). Conditions that push the international agenda ahead and challenge the limits ofa socio-centric view of multiculturalism include the increase in migration worldwide, the result-ing influx of diverse groups here in the United States, the recognition that social policy andeconomics are interdependent across national borders; and the impact of shared knowledgethrough advances in technology (Leta et al., 2002).

Goals for internationalizing family therapy and counseling psychology include challengingcultural encapsulation and sociocentrism that support a sense of self-sufficiency and superior-ity—the belief that we have little to learn from others outside the United States and ⁄or thatour approaches are superior (Leung, 2003). Learning about families and counseling practicesglobally accentuates how culture influences relationships and behavior as well as the culturallybound nature of our own practices. It further introduces possibilities for living and solving

Teresa McDowell, EdD, is an Associate Professor and Director of the Marriage, Couple and Family

Therapy program at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling; Kristen Goessling, MS, was

a graduate student in the Community Counseling program at Lewis & Clark at the time this article was written;

Tatiana Melendez, ABD, is a doctoral candidate at the University of Connecticut and was a doctoral fellow at

Lewis & Clark at the time this article was written.

Address correspondence to Teresa McDowell, Lewis & Clark College, Counseling Psychology, 615 SW

Palantine Hill Road, Mailstop 86, Portland, Oregon 97035; E-mail: [email protected]

Journal of Marital and Family Therapydoi: 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2010.00209.x

JOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY 1

problems, adding to our repertoire of effective counseling practices (Gerstein & Egisdottir,2005). Understanding the lived experience of, and building relationships with, members of othercountries and cultural backgrounds encourages us to (a) become more aware of our own biasesand assumptions, (b) enhance possibilities for ourselves and those we work with through dis-covering new perspectives and ways of life, (c) expand our repertoire of therapeutic approachesthrough exposure to professional practices in other cultures (Pedersen & Leong, 1997), and (d)become better prepared to facilitate social change (Henriksen, 2006).

A growing number of counseling programs are encouraging international exchanges amongstudents and faculty as an important way to build multicultural sensitivity, cultural competence,international relationships, and global awareness (Fang et al., 2006; Leong & Ponterotto, 2003;Leung, 2003). To date, however, there has been little research that assesses the outcome ofinternational educational experiences. The primary goal of international courses in graduatetraining programs is to help beginning family therapists and counselors develop multiculturalsensitivity, leading to cultural competence. International courses not only offer students theopportunity to gain deeper understandings of how culture mediates all relationships, attitudes,values, and behavior, but also are ideal learning contexts for becoming more critically consciousof global and societal dynamics of power and privilege. For U.S. students, these dynamics areparticularly clear when students from home countries of the north (i.e., the United States, mostof Europe, and the Pacific Rim) are immersed in host countries of the south (i.e., all othercountries).

In this article, we report the results of research on the experiences of master’s degree stu-dents who completed an international course facilitated by family therapy faculty within acounseling psychology department. This research is part of a broader agenda of assessing theinfluence of international courses, immersion experiences, and cultural plunges on counselorcompetence. This project provided a step toward that agenda by (a) exploring students’ experi-ences of participating in a graduate-level international course and (b) considering to whatextent and in what ways international course experiences are viewed by students as contributingto their professional development in the helping fields. Our discussion of the results includes afocus on the process of raising critical consciousness through the experiential transformativelearning embedded in international education.

DESCRIPTION OF INTERNATIONAL COURSES

The participants in this study completed one of two international courses offered througha counseling psychology department in a private graduate school in the northwestern UnitedStates. The department emphasizes critical multicultural and social justice approaches to ther-apy and counseling, and all participants had completed a diversity course. The internationalcourses included a preparation phase in which students read articles and books, watchedmovies, and talked with others about the host culture; reviewed trip logistics; and sharedpersonal goals and expectations. Participants traveled to a country in the Middle East or acountry in Asia. The trips were from 12 to 17 days in length and included formal, informal,and experiential learning opportunities. Host country university partners provided formallectures on a variety of topics related to family therapy and counseling, including (dependingon country visited) women’s issues, domestic violence, society and religion, education, andcommunity health. Informal learning opportunities included visiting marriage counselors,school counselors, women’s rights groups, addiction recovery centers, etc. Experiential learn-ing included interacting with students at local universities, shopping and siteseeing, visitinghost culture families, and engaging with members of local communities. One course requireda group presentation after students returned home, and the other required students to com-plete a reflection paper.

METHODOLOGY ⁄METHODS

We conducted this research with a critical multicultural lens (McDowell & Fang, 2007) thatrelies on critical theory, including an analysis of the interplay between culture, social location,

2 JOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY

and societal systems of power and privilege. According to Rediger (1996), ‘‘critical theoryresearch is a research perspective that transcends any one methodological approach’’ (p. 131).Methods are chosen based on fit with critical analysis and research goals. Critical researcherswant their research to support social equity and frequently use methods that create opportuni-ties for bettering the lives of participants, including raising critical consciousness (McDowell &Fang, 2007). The goal for this research was to explore the impact of international courses ongraduate students’ development of multicultural sensitivity. To meet this goal, we used whatis considered a generic qualitative research design and method, which included individualinterviews, transcription, member checks, analysis of themes, and rich text reporting of results(Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). According to Merriam (1998), all qualitative research is based onphenomenological thought or philosophy via a focus on interpretation and experience. Shenoted, however, that not all qualitative research is considered phenomenological or usesmethods particular to phenomenology. Merriam described qualitative research that ‘‘simplyseek[s] to discover and understand a phenomenon, a process, or the perspectives and world-views of the people involved’’ as ‘‘basic or generic’’ (p. 11).

ParticipantsAll participants had enrolled in and completed an international course offered at the mas-

ter’s-level counseling psychology department. The study was approved by the school’s HumanSubjects Review Committee. Potential participants were identified by contacting instructors andasking for names and contact information for students who had completed internationalcourses. Potential participants were then contacted by email and invited to participate. Aninformed consent form was attached to the email and reviewed in person once participantsagreed to meet with an interviewer.

Participant interviews were conducted until all who volunteered to participate were inter-viewed, resulting in a total of eight in-depth interviews. Participants included two males and sixfemales; there were three participants of Color and five White participants. All participants hadtaken at least one graduate-level diversity course and were in their first or second year of theirmaster’s program. Participant ages ranged from mid-20s to mid-30s. Several had traveled inter-nationally, but none had previously completed an international course. All participants wereinterviewed within 2–6 months of completing their international course, allowing time forreflection after returning home without losing detail about their experiences.

Data Collection and AnalysisSemi-structured audiotaped interviews were completed with each participant. Each inter-

view was transcribed and participant names were removed. Each participant was then offeredthe opportunity to review her or his transcript to add, change, or delete responses. Once tran-scripts were returned or participants declined to review their transcripts, they were read andreread by all three authors to develop deep understandings of the data and to identify themes.A list of themes was then distributed to all participants, who were offered the opportunity tocomment on themes (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). Results as presented in this article were distrib-uted to participants to give each a final opportunity to ensure comments and themes accuratelyreflected her or his intentions. These repeated member checks and the rich text reporting ofresults were completed to ensure trustworthiness of results.

Interview ScheduleWe developed an interview schedule based on our research questions as well as a review of

the literature on international education and critical multiculturalism. The following questionsguided our semi-structured interviews:

1. Tell me about your international course experience in general. What was it like foryou?

2. What was your motivation for participating in an international course? What wereyour expectations?

3. What were some of the most important growing experiences? What did you learnabout yourself and others?


4. Can you describe the most difficult experiences? What did you learn from these?5. What kinds of things did you do, and what resources did you find, that helped you

through difficult and challenging experiences?6. How do you think your gender, social class, national identity, relational affiliation ⁄ sex-

ual orientation, language, age, and ability status affected your experience?7. What did you notice about power, privilege, and discrimination during your interna-

tional course experience?8. How do you think your experience will influence your work as a counselor or therapist

in your local context?9. What else would you like to add about your experience that I have not asked about?

RESULTS

Five themes and 15 subthemes emerged from interviews with participants in this study(Table 1). We grouped these into two categories. The first focuses on the learning outcomes ofinternational course experiences on participants, including increased social awareness, personaltransformation, and impact on professional development. The second focuses on the process oflearning through cross-cultural contact, including affective ⁄ experiential learning and learningfrom cultural differences. These themes clearly overlap. The relationship between themes is evi-dent in the results and will be explored more fully in the discussion. Participants also discussedthe travel experience itself, including relationships with colleagues, traveling in a group, andpreparing for an international course experience. We included these results in a final sectionentitled ‘‘Additional Comments.’’

Increased Social AwarenessAll participants reported an increase in social awareness as a result of participating in an

international course.Changes in worldviews. Participants reported experiencing changes in their worldviews and

that their cultural pre ⁄misconceptions were often challenged as a result of their internationalcourse experiences. They talked about seeing the world differently, realizing different perspec-tives and ways of life, and how their experiences expanded their thinking. Phrases such as ‘‘eyeopening’’ and ‘‘opening up,’’ and ‘‘outside the box’’ were common across interviews. In thewords of one participant: ‘‘It has widened my perspective of everything. . . . It broadens yourhorizons. . . . It deepens your understanding of where you come from.’’ Several othersmentioned becoming more open as a result of their experiences. Statements included ‘‘I am somuch more open’’ and ‘‘my openness has increased.’’ Another stated:

I am able to see different worlds in a completely different worldview. . . . It is just real-izing our way is not necessarily the right way or the wrong way . . . just one way . . .They [hosts] conceptualize ideals and beliefs differently. I am more open-minded now.

Changes in perspectives—of opening up and widening one’s view—and the effects of theseshifts were evidenced by comments such as ‘‘It opened my mind to realize what a struggle it isfor people who come from here [host country] and different countries . . . to assimilate andadapt [to the U.S.].’’

Increased awareness of societal structures. During and after their international experiences,participants observed, analyzed, and reflected on host cultural norms and societal systems ofprivilege and power relative to social locations such as gender, class, race, sexual orientation,and religion. They repeatedly compared societal structures in home and host countries, whichled toward greater understanding as noted in the following statement: ‘‘It was a lot easier tosee the oppression and things like that in another context and so I think that will be useful [athome].’’ Another participant stated: ‘‘More and more I saw class distinctions—power and . . .privilege just ‘in my face’.’’ Yet another stated:

The rings of power were endless. It just makes me think about our culture and howpower is funneled and how it is isolated from certain populations. How if you have


Table

1Them

esFrom

InternationalLearning

Internationallearning

outcomes

Internationallearningprocesses

Increasedsocialawareness

Personal

transform

ation

Professional

development

Affective

⁄experientiallearning

Learningfrom

cultural

differences

Changes

inworldviews

Sense

ofsocial

responsibility

Clarificationof

professionalgoals

Learningthroughexperience

Makingsense

ofcultural

differences

Awarenessofsocietal

structures

Recognitionofown

privilege(s)

Enhancedcontextual⁄

system

icthinking

Reflectionanddialogue

Comparisonsofhost

and

homecultures

Globalawareness

Clarificationofown

culture

Abilityto

work

cross-

culturally

Emotions

⁄affectivelearning

Experiencesoffitting

⁄not

fittingin


power, you get to make the rules. The people in power in that culture get to make therules around life and death and birth and gender and sexual orientation. It just sohelped me to appreciate my own theoretical orientation around social justice and socialconstruction.

Participants relayed how their experiences increased their awareness of their own position-ality. They experienced and reflected on shifts in the impact of their social position (e.g., class,gender, sexual orientation, race) in specific contexts in the host country as well as general differ-ences between their positionality and privilege in home and host contexts. This included fre-quently reflecting on recognizing their social class and U.S. privilege. Guilt and discomfortoften surrounded this awareness.

Increased global awareness. Participants reported an increase in awareness of U.S. globalposition and privilege. This was repeatedly reflected in comments about resources in the U.S.home context as well as U.S. power, dominance, and ‘‘superiority’’ at a global level. In thewords of one participant: ‘‘It was interesting to notice on a global context how America is sodominating in the global economy and so dominating in international relations and how thattrickles down to interpersonal connections.’’ This connection between global relations and inter-personal relationships at the local level was demonstrated by numerous references to experi-ences of U.S. privilege, including being allowed to enter an expensive hotel to use thebathroom when locals were turned away and being treated differentially by members of thehost country.

Increased awareness on a global level affected participants’ perceived professional compe-tence. As one participant stated: ‘‘I think it makes us better people and in turn makes us bettertherapists. I think we can be more active, engaged members of the global community.’’ Anotherparticipant emphasized a sense of global connection relative to work: ‘‘I felt a connection to anetwork with people that work on the same issue around the world.’’

Personal TransformationNearly all participants reported some type of personal transformation as a result of their

experiences. One noted, ‘‘Travel . . . makes me feel that I am growing so fast.’’ Another noted,‘‘I think it altered me really profoundly.’’ Yet another stated: ‘‘I can’t underline enough howimportant this trip was for me. How thought provoking and how life changing as a person, asa student wanting to be a counselor . . . definitely as a counselor.’’ Participants also noted anumber of specific personal changes that are likely to influence their professional competence,such as ‘‘I learned to live more and more in the moment’’ and ‘‘My self-esteem grew. My self-confidence grew.’’

Increased sense of social responsibility. Participants’ statements reflected growing awarenessand a sense of being ‘‘closer’’ to social issues. This led to an increased sense of social responsi-bility for most. As the following statement reflects, there was often a connection between self-reflection, emotional responses to experiential learning, changes in worldview, and personalcommitment:

I experienced a little bit of guilt. I am taking up too much space. I am taking up toomany resources. But then after that, a self-assessment, you know a reassessment of‘‘What resources am I taking up in this environment, in this world? and Who do Iwant to be?’’ So I came back with a renewed sense of recycling more, polluting less,buying less.

There was also a connection between growing systemic, contextual thinking and socialresponsibility, as reflected in the following statement: ‘‘It is our responsibility for everyone andall things—we are interconnected with everything.’’

Participants often felt moved and responsible to help when they witnessed people in hostcountries in dire need, yet struggled with how to act on this sense of social responsibility. Forexample, one participant stated: ‘‘That seemed to be a big problem for a lot of us, just notknowing what to do [in response to poverty and begging]. Some people decided to give money.


Other people decided to buy food and just hand out food. . . . [I experienced] . . . the innerconflict of not wanting to deal with the guilt of even seeing the people who are in poverty.’’

Recognition of own privilege(s). Experiences in a foreign culture prompted reflection onU.S. privilege and increased a sense of accountability for many participants. For example, oneparticipant stated: ‘‘Little things would spark bigger questions in me. Things like Whiteprivilege and things like our place in society and things like the therapist-client relationship.’’In the words of another: ‘‘I learned a lot. I grew in my humility from watching people in suchliterally desperate circumstances in life. I grew in my gratefulness for what I have.’’ Yet anotherparticipant reflected on the group’s U.S. privilege in the following statement:

We came in with the best intentions but sometimes we were using our privilege to getwhat we wanted. ‘‘I want to learn about this, well, I want to see that, so we are goingto go there.’’ One thing that . . . stuck in my mind but I don’t know how to under-stand it. We were all filing into the slum as a U.S. statement—if you stand out you’llbe noticed and listened to whereas silent courage is ignored. Our group was dressednicely, we are graduate students . . . we were a statement of power . . . we came andleft with a mission. I struggled watching everyone look enlightened and taken in bywhat the slums offered. But when we were leaving there was an element of we’re leav-ing but what are we giving to them when we leave. Did we just take something away. . . I just struggled with that one. It’s an element of power that makes me feel guiltywhen I think about it.

This participant went on to discuss how these experiences will make her a better therapist.Clarification of own cultural values. Participants reported becoming better able to recog-

nize, critique, and affirm their home culture values and practices. In the words of one partici-pant: ‘‘I learned a lot about who I am culturally.’’ In the words of another: ‘‘You experience anew way of life and a new culture and a new context. . . . It causes a lot of reflection about myown context and my own process and my own journey in my own culture.’’ In the words ofanother participant:

I learned about who I am culturally . . . conditioned by my society. It comes out instark contrast when you are in a different culture. You are like ‘‘oh, the way I am isbecause of the culture I was raised in and the people here are the way they are becauseof the culture they were raised in.’’ It makes you realize those conditions that are invis-ible when you are around people like you.

Experiencing and reflecting on differences in societal structures and cultural norms led toexploration of home culture values in a number of situations. For example, several participantstalked about an experience in which they decided to break dominant host culture norms rela-tive to women entering bars. The facilitated group discussions that followed offered participantsopportunities to examine their own cultural values, U.S. privilege, judgments about the hostculture, the impact of breaking cultural norms as visitors, and processes of colonization.

Impact on Professional DevelopmentParticipants expected their growing awareness and personal transformations to positively

impact their professional development. One participant noted the enduring impact on profes-sional work:

It has been 6 months, I am back in my life here, but the repercussions and the lessonsthat I learned from the trip have not gone away at all. I may not think about them ona day to day basis . . . but they are still with me. They have completely changed meand the way I look . . . at my work as a counselor.

Clarification of and commitment to professional goals. International course experiencesresulted in clarification of goals and deeper professional commitment for many participants, asexemplified by the following statement: ‘‘I started to see where I want to be professionally,


where I want to spend my life working. . . . It took my going there to realize that [the host]culture is beautiful, but I can help people whose culture I know most about, and that would bemy own.’’ Another participant stated:

I came home humble, I came home grounded in what I want to do and I came homeconnected to people across the world that I don’t even know, and I will never know.I feel connection to them because I know they are out there, you know doing the samekind of job I do. We are in the same path. I felt even more resolved . . . determined. . . inspired.

Another participant, referring to becoming more aware of the impact of culture and reli-gion, noted: ‘‘This all makes sense. This all fits in terms of context . . . so definitely . . . I feel. . . more passion around family therapy.’’ In the words of yet another participant: ‘‘The tripwas reaffirming. . . . I really belong in the field of study I have chosen.’’

Enhanced contextual and systemic thinking. Participants reported they were able to thinkmore systemically and contextually as a result of their international experiences, as exemplifiedby statements such as ‘‘I think more about systems people are in.’’ In the words of one partici-pant: ‘‘I am a firm systems person. This trip made me believe it in my heart.’’ Participants alsonoted an increase in their appreciation for multiple perspectives, which is critical to thinkingand working systemically. The following statement reflected participants’ increased awarenessof context: ‘‘Everything is set up in a way that makes sense in the context. . . . Everything I doin my daily life and the way I live makes sense in my context. So for me, this trip really . . .made me a family therapist. It really confirmed for me that everybody’s behavior makes sensein the context they are in.’’

Improved ability to work cross-culturally. Participants reported their abilities to workcross-culturally were strengthened, particularly relative to acceptance, being open to thosedifferent from one’s self, bridging conflicts in cultural values, and being able to understandcultural contexts. The following statements reflect growing openness, acceptance, and under-standing: ‘‘You meet someone for a short time if you really open yourself up and you are inthat space of being really open and you form this connection. It is a real, genuine connection.’’In the words of another:

We met so many kinds of people, living in so many different economic situations andpeople living in the streets and even just slums that it became more practical. Itbecame more in your face. . . . I talk about open mindedness and unconditionallyaccepting people . . . it is very easy for me as a person who lives in the suburbs to say‘‘oh, I accept everybody.’’ I don’t even interact with them. What [the host country] didfor me and for us students—it put it right nose to nose. It is like ‘‘these are peopleyou say you accept. Well can you really accept? Can you? They are right here in yourface. They are staying with you, they are on the street, we are visiting them, now canyou accept them?’’

Yet another participant reflected: ‘‘I think most obviously it will make me more under-standing. It will definitely make me more understanding of differences, you know from my ownexperiences versus someone else’s experience.’’

The following statement points to the ability to connect across significant differences in val-ues. This participant is referring to a time when hosts displayed discrimination based on sexualorientation: ‘‘I know that makes sense in their context. I know it makes sense in their culture.Those are the rules of their culture. But how do you reconcile that I don’t condone that? I hadto pull deep for compassion.’’

Participants pointed out how their international course experiences would enhance theirwork because of their growing awareness of cultural contexts: ‘‘Really immersing yourself inanother culture and really meeting and learning about other people’s lives in their culture justadds to your ability to understand other people in general.’’ This participant went on to notethat these experiences ‘‘help me judge people less critically. I think ‘oh, they are not like me sothey are wrong for this reason or that reason.’ It makes me much more open to who is this


person . . . so that will be pretty helpful in counseling.’’ In the words of another participant:‘‘every time I learn about any culture, it makes me more available to learn about [still] anotherculture, so it is like I am getting skills in general that can be universally tied to any othercultural experience.’’

Repeated references by participants about feeling humbled suggested an increase in cross-cultural sensitivity as well. Finally, a participant pointed out that learning from members ofother cultures enhanced her therapeutic repertoire: ‘‘It was a very practical learning experienceof oh, I could bring this to my therapy practice. . . . I would get ideas as a therapist . . . skills,things that I could do.’’

Affective ⁄Experiential LearningBeing there—learning through experience. Participants repeatedly referred to the value of

experiential learning; for example, one described how learning occurs through instruction (i.e.,formal learning), but that really understanding does not occur ‘‘until I experience it.’’ Anotherstated, ‘‘It is one thing to read about something . . . and to see it in your own culture, but togo to another culture and see it and make it applicable . . . that just made it such a strongerthing for me.’’ Yet another participant noted:

It was a lesson that no amount of lectures and conferences and papers or research andeven field work and even internships would have taught us is what I learned in my[experience].

Still another participant echoed this perspective:

It was definitely eye opening . . . you can read about it all you want and see pictures ofit but . . . being there is a whole other level of understanding . . . seeing people washingtheir clothes in the street in the morning . . . you actually get a feel for what it’s like.

The following statement reflects the importance of affect in experiential learning:

Going in the slums is difficult, in that sense of ‘‘how do people live here?’’ Yet some-how my heart could take it in. I was just somehow opening wide and ready to receiveit. Then when I felt that I am not going to be in contact [with people we met] that wasreally difficult. We were forming some really intense bonds.

Reflection and dialogue. Reflection and dialogue were foundational processes to the learn-ing experience. As one participant noted: ‘‘Something small that would happen on the tripwould proliferate to these dialogues and questions.’’ In the words of another (also notedabove), ‘‘Any time you experience a new way of life and a new culture and a new context,for me, it causes a lot of reflection about my own context and my own process and my ownjourney in my culture.’’

Participants cited processing with colleagues and group leaders was helpful: ‘‘What reallyhelped was having our professors and also the people in the group so available and willing totalk on a real and genuine level.’’ Another participant reported: ‘‘We decided to have a littleprocess group in the mornings, before we would start the day . . . so even if we didn’t come toany kind of conclusion it still felt better to talk it through with the group.’’

Emotions associated with experiential learning and awareness. Participants revealed a pleth-ora of emotions associated with taking international courses, including anxiety, fear, worry,excitement, awe, empathy, discomfort, hopelessness, hopefulness, exhaustion, sadness, pleasure,intensity, a sense of being overwhelmed, and feeling honored. Participants reported familymembers experiencing their own emotions, including excitement and ⁄or fear as noted in the fol-lowing statement: ‘‘My mom was worrying excessively about all this stuff that didn’t happenwhile we were there.’’

Emotions sometimes lead to important shifts in awareness. For example, one participantdescribed being in an area where the anti-U.S. sentiment caused her and many of her colleaguesto experience considerable fear. In the words of this participant:


Being with [my] fear and just noticing that . . . that really made me sad to think abouthow many people in the world move in their daily lives with such a sense of fear. Itmade me realize how often I do feel safe. . . . There is a huge population of this worldthat is not safe in their daily lives because they don’t have enough food, because theydon’t have water, because there is military conflict in their neighborhood. . . .I thought about the kids I work with [who have experienced child abuse].

Learning From Cultural DifferencesMaking sense of and accommodating cultural differences. Many participants experienced

‘‘culture shock’’ due to significant differences between home and host countries. In the wordsof a participant: ‘‘It was amazing to get off the plane and to be surrounded by people whodon’t look like me and don’t speak the same language as me . . . I was viewing oppression nextto wealth which was difficult. Nevertheless, it was eye opening at the same time. It was veryshocking to visit [the host country] for the first time.’’

Some differences in cultural norms were discovered via reactions from hosts when partici-pants committed cultural transgressions. For example, one participant talked about how oneof her habitual mannerisms was interpreted as highly flirtatious and inappropriate by menand women in the host culture. Other expectations, such as gender norms for dress and greet-ings, were understood prior to traveling and ⁄or readily observed. Once cultural differenceswere identified, participants had to make decisions about whether or not, or to what degree,to accommodate cultural norms and expectations. Participants relayed several stories associ-ated with making decisions about following home or host cultural norms, particularly whennorms (viewed through the home country lens) reflected what participants interpreted associal inequities not tolerated in the United States (e.g., women being socially required todress modestly).

Experiencing cultural differences and accommodating local norms sometimes offered par-ticipants opportunities to temporarily experience dynamics of marginalization and oppressionthey did not necessarily experience, or experience in the same way, at home. In the followingexample, a participant described accommodating local gender expectations while using publictransportation:

Here I am, I am looking down, I am covered in my shawl, I am dressed in a dressdown to my knees if not ankles, I am not talking because I don’t want the locals toknow I’m American. I’m not making eye contact and it’s like I’m becoming invisible.But I really want this experience. I really want to know what it feels like.

Comparisons and judgments of home and host cultures. Participants compared home andhost culture norms, practices, and societal structures throughout their interviews. The processof comparing was often inferred; however, participants also made direct comparisons asreflected in the following statement:

Seeing this in a different culture helps me see the similarities . . . coming back you candraw parallels . . . being exposed to all those people in a different culture—you can’tclose that up again. You can’t go back to your narrow reality of everyone being likemiddle class America.

Comparisons of societal structures, including relative privilege and oppression, wereimpacting for a number of participants, as exemplified by the following statement:

Visiting with women in the slums and seeing children in orphanages and howoppressed they are . . . how little their voices are heard really impacted me. Itmade me realize that all of the problems in my life don’t even compare with whatthey struggle through. They struggle to have water and food. I struggle with beingso-called happy and comfortable here in the U.S. It was a reality check. It reallywas.


Judgments based on cultural differences, including discrepancies in resources between homeand host cultures, often presented participants with difficult dilemmas. Examples can be identi-fied across results and include decisions about offering money to children who are begging andobviously in need when hosts have explained how these children are being used by adults;participants believing women in the group should have the right to enter a bar, yet knowing todo so would break cultural norms; deciding to alter personal mannerisms that are foundationalto how you express yourself because they are taboo in the host culture; and so on.

Experiences of ‘‘fitting ⁄ not fitting in.’’ Participants reported experiencing disorientation,surprise, shock, and ⁄or disbelief upon entering the host country. This dissipated over time asparticipants became more familiar with the host environment and culture and experiencedthemselves as ‘‘fitting in’’ more often.

For some, the international experience was their first experience of being seen as ‘‘other’’via not being in the numerical majority relative to race, ethnicity, and ⁄or nation of origin.White participants reported standing out and frequently being stared at when in public. Allparticipants experienced standing out as being from the United States. Participants reportedwanting to fit in and be accepted by members of the host culture. They experienced fitting in orstanding out relative to looks, dress, religion, personality, cultural background, race, class, andso on. Some reported feeling a sense of belonging and not belonging at the same time. As oneparticipant explored similarities and differences relative to being with other women in a differ-ent culture, she noted a sense of ‘‘not really belonging but belonging.’’

In the words of one participant: ‘‘we were used to being stared at because we stuck out.’’Participants described their phenotype as contributing to their sense of fitting or not fitting inthe host culture. One participant reported two host families telling her she looked like a relativeand that this allowed her to connect with them more easily: ‘‘They could identify with me . . .by the way that I looked.’’ Other participants with similar heritage and phenotype as hosts alsodescribed a sense of belonging in comparison to their colleagues whose phenotype was differentfrom the majority, causing them to more immediately and consistently ‘‘stand out.’’ A partici-pant noted that those with phenotypes closer to the majority in the host culture could ‘‘step inand out of U.S. privilege’’ when not directly interacting with those in the host culture.

As reflected throughout the interviews, participants clearly wanted to fit in and be acceptedby members of the host culture. This was evidenced by their ongoing attempts to accommodatecultural norms for dress and behavior during their visits to host countries. These intentionswere supported by their discussions of preparing for their trips by reading, talking to culturalinsiders, finding appropriate clothing, and so on. They also relied on cultural guides and insid-ers in making decisions during their international course experiences, as evidenced by a partici-pant who noted, ‘‘I checked a lot with [hosts] to make sure what I was doing was appropriate,because that was important to me.’’

Additional CommentsParticipants were also asked to reflect on the overall experience, including the structure of

the course, the group experience, how the courses were led, and how they would advise othersto prepare. Responses about the specific design of courses are not included in this article; how-ever, general comments relative to group process and preparation that seem relevant for othersgoing on international trips follow.

Participants emphasized how important the group process was for their learning. Theyoften turned to colleagues traveling with them for support, a sense of safety or security, and tonormalize their experiences, as reflected in the following statement: ‘‘I looked around at mypeers in my group, you know just to see if they were experiencing the same thing I was. I couldtell they were experiencing some disbelief.’’ Processing—that is, engaging in dialogue, reflection,and determining actions—with colleagues, group leaders, and members of the host culture wasfoundational to the learning experience.

Colleagues were also a source of frustration, however, when personalities clashed, partici-pants felt misrepresented to the host culture by a colleague’s behavior, and ⁄or when cliquesformed within groups. Course leaders did not always meet participants’ expectations. Manyparticipants struggled with the amount of time they by necessity spent with the group and


highly valued opportunities to be on their own. In the words of one participant: ‘‘There is justthe intensity around traveling with a group and traveling in a new area and traveling in a coun-try that is really different from your own country, so there is just a heightened level of intensityinnately traveling with a group.’’ Another noted: ‘‘I think on these . . . trips you spend timewith the group, personal space can be hard to find.’’ Spending time alone or in the host culturewithout other group members was valued as noted by a participant’s reflection that visiting ahost family was ‘‘the most growing experience [because] we had to individually split up, go to afamily by ourselves, sit down with them, and interact with them. It was a huge growing experi-ence because we didn’t have the comfort and safety of being with our colleagues.’’

One of the personal challenges cited fairly frequently involved difficulties transitioning backinto life at home. Participants reported a tendency to ‘‘forget’’ over time, missing the hostcountry, and ⁄or needing additional time with or without colleagues to process their experi-ences.

Finally, the most common advice for others taking an international course was to read,learn about the host culture, and know as much as possible about what to expect, but in thewords of one participant: ‘‘Have a good time and [don’t] have too many expectations becauseit is not going to work out in that way. . . . You don’t want to be frustrated the whole time.. . . Things are not going to go according to what you thought you were going to learn orthought you were going to do.’’ They warned others to ‘‘work on being as open minded as youcan,’’ and be prepared for an intense experience: ‘‘You have to get it, and be like, oh, this istotally going to rock my world. If you don’t know that it is going to rock your world then it isgoing to be really hard.’’

DISCUSSION

The results of this study suggest that international courses may challenge family therapyand counseling students to expand their worldviews, improve their understanding of societalstructures, and enhance their global awareness. Increases in social awareness seem to be closelylinked to personal transformation for participants, including a deeper sense of social responsi-bility, recognition of one’s own privilege, and understanding of the impact of one’s own culture.In turn, it appears likely that these changes in self-of-the-therapist impact professional develop-ment and enhance multicultural sensitivity. A number of important processes for reaching theseoutcomes were revealed through this study, including the value of learning through experience,the importance of engaging in reflection and dialogue, and the impact of emotions on learning.Making sense of cultural differences, comparing home and host cultures, and struggling to fitin served as fodder for these processes.

Transformational LearningResults of this study are in keeping with theory and research on transformational learning

(Baumgartner, 2001), particularly as described by Freire (1974) and Mezirow (2000). Freire’semancipatory approach to education encourages learners to notice and reflect on their experi-ences—what is going on around them—in order to recognize larger societal systems of privilegeand oppression that affect their lives and the lives of others. Participants in this study reportedhaving new experiences in the host country and struggling to make sense of the cultural differ-ences they were observing. They engaged in reflection and dialogue about cultural similaritiesand differences and their own experiences, including feeling as if they fit and ⁄or did not fitwithin the host culture. This increased awareness of the influence of context and the impact ofsocietal structures on national and global levels, resulting in shifts in worldviews and personaltransformation. According to Freire (1974), this process of ‘‘conscientization’’ or consciousnessraising is necessary to take effective action to improve society. This type of consciousnessraising has been repeatedly linked to multicultural sensitivity, cultural competence, and socialjustice in family therapy and counselor training (Garcia, Kosutic, McDowell, & Anderson,2009; McDowell, Storm, & York, 2007). The personal transformations reported by participants,including greater recognition of one’s own privilege(s), enhanced sense of social responsibility,improved ability to think contextually and systemically, increased commitment to making a


difference through professional work, and ability to work cross-culturally, indicate greaterreadiness to work from an liberatory therapeutic framework that supports social equity (i.e.,action). While Freire’s emancipatory education is the most useful framework for understand-ing the results of this study, Mezirow’s (2000) ideas about transformational learning alsoapply.

Mezirow (2000) pointed to the importance of ‘‘disorienting dilemmas’’ as triggers forreflecting on our assumptions—what we think we know and how we know it—leading tochanges in our perspectives and worldviews. Engaging in ‘‘reflective discourse’’ as a result ofperspective transformation then leads to consensual validation and eventually action based onour new, validated perspectives. Mezirow’s (2000) recent work included an emphasis on culturalcontexts as core frames of reference, the importance of meaning making, the impact of socialinteraction, and emotions as influential in the learning process. Participants in this study repeat-edly shared ‘‘disorienting dilemmas’’ they experienced through immersing in a foreign culture.They struggled to make meaning of cultural differences, compared home and host cultures, andwrestled with a sense of belonging and not belonging. They reported talking with each other,group leaders, and members of the host culture in order to understand the influence of culturalcontext and societal structures. What they saw and experienced led them to inspect their valuesand understandings of the world—sometimes affirming their cultural perspectives and some-times challenging and ⁄or broadening their systems of assumptions. The more they experiencedsocial inequities, the better they understood their own privilege, leading to greater commitmentto making a social difference. Emotions played a powerful role in the transformational process,at times mobilizing reflection and internal or interactional dialogue.

Multicultural SensitivityThe results of this study clearly suggest that participation in an international course has

the potential to affect the multicultural sensitivity of family therapists and counselors in train-ing. Experiential activities have been repeatedly recommended for building multicultural sensi-tivity and competence in counselor training (Achenbach & Arthur, 2002; Arthur & Achenbach,2002; Kim & Lyons, 2003). Congruent with our results, others (Achenbach & Arthur, 2002;Arthur & Achenbach, 2002) have pointed to the affective aspects of experiential learning thataccompany cognitive shifts and in multicultural learning can increase empathy for thoseculturally different from one’s self. International courses embody experiential multicultural edu-cation by offering a natural setting or context in which this type of learning can occur. Thevalue of experiential learning was supported by participants’ repeated references to the impactof specific experiences and emotions and how these influenced their worldviews, attitudes, andvalues. Their comments about being more open-minded, able to recognize the impact ofculture, and aware of societal structures indicated that they had become less culturally encapsu-lated and socio-centered. This is also in keeping with results of a study by Neito (2006) inwhich participants reported that cultural plunges (i.e., short community-based experiences inwhich learners are the numerical minority) increased their cultural sensitivity via learning moreabout specific communities, experiencing being an outsider, and increasing awareness of theirown biases and cultural values.

LimitationsParticipants in this study offered important insights into the processes and outcomes of

international experiences in family therapy and counselor training. This research was limited,however, in a number of ways. First, while all participants did not enroll in the same course orvisit the same country, both courses were offered in a single department. Future studies need toinclude more students in a variety of family therapy and counselor programs across the countryin order to increase the transferability of results. Second, it is likely that students who felt mosttransformed and thought most positively about their experiences were more likely to volunteerto participate than those displeased with their experiences. Third, this study did not explore theimpact of differences in language between hosts and visitors and the limits of translation onparticipants’ understanding of host cultures. It is likely that the inability to speak hosts’ nativelanguage(s) constricts opportunities for in-depth cultural understanding.


FUTURE RESEARCH AND CONCLUSION

We believe international courses hold real promise as a means of increasing cross-culturalsensitivity, cultural self-awareness, social and global awareness, and commitment to socialjustice. For the participants of this study, spending time as ‘‘other’’ in a foreign contextincreased their ability to think contextually and systemically. Holistic, affective aspects of expe-riential learning offered participants opportunities to experience powerful and often movingtransformations. They also shed light on learning processes that appear to lead to these out-comes.

Future research needs to more carefully track the processes and outcomes of experientiallearning that occur during and as a result of international courses. We need more informationabout the impact of visiting specific areas of the globe (e.g., countries that are more or less eco-nomically and politically powerful; communities that are more or less religiously diverse; urbancenters or rural villages), differences in learning relative to student disposition and readiness toengage in international courses, and the impact of group dynamics on learning. We also needto better understand how affect enhances and inhibits the ability to reflect during intense expe-riences. We need to explore the similarities and differences between short and lengthy inter-national courses as well as international and local cultural plunges. We also need to knowmore about the impact of these courses on those in host cultures. The experiences and insightsof international course instructors should also be explored.

As a field, we need to continue to develop our competency in organizing and deliveringthese courses. There are many questions to answer, such as the following: How do you knowwhen a prospective student is ready for an intense experience in a foreign country? Or a courseleader has the necessary multicultural sensitivity and cultural competence to lead the experi-ence? How do we reciprocate when those in host countries in the global south are unlikely tobe able to travel to the United States to engage in similar experiences? How do we give back?How do we measure change in social awareness and critical consciousness to ensure theoutcomes are ‘‘worth’’ the cost and effort to all involved? What about the many things that gowrong, including the risk that some students may become ‘‘turned off’’ during the learningexperience? How do course leaders prepare? How do they manage demands and risks farbeyond what they take on in the classroom? These questions reflect a few of the many peda-gogical and ethical issues involved in international graduate education in family therapyand counseling. It is our hope that this study inspires others to explore the possibilities, limits,benefits, and practicalities of international courses.

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