MAKING MULTICULTURALISM RELEVANT FOR MAJORITY CULTURE GRADUATE STUDENTS*

Abstract

The revised accreditation standards for marriage and family therapy programs (Manual on Accreditation, 1988) require that the curriculum reflect an emphasis on “issues of gender and ethnicity as they relate to marital and family therapy” (p. 13). Training approaches that are described in the professional literature tend to emphasize an understanding of ethnic minorities while deemphasizing the trainee's own ethnic and cultural roots. As such, training lacks dynamic integrity for the white, middle‐class trainee. This paper describes a rationale for addressing the ethnic and cultural background of all family therapy trainees and provides training activities to accomplish this end.