Prompt: You are a clinical counselor operating out of an urban Christian counseling center. You are a PhD candidate (all but dissertation), licensed professional counselor (LPC), with two years of supervised experience. Your clinical orientation is cognitive-behavioral therapy, specializing in issues related to depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. You are given a couple to assist with a presenting problem of marital tension in a biracial marriage, struggling with a cultural issue that is creating a wedge in the marriage, which is made worse with problems related to anxiety. You have very little experience with this type of presenting problem.
How would you handle this? After the initial meeting with them, would you be inclined to refer them to another professional more qualified than you on the specifics of the presenting problem? Would you be inclined to seek the help of a cultural ‘broker,’ and then ask for supervised assistance and attempt to help them? Be specific with your rationale and course of action.
