Using helping skills with Korean clients: The perspectives of Korean counselors.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate how Korean counselors modify the helping skills they learned during training in their work with Korean clients.

METHOD: Thirteen practicing Korean therapists who had taken two master's level courses in the Hill helping skills model were interviewed about their experiences in applying the model in their work with clients. Data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research (CQR).

RESULTS: Several characteristics were noted of Korean clients that might influence the appropriateness of the helping skills model (e.g., clients regard counseling as authorities and wise experts). Participants had a number of reactions to the overall helping skills model (e.g., noting that Korean counselors deliver empathy and genuineness more through non-verbal rather than verbal channels). Participants also noted needed modifications to specific stages or skills in the model (e.g., using the insight stage less than the exploration stage).

DISCUSSION: Based on these findings, six guidelines are offered for modifying the Hill helping skills approach to fit the needs of Korean clients: Provide a pre-exploration stage to educate clients about approach, utilize indirect and non-verbal communication more than verbal communication, validate client's experiences, work cautiously with emotions, be cautious about using insight skills, and respond to clients' implicit communication when they ask for action. Clinical or methodological significance of this article: Psychotherapy models are typically transported to other cultures without sufficient attention to modifications needed for working with clients in that culture. In this paper, we begin to address how one particular model, the Hill Helping Skills Model, could be modified to make it responsive to Korean clients. Hopefully, by addressing implications for specific populations, we can begin to modify psychotherapy approaches to better fit clientele from diverse cultures.