Date of Award

Fall 2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling & Human Services

Program/Concentration

Counselor Education and Supervision

Committee Director

Radha J. Horton-Parker

Committee Member

Laurie M. Craigen

Committee Member

Guang Lea Lee

Committee Member

Christine Ciecierski Berger

Abstract

Following centuries of independence from the rest of the world, the remote and fast-developing Kingdom of Bhutan has recently opened its doors to outside influence. Bhutan has invited the profession of counseling to aid in responding to growing mental health problems, social and family issues, and school and career guidance needs. This study employed the methods of phenomenology to investigate the experiences of Bhutanese counselors with Western counseling in order to understand the intersection of the culture of Bhutan with the culture of counseling. Eleven participants were interviewed and four themes were identified: Conceptualization of counseling, Bhutanese culture, Bhutanese counseling, and the relationship between Western counseling and Bhutan. The worldview differences between collectivism and individualism are highlighted as well as the compatibility and integration of Buddhist principles with counseling. Elements of a potential model of Bhutanese counseling are suggested as well as recommendations for counselor training, ongoing Western contributions, and the further development of the profession.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/3zmg-rs32

ISBN

9781339461649

Download

Share

COinS