Culture and counseling in the Philippines

An examination of experiences as a counselor in the Philippines suggests at least three important domains of difference in the counseling process: the content of problems, modes of relationships and presumed causes of difficulties. Filipino counselees in a university setting struggled with family control, and rebelled against a double standard of morals. They found it difficult to trust a counselor who was not part of the extended family and they attributed their difficulties to external, social rather than intrapsychic factors. In light of these cultural differences counselors must respond to their problems as Filipinos perceive them and explore ways of changing the social environment of the client. This is in contrast to the strategy of North American counselors who seek to change the client's methods of dealing with himself.