We held the 5th Counselor Training Course, "Multicultural Social Work."

On November 26th, we held the 5th Counselor Training Course, "Multicultural Social Work," with Associate Professor Viktor Virag of Japan College of Social Work as our lecturer.

The session began with an overview of the concept and characteristics of social work as a professional helping profession. It emphasized that those in need of support should be viewed not as people in distress, but simply as people who don't fit in with their environment, and that social workers need to have a perspective that involves engaging with people, engaging with their surrounding environment, and further engaging with the relationship and points of contact between people and their environment. Next, it was explained that, as a fundamental aspect of social work that can respond to cultural diversity, supporters need the practical skills to meet the needs of groups from different cultures and provide support efficiently. Furthermore, we learned about the basics of interviewing techniques required of counselors and the necessity of confronting structural discrimination. In particular, the final message that we need to reconsider who "we" in "our country" refers to and to what extent we should include them when thinking about and creating a truly inclusive and multicultural community resonated with me. I believe that those who are engaged in counseling activities on a daily basis have gained hints to reflect on their activities from a new perspective. (Report by: Volunteer Staff Hideki Abe)
*This course is made possible with the support of the Pal System Tokyo Citizen Activity Grant Fund.