Short Description

The goal is to increase participants’ concern for all kinds of people, their openness to different values, and their ability to cooperate with diverse people. One goal will be to increase participants’ tolerance, i.e., their ability to understand and accept the diverse perspectives, values, and lifestyles of others. Another goal will be to increase participants’ diversity and intercultural competence so that they can understand the influence of culture, age, gender, religion, and social class on identity, needs, and emotions, and work together with diverse people better. Overall, the course shall enable professionals to feel a commitment and concern towards all kinds of citizens.

Learning Objectives

Training aims at assisting practitioners in being able to:

• understand how people can differ in their way of thinking, acting, or in their beliefs, emotions and values;
• demonstrate openness to new perspectives and diversity of their clients;
• interact respectfully and appropriately with clients of diverse backgrounds;
• recognize and critically reflect upon their own biases (conscious and unconscious) towards age, gender, disabilities, cultural background etc.;
• reflect upon and understand the influence of diversity in their personal and professional surroundings;
• accept similarities and dissimilarities between individuals;
• be diversity knowledgeable and tolerant in every day counselling practice to support the beneficiaries of their services.