The Beginning (Excerpt From An EthniCorp Press Release) In 1999, Hasan
Johnson was a social worker at a Substance abuse treatment program when he
decided to start EthniCorp, Inc., a New Jersey Based multi-media and consulting
company dedicated to providing ethnically oriented professional services.
Facing a growing influx of "ethnic" clients, Johnson says that he started
keeping a sheet of paper with the contact information of local counselors that
were multilingual and knowledgeable of various cultures and religions. "I would
call them any time I needed help with a certain client",said Johnson. "The
sheet helped out a lot but it was difficult to update and share with other
counselors and clients who needed the information too". It wasn't long before
his efforts to locate and keep track of "culturally competent" counselors led
to the "online" development of the idea of EthnicCounselors.com.
Purpose Of EthnicCounselors.com
To provide easier and more accessible ethnically oriented counseling resources
to one of the fastest-growing segments of the Internet: ethnic professional
counselors and consumers who turn to the internet for information, resources
and networking.
Our Values
- Diversity
- Professionalism
- Community Service
- Excellence
- Meaningful Partnerships
Our Philosophy On Ethnicity, Race, Religion, Culture,
Language & Counseling
We believe that consumer and professional characteristics such as language,
race, culture, ethnicity and religion can and do matter a great deal in
counseling. Ignoring these characteristics can result in negative, unproductive
outcomes for consumers and professionals alike
. We believe that a working knowledge and understanding of how these
characteristics affect and possibly impact consumers is key in any strengths
based, holistic consumer centered counseling approaches. However, despite a
person's knowledge and familiarity with a consumer's culture, race, religion,
language or ethnicity, we believe that proper ethics, professional knowledge,
skills and experience along with evidenced based interventions and a good
working relationship between professionals and consumers, are at the heart of
any successful therapeutic interventions or supportive services
. We at EthnicCounselors.com strongly believe that a counselor does
NOT need to be of the same ethnicity, race, religion, or culture to be helpful
and effective with a particular "ethnic" consumer
. It is for this reason that we welcome and encourage membership from
non-ethnic professionals who are skilled and "cross culturally competent". We
do not endorse, support or encourage any one particular counseling approach or
professional discipline over another. All of them play a strategic part in
helping people live better lives. We believe in being strong "consumer
advocates" and are supporters of the highest professional standards and ethics
See The Surgeon General's Report
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