THE IMPORTANCE OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Abstract

Multicultural counseling plays an important role in providing effective support to children with special needs in overcoming social and cultural challenges. In a time of increasingly complex globalization, counsellors need to have the ability to interact with children from different cultural backgrounds to provide quality mental health services. Cooperation between parents and counselors is key in creating an inclusive environment for children with special needs. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of multicultural counseling in providing mental health services for children with special needs in Indonesia using the literature review research method. Data were obtained from secondary sources such as journals and papers indexed by SINTA or Scopus. The analysis shows that multicultural counseling plays an important role in overcoming cultural and social barriers and improving the well-being of children with special needs. The emphasis on approaches that suit the needs of children in their own cultural context is key in the counseling process. Therefore, multicultural counseling can be effectively used to help children with special needs face cultural and social challenges in an increasingly diverse society.