APAGS Food for Thought Presenter--Thursday

Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D.

Derald Wing Sue is Professor of Psychology and Education in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, and has served as a training faculty member with the Institute for Management Studies and Columbia University Executive Training Programs. He was the Co-Founder and first President of the Asian American Psychological Association, Past President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45) and currently President of the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17 of the American Psychological Association). Dr. Sue is a member of four divisions of the American Counseling Association (AMCD, AGLBIC, ACES, CSJ), a Fellow of three Divisions of the American Psychological Association (1, 17 & 45), a Fellow of the American Psychological Society, and a Fellow of the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology. Dr. Sue has also served as Editor of the Personnel and Guidance Journal (now the Journal for Counseling and Development), and has been or continues to be a consulting editor for numerous journals and publications.

Derald Wing Sue can truly be described as a pioneer in the field of multicultural psychology, multicultural education, and multicultural counseling and therapy. He has done extensive multicultural research and writing in psychology and education long before the academic community perceived it favorably, and his theories and concepts have paved the way for a generation of younger scholars interested in issues of minority mental health and multicultural psychology. In all of these endeavors, his commitment to multiculturalism has been obvious and his contributions have forced the field to seriously question the monocultural knowledge base of its theories and practices. As evidence of his professional impact, two of Dr. Sue's books, COUNSELING THE CULTURALLY DIVERSE: THEORY AND PRACTICE, 2003, 4th Edition (with David Sue - John Wiley & Sons Publishers), and COUNSELING AMERICAN MINORITIES: A CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE, 1998, 6th Edition (with Don Atkinson and George Morten - McGraw-Hill) have been identified as the most frequently cited works in the multicultural field; the former is now considered a classic and used by nearly 50% of the graduate Counseling Psychology market. His text A THEORY OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND THERAPY, 1997 (with Allen Ivey and Paul Pedersen - Brooks Cole Publishers) has been acclaimed as "the most important breakthrough in the field of multicultural counseling and therapy in the past ten years". In addition, Dr. Sue's current work in the development of multicultural counseling competencies is having widespread influence on the counseling and mental health professions and has resulted in MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCIES: INDIVIDUAL, PROFESSIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 1998, (with members of the D17 and D45 multicultural committees - Sage Publications, Inc.). His recent book, OVERCOMING OUR RACISM: The Journey to Liberation, 2003 (Jossey Bass) is the direct result of his work on racism and antiracism.

Dr. Sue’s services have been widely sought by many groups and organizations. He was invited to address President Clinton’s Race Advisory Board on the National Dialogue on Race and participated in a Congressional Briefing on the Psychology of Racism. As a result, his most recent works have concentrated on unmasking the invisibility of racism by proposing antiracism measures. He has also done extensive cultural diversity training for many Fortune 500 companies, business, industry, government, education, and mental health organizations. In this capacity, Dr. Sue has worked with mental health practitioners, university faculty, teachers, students, community leaders, senior executives, and middle-level managers. His work is recognized not only on a national level, but on an international one as well. Dr. Sue has presented and traveled in Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Macau, and the Philippines), New Zealand and Europe.

Derald Wing Sue is the producer of four widely used videotapes on multicultural professional training: BARRIERS TO CROSS-CULTURAL COUNSELING; CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT; CULTURE SPECIFIC STRATEGIES IN COUNSELING; and GUIDELINES FOR COUNSELING ASIAN-AMERICAN CLIENTS (Microtraining Associations, Inc). He is also featured in three other training tapes (MULTICULTURALISM: ISSUES IN COUNSELING & EDUCATION, CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION, and ETHICS IN COUNSELING) and a spokesperson on several PBS specials (FACILITATING DIFFICULT DIALOGUES IN THE CLASSROOM, THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS, and RACIAL LEGACIES: HOW DO WE TALK ABOUT RACE?). Dr. Sue is the Co-Producer and Technical Editor of the CULTURALLY COMPETENT COUNSELING series for Division 45 and Microtraining Associates. He is also featured on THREE APPROACHES TO TRAUMA about the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack. His lecture series tapes on RACISM AND ANTIRACISM include: (a) THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RACISM: WHERE HAVE WE GONE WRONG?, (b) WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE WHITE? THE INVISIBLE WHITENESS OF BEING, (c) OVERCOMING PERSONAL RACISM: WHAT CAN I DO?, and (d) SURVIVING RACISM: A MESSAGE TO PEOPLE OF COLOR. He is frequently sought as a spokesperson on issues of racism, multiculturalism, and diversity by the press and other media outlets. Dr. Sue has been interviewed on many television specials and is frequently quoted in the press.

As recognition of his outstanding contributions, Dr. Sue has been the recipient of numerous awards from professional organizations, educational institutions, and community groups. He has been honored by the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development with the Professional Development Award and the Research Award; the Asian American Psychological Association with the Leadership Award, Distinguished Contributions Award and President’s Award; the Third World Counselors Association with the Leadership and Distinguished Contributions to Cross Cultural Theory Award; The Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues with the Mentoring and Leadership Award; Center for the Study of Teaching and Learning Diversity with the Diversity in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Lifetime Achievement Award; the California Psychological Association with the Distinguished Scientific Achievement to Psychology Award; the American Counseling Association with the Professional Development Award; the American Psychological Association with a Presidential Citation; the Division of Counseling Psychology, Sage Publications and The Counseling Psychologist for the Outstanding Publication of 2001; Teachers College, Columbia University for The Outstanding Teacher Award; the University of Oregon College of Education Outstanding Alumnus Award for 2003; the American Academy of Counseling Psychology with the Distinguished Service Award; and the American Psychological Association 2004 Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training Award. As evidence of Dr. Sue's stature in the field, a national Fordham University study of multicultural publications and scholars concluded that "Impressively, Derald Wing Sue is without doubt the most influential multicultural scholar in the United States".