Sue, Derald Wing (1942-): Contributions to Multicultural Psychology and Counseling

Research and Teaching

Sue's research and writings on multicultural issues in psychology have led and challenged the field of psychology to examine and critique the Eurocentric basis and assumptions of its fundamental theories, concepts, frameworks, and practices. Before the early 1970s, cultural variables were generally ignored in the field of psychology, and there was scarce research on Asian American psychology. During this time, Sue was a pioneer in the study of Asian American mental health when he collaborated with other researchers to study different aspects of Asian American psychology.

Sue's research efforts span his earliest work in Asian American psychology, to his contributions to multicultural competencies and multicultural theory, and, most recently, his research on racial microaggressions (i.e., the brief and everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to people of color because of their racial minority status). Sue argues that racial microaggressions sap the spiritual and psychological energies of people of color and create disparities in education, health care, and employment.

Sue also has been a trailblazer in the arena of multicultural counseling teaching and training. As a young professor in the early 1970s, he developed multicultural counseling courses and infused multicultural content into other counseling courses. These courses were initially met with heavy opposition at multiple levels but have now become standard requirements in graduate clinical and counseling psychology training programs.

Sue's teaching contributions are not limited to academia, as he has provided cultural diversity training and consulted for many organizations, from Fortune 500 companies to nonprofit mental health agencies all over the world. Most notably, Sue served as a consultant and invited panelist on President Clinton's Race Advisory Board on the National Dialogue on Race in 1997, in which he called for individual, institutional, and societal efforts to confront and address racism, injustice, and discrimination. Sue also participated in a congressional briefing on the psychology of racism in 1995.

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