Over the past decade, the American Psychological Association (APA) has worked to support the internationalization of psychology by fostering international collaboration, training, and activities (APA Globalization Special Task Group, 2011). As a result, the number of foreign-born international trainees in counseling psychology has grown substantially, with many now working as clinicians, supervisors, and mentors both in the U.S. and their home countries. However, the training of international counseling psychologists in the U.S. has been frequently criticized for operating from a hegemonic and potentially colonizing stance in the global arena (Chung, 2005; Gerstein, 2006; Sue et al., 2024). International trainees are predominantly socialized into Western culture-based psychotherapy regimes, often with the implicit assumption that such practices are more advanced or universally applicable (Gerstein et al., 2009). Within many training programs, cross-cultural variations in counseling approaches and adaptation of counseling practices to local contexts are rarely emphasized or systematically taught (Moodley et al., 2013).


In response to these concerns, Special Task Force (STF) on International Counseling Psychology and Relations, the Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) International Section at APA has taken initiatives to identify alternative ways to foster meaningful cross-cultural engagement, networking, and collaborations with psychologists and scholars in different countries. Using the frameworks of liberation psychology (Morrill & Comas-Díaz, 2025) and critical consciousness (Zamudio et al., 2009), presenters will examine the implications of exporting Western culture-based models of counseling psychology. Suggestions for advancing internationalization from diverse, inclusive, and indigenization perspectives will be provided. These include implementing practical strategies for networking, co-presenting on topics related to internationalization and liberation in counseling psychology, joining the international organizations (e.g., International Congress of Psychology [ICP], International Association of Applied Psychology [IAAP]), and taking on leadership roles within international professional organizations.