Counselors today face the task of how to appropriately counsel multicultural clients. Being sensitive to cultural variables can be conceptualized as holding a cultural lens to human behavior and making allowances for the possibility of cultural influence. However, to avoid stereotyping, it is important that the clinician recognize the existence of within-group differences as well as the influence of the client’s own personal culture and values (Furman, Negi, Iwamoto, Shukraft, & Gragg, 2009). One’s background is not always black or white and a counselor needs to be able to discern and adjust one’s treatment plan according to their client. One of the fastest growing populations in America is the Hispanic or Latino population. Latinos’
The Latino culture is a collectivistic culture that puts group interests over individual interests. When counseling Latinos, one needs to keep in mind the importance of family in their culture. Family members need to be a part of the counseling process. At times, group counseling with the whole family could help, along with involving family in the treatment process. With the potential language barrier a counselor could also ask an interpreter to mediate with the client during sessions to make sure there is an understanding between the client and the
Multicultural knowledge includes counselors’ understanding of their own worldview, knowledge of cultural groups with whom the counselor works, and recognition of sociopolitical factors that impact diverse clients’ lives. Beliefs and attitudes encompass counselors’ values associated with different cultural groups, their ability to recognize and hold in check stereotypes of different culture groups, a celebration of diversity, and an awareness of how their biases and negative attitudes can adversely influence counseling relationships (Ivers, 2012). One of the hardest parts about being a counselor is admitting your own biases and stereotyping before counseling others of different cultural ethnicities. Once a counselor understands their own bias and stereotyping towards others, they are better able to catch themselves from letting their biases affect their counseling. As for working with the Latino cultural group, the counselor needs to familiarize themselves with the customs and cultural norms of the group. Book knowledge is a great place to start, but to really get a better picture of understanding another culture, one should immerse themselves in their community. A major issue that counselors encounter is their lack of cultural knowledge outside of their own
Social problems include difficulties with family relationships, isolation, interpersonal conflicts, and pressures of social roles. The Latino culture tends to place a higher premium on the well-being of the family unit over that of any one family member, a concept termed familialism (Smith & Montilla, 2006). In general, familialism emphasizes interdependence and connectedness in the family, and often extends familial ties beyond the nuclear family (Falicov, 1998). Given these values, Latinos often describe depression in terms of social withdrawal and isolation (Letamendi, et al., 2013). Social roles also play an important role in mental health, traditional gender roles in particular are strongly enforced and can be a source of distress. In Latino culture, men and women are expected to fulfill the roles outlined in the traditions of Machismo and Marianismo respectively. Machismo indicates that the man is supposed to be strong and authoritative, while Marianismo designates the woman as the heart of the family both morally and emotionally (Dreby, 2006). Although there is little research on causal factors, adherence to these traditional gender roles can pose a psychological burden and has been found to be strong predictor of depression (Nuñez, et al., 2015). The centrality of social problems in the conceptualization of depression for Latinos may be reflective of the collectivistic values that are characteristic of the group. Although these values have the potential to contribute to depression, they also have the potential to serve as protective factors and promote mental health (Holleran & Waller, 2003). Therefore, it is imperative that the counselor carefully consider cultural values, both in terms of potential benefits and drawbacks, to provide appropriate counseling to the Latino
It is pertinent to study the history of racial oppression when preparing to counsel a client from an ethnic minority if the counselor is from the majority culture. The problem is it would be difficult to examine the complete history and would be highly impossible especially in a short time. However, a therapist can gain knowledge of some of the essentials of history such as, religion, family structure, and background information. If the therapist or counselor is uncomfortable counseling these individuals he/or she can refer the client to someone who has more knowledge or has the same cultural background as the client. For instance, a therapist must become aware of the sociopolitical dynamics that form not only their clients’ views, but their own as well. Racial and cultural dynamics may interfere into the helping process and cause misdiagnosis, confusion, pain and reinforcement of biases and prejudices towards their client.
Race and ethnicity can influence a client’s experience of self and others in a variety of ways. A client’s personal race and ethnicity can influence his or her experience within the context of therapy through the set of beliefs he or she brings into the room. This set of beliefs and customs influences how he or she views therapy and whether there is motivation to be there. If the client’s culture does not usually seek therapy for their problems, or even believe in mental illness, it is likely the client will have apprehensions about trusting or speaking to the clinician. If the clinician is not aware of this possibility, the clinician may wonder why the client is in therapy if he or she will not speak or allow rapport to be built. A responsible clinician will take this into consideration.
As Kirst-Ashman and Hull Jr (2012, pp. 453-454) reminds us, “the family is central to Hispanic culture and is hierarchical in structure. That is the father is the primary authority figure (Devore & Schlesinger, 1996). Furthermore, scholars inform us that many Hispanic fathers appear somewhat aloof from the family, especially the children as it is the father’s role to pursue instrumental roles such as earning a living. Often, this results in the father being less likely to express emotional support (Kirst-Ashman & Hull Jr., p. 454). Understanding these concepts of the Hernandez family culture as well as asking questions about their family members depicted on the genogram can aid me to become more informed. This can be a very positive step in the right direction in building a relationship of mutual respect and trust as in our respective roles as client and social work professional enhancing our ability to work together to determine the best intervention
Kim, B. S. K., Ng, G. S., & Ahn, A. J. (2005). Effects of client expectation for counseling success, client-counselor worldview match, and client adherence to asian and european american cultural values on counseling process with asian americans. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 67-76.
The diversity among clients and the counselor is an issue that has recently come to the forefront. The counselor must be very cautious and sensitive to the cultural values of their clients, gender and gender preference, age, language preference, ethnicity, and spirituality and religious beliefs.
Moreno, C. L., & Guido, M. (2005). Social work practice with Latino Americans. In D. Lum (Ed.), Cultural competence, practice stages, and client systems (pp. 88-106). Belmont, CA: Brooks Cole.
Remember, self-reflection is vital to becoming a culturally-competent counselor. The counselor should consistently re-examine their worldview and personal beliefs about diverse individuals and other cultures. The idea is for the counselor to explore their own prejudices, emotions, and preconceived notions of those that differ from themselves. Remaining curious and willing to learn about culturally distinct groups is a practical way of working effectively with varied clients in counseling and understanding what barriers and prejudices are typical in their
Most psychologists do acknowledge and accept religion and spirituality as important aspects of human diversity. A client’s culture is the embodiment of their worldview and is passed on through their values, beliefs, morals, and religious and spiritual traditions “Because spirituality and religion are less important to psychologists overall than their clients, they may have been neglected as important aspects of multicultural competency” (Ammondson, Lukoff, Pargament, Pilato, Scammell &Vieten, 2013, p.132). Incorporating spiritual and religious competencies in psychology is a form of multicultural competence. Multicultural competencies strive for psychologists to understand the world views of culturally different clients without being biased. Psychologists need to implement delicate, and pertinent intervention techniques with clients who culturally differ. Cultural differences extend into a client’s religion and spirituality beliefs. Multicultural competence is predominant for psychologists when working with clients in any type of therapeutic environment. Psychologists who are culturally aware have insight into how their cultural biases influence the counseling process, are comfortable with clients’ culture, and respect clients’ religion and culture (Sue, Arredondo, & Mc Davis, 1992a, 1992b). Multicultural skills and competencies are illustrated when psychologists actively seek out educational workshops that are culturally sensitive to elevate their proficiency and training in multicultural practices. Acquiring multicultural competence is a continuous process that includes self-awareness, and reflection. Cultural competence and knowledge affect the counseling process by allowing psychologists to implement culturally sensitive counseling strategies. Effective
“Culture is a cluster of intangibles and tangible aspects of life passed down from generation to generation.”(cite) More importantly, culture is define as the way of life of a group of people who share these same values and beliefs, therefore, we will check the Hispanic culture. The U.S. Census Bureau defines Hispanic or Latino as mutual inhabitants in the United States who are of Latin American or Spanish origin. Latinos has become a larger proportion of the U.S. population, there is a greater need for social work education to offer culturally sensitive training to social work students (Furman, Bender, Lewis, & Shears, 2006; Iglehart & Becerra, 1995). A Hispanic woman, Marcela Hede voices that, “Being Hispanic is mainly defined by my language
Understanding race, ethnicity, and culture is an extremely important aspect of being a counselor. If an individual does not have cultural identity of their own or understand his or herself as a cultural, ethnic, or racial individual, it may be difficult to help your clients. Understanding and being aware of your cultural identity will help the counselor be conscious of their own prejudice. Being aware of your own prejudice towards any culture, race, or ethnic group may help you redirect your negative thinking into a positive active role as a counselor. Having awareness will make an individual an improved counselor able to empathize and understand any individual who seeks therapy.
Culture can be defined as behaviors exhibited by certain racial, religious, social or ethnic groups. Some factors in which culture may vary include: family structure, education, and socioeconomic status (Kodjo, 2009). Some may think cultural competence is something that has an end point, however, when the big picture is seen, it is a learning process and journey. From the writer’s perspective, the client-therapist relationship can be challenging. Culturally competent therapists must realize that behaviors are shaped by an individual’s culture. Many changes are taking place within the United States cultural makeup. Therapists and healthcare professionals are being challenged to provide effective and sensitive care for patients and their families. This type of culturally sensitive care requires the professional to be open and seek understanding in the patients diverse belief systems (Kodjo, 2009).
Some of the most important skills college counselors and student affairs professionals need to develop are ethical and culturally relevant strategies for establishing and maintaining counseling relationships. According to Nina Brown (2011), developing cultural sensitivity “is both an intellectual and emotional endeavor” (p. 132). Cultural awareness incorporates factors such as age and gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic class and other identity variables. The cultural competent counselor recognizes that all these identities can be combined in an infinite number of ways, and even when individuals may seem to come from similar backgrounds, they may perceive their personal identities differently.
As a human services professional, I should recognize that the client is different from me. I should be aware of the differences between myself and my client, without wanting the client to be like me. I should take into consideration racial and ethnic diversity as well as diversity in spirituality, sexual orientation, disabilities, class, and my potential cultural biases. I understand that people from new and different cultural groups may be negatively stereotyped and heavily discriminated against because of their differences from a main culture. In a psychotherapeutic relationship, the helper and client's cultures play a role in that dynamic so it is important that as a professional, I should be aware of my client's possible cultural differences. I can do so by receiving training or education on multicultural counseling. I should study as much as I can about multiculturalism, so that I know what the professional literature says about different cultures. Knowing as much as I can about other cultures will prepare me for being a better helper. A practical way that I am currently doing is continuously being involved as a volunteer in a Hospice group, wherein they have diverse employees and clients. My volunteer time with the agency gives me a better perspective about unique cultures and experiences about the end stage of life, grieving and death. Because in the helping field, it is only when I respect even my adversaries that I see them as my fellow human beings that deserves respect for their personhood and dignity, that I will be able to conduct a good helping relationship for now and in the future. As I was once told that there is always room for everyone; there is room for every culture, race, language and point of
57). Multicultural counseling competencies include three domains: awareness, knowledge, and skills (Sue & Sue, 2016). Awareness is about being both culturally aware and aware of the self. Understanding characteristics of different cultures, barriers, and worldviews of cultures will instill knowledge in the counselor. Skills incorporate the ability to demonstrate helpful verbal and nonverbal communication, intervention skills, styles, and roles in a culturally competent way for each