Looking back at the history of the American Psychological Association (APA), we can see that minorities struggled with having their issues and needs acknowledged and addressed. In result of this, they started to secede from APA to develop their own associations. Over the years, the APA dealt with a number of other problems concerning their organizational structure, graduate training programs and other issues. Considering the competencies proposed by psychologists, the APA developed six Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice and Organizational Change for Psychologist (2003). The guidelines serves as a broad document that demonstrates the skills and knowledge needed by practitioners who work with fast changing, diverse populations. It also provides information that advances education. This paper will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Multicultural Guidelines as a whole. People in general, not only psychologists, view human interactions through their individual worldview. Our worldview is linked to attitudes and beliefs that influence how we behave, interpret and perceive society. The document promotes that psychologists increase their cultural awareness by learning how the other cultures shape how they view the world. I support and believe these guidelines are necessary because when there are cultural differences between clients and psychologists, many issues can arise. Differences can cause treatment termination, communication problems and misdiagnosis. Psychologists are encouraged to understand the importance of the customs, traditions and values of their clients. When a psychologist is culturally aware, it doesn’t mean that their values, beliefs and traditions have to match up with their cl... ... middle of paper ... ...le et al., 2013). White people often communicate messages of inadequacy and oppression towards African Americans and Latinos (Dale et al., 2013). The document does a great job at addressing all racial minority groups in the U.S. The guidelines incorporated empirical studies and are designed to apply to all psychologists. The document speaks to the skills and knowledge needed by practitioners who work with fast changing, diverse populations. The authors of this document used valid evidence to strongly support each guideline, making it clear and understandable for the average person to comprehend. Although there is much strength seen in this document, there is still room for improvement. Ultimately, the document is a major asset to the APA because it brings awareness to practitioners to respect and acknowledge differences among others cultures. American Psychological
In some countries, seeking medical help for mental health issues is the reasonable thing to do, where other cultures may view it as taboo and believe those matters should be left to religion or the family. Another vital aspect of multicultural counseling is the relationship between the therapist and counselee. It is essential that both parties are aware of the existing cultural differences. As a professional counselor, I will continue to educate myself properly, so as to give the best counsel by building trust and rapport. A few other aspects to keep in mind is learning to become culturally sensitive to communication and steering clear of trigger words or speech that the client may find offensive. Also, being aware of spatial distance is necessary. Some cultures prefer close contact and others may find too close of a distance
As an expat child having gown up and lived across three continents-politely labelled as a third culture kid, but in reality not belonging to any one culture-I doubt if my own parents would understand me let alone a doctor in another country. My mother suffers from trichotillomania and on visiting a psychiatrist in a foreign country, he mentioned not seeing this disease often in his country: he had made her feel at once both alienated and awkward, and not likely to trust his diagnosis or his treatment. I have seen her throwing her medication away- Pharmacotherapy cannot work without psychotherapy-and the demands of psychotherapy seem to be only increasing when you add a complex cultural element to it. Gold and his brother argue that both biological and social factors contribute to psychosis. In the field of psychiatric and behavioural sciences this would call for physicians skilled in appreciating all sorts of cultures and environments and while this may seem a tall order, a first step towards a solution would lie in acknowledging the role and importance of such external stimuli. Doctors cannot know it all but at least when they give a label it will be real. In a field where labels tend to stick and where the social stigma attached to mental illness is still considerable, it is worth while for doctors to make more informed diagnoses. Diagnoses that we can
During the initial interview with the client a new format is used called the Cultural Case Formulation. This takes into account the cultural identity of the person, their cultural definitions of distress, and cultural stressors. Psychosocial stressors are included which can be unique to each culture and the level that a person identifies with their culture can be taken into account when treatment planning. By assessing a client's cultural identity this may allow the clinician to identify barriers or commonalities between themselves and the
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.
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.
Especially, in small communities where it is more common for psychologists to interact with clients and/or patients on a regular basis, such as social events, personal engagements, restaurants, grocery stores, shopping centers, and/or church outside of the workplace (Knapp, Handelsman, Gottlieb, & VandeCreek,, 2013; Pipes, Holstein, & Aguirre, 2005; & Schank, Helbok, Haldeman, & Gallardo, 2010), where the line between professional conduct, personal values, biases, and beliefs blur. It is at these times the aspirational principles of the APA, such as beneficence and nonmaleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, and respect for people 's rights and dignity can provide guidance and remind psychologists of the necessity of upholding professional codes of conduct regardless of situation (APA, 2010; Fisher, 2013). Discriminatory remarks and prejudicial views on an individual 's gender, sexual orientation, language barrier, or political views can harm current clients and patients as well as prevent potential clients and patients for seeking services and/or treatment from psychologists in the future harming the profession. Additionally, as psychologists the need to understand an individual 's multicultural identities as an essential part in providing services and treatment and failure to recognize and understand these similarities and
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.
“People are very complex. And for a psychologist, you get fascinated by the complexity of human beings, and that is what I have lived with, you know, in my career all of my life, is the complexity of human beings” - Daniel Kahneman.
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
Culture has a huge influence on how people view and deal with psychological disorders. Being able to successfully treat someone for a mental illness has largely to do with what they view as normal in their own culture. In Western cultures we think that going to a counselor to talk about our emotions or our individual problems and/or getting some type of drug to help with our mental illness is the best way to overcome and treat it, but in other cultures that may not be the case. In particular Western and Asian cultures vary in the way they deal with psychological disorders. In this paper I am going to discuss how Asian cultures and Western cultures are similar and different in the way they view psychological disorders, the treatments and likelihood of getting treatment, culture bound disorders, and how to overcome the differences in the cultures for optimal treatments.
5. Ponteroto J. et al.( 1995) (ed.) Handbook of Multicultural Counselling, Sage Publications Inc.: USA
One important aspect relatively untouched in our main textbook is the racial identity development of helping professionals, especially the level of racial consciousness of the minority therapist and how it may impact that of the client of color. But it is equally important for counselors of color to consider their own racial consciousness and how it may interact with a client from their own group. A culturally competent counselor needs to be cognizant of and to understand how sociopolitical factors influence and shape identity. Identity development is not solely due to cultural differences but to how the differences are perceived in our society. The R/ CID framework reminds therapists of several important clinical imperatives like how within-group differences are very important to acknowledge in clients of color because not all members of a racial/ cultural group are the same. Depending on their levels of racial consciousness, the attitudes, beliefs, and orientations of clients of color may be quite different from one another. (Gone,
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).
Smith, T. B., Rodríguez, M. D., & Bernal, G. (2011). Culture. In J. C. Norcross (Ed.), Psychotherapy relationships that work (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
SUE, D. W., ARREDONDO, P., & McDavis, R. J. (1992). Multicultural Counseling Competencies and Standards: A Call to the Profession. JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT, 70, 477-486.