Asian American Identity Development Model

One of the most promising approaches to the field of multicultural counseling/therapy has been the work on racial/cultural identity development among minority groups. This model acknowledges within groups differences that have implications for treatment. The high failure-to-return rate of many clients seems to be intimately connected to the mental health professional’s inability to assess the cultural identity of clients accurately. The model also acknowledges

Engaging into the importance of multicultural competence, awareness of such competency has become a significant necessity in the area of mental health, and various fields of psychology (Hayes, 2008). It is essential for a counselor to be multicultural competent in order to develop a therapeutic alliance with a client, while understanding their cultural identity. Therefore, culturally competent knowledge, attitudes, and skills of diverse culture, is necessary, in proper treatment and diagnosis. Nonetheless, the complexity of cultural diversity can contribute to challenges in assessment, diagnosis and or treatment. It is further understood; by understanding one’s social history, psychosocial history, presenting problems, along with other pertinent information regarding a cultural responsiveness in a diagnosis, and how it would be beneficial to individuals of various social, ethnic, and other minority groups in order to make a treatment plan based on the findings of a cultural assessment (Sue & Sue, 2013). Nonetheless, cultural influences, often neglected, are needed to incorporate the challenges cultural groups face when seeking treatment. Therefore, I have found it applicable to use “ADDRESSING,” framework in therapy as a resource for developing cultural and relevant assessments in addition to the onset symptoms presented in the client in the case study of Mrs. Hudson. The use of “ADDRESSING” acronym is designed to obtain age, developmental and physical disabilities

Each client is influenced by race, ethnicity, national origin, life stage, educational level, social class, and sex roles (Ibrahim, 1985). The counsellor must view the identity and development of culturally diverse people in terms of multiple interactive factors rather than a strictly cultural framework (Romero, 1985).

To be young and Asian in America is a special brand of torture. There is an unspoken dictum of silence that grips Asian youth, a denial of our place in popular culture. Asian youth walk in America not quite sure where we fit in-black children have a particular brotherhood, Hispanic children have a particular brotherhood, white children own everything else. We cannot lay claim to jazz or salsa or swing; we cannot say our ancestors fought for equality against an oppressive government or roamed the great hallways of power across the globe. We do not have a music, a common hero, a lexicon of slang. Asian youth experience personal diasporas every day.

In this essay, I attempted to lay bare the issues of being an Asian-American and being labeled as an ethnic “other” in modern America. This label of “other” causes them to become marginalized and lose their sense of identity, belonging neither to Western culture nor Eastern culture. In order help stop this loss of identity in Asian-Americans, we must tear down the social construct of the “other” and integrate the different cultures into the melting pot of popular culture. Once we have stopped alienating different cultures, we can then have a moral society that upholds diversity and identity.

The Asian American experience primarily narrates a story of hardship in assimilation into the American society. However, these stories are heavily nuanced depending on the generational perspective. The Asian American experience from the first generation emphasizes the practical concerns in surviving economically in a foreign land. On the other hand, the second generation recounts social and personal conflicts that primarily deal with questioning their identity. Given these differing Asian American narratives, these immigrant families are oftentimes confronted not only with clashing cultural values, but also mismatched perspectives on life. Asian American scholar, Erin Khue Nihn, examines these intergenerational conflicts using a socio-economic perspective in her novel, Ingratitude. Her argument builds on the economically driven mindset of the parental generation and concludes the following: “Asian American intimate relations reveal themselves to be profoundly ordered by capitalist logic and ethos" (Nihn 6). Employing Nihn 's interpretation, the parents enforce a strong adherence to their ethnic heritage, whereby these cultural reminders serve as a means of economic survival to provide stability within the nuclear family. Attempting to internalize these ethnic values while assimilating into society, the second generation becomes conflicted in resolving their Asian American identity. Essentially, the Asian

Fae Myenne Ng is a contemporary Chinese-American author who is known for her first written novel, Bone. Her debut novel was published in 1993 and the story is told through the eyes of the main character, Leila Leong. Leila tells the story of her family’s history and the events that unfold following the suicide of her sister. As Leila’s story progresses, themes of identity and family life are revealed. Leila and her two sisters border the line between American and Chinese, two distinct cultures that belong to very different worlds. The sisters deal with the struggles of assimilation as they grow up in the seclusive community of Chinatown only to live in an American world. The family life of the Leong

I am a Hispanic woman who if I am honest have a lot of self hate for myself and my culture. “Internal racism has been the term used to describe the process by which persons of color absorb the racist messages that are omnipresent in our society and internalized them” (Sue, 2016). I grew up in a small border town where stereotypes are made. I never experienced much racism because we were the majority. However, looking at it now I have a lot of self hate, and I always identified as white growing up, because I am light skinned I still believe I can pass for white at least until I moved to Georgia. Living here has taught me that I miss my culture I miss the cooking, the camaraderie, the unity that Hispanics have. The other day I was asked at

The Racial/Cultural Identity Development model (R/CID) is an expansion of the Minority Identity Development model. The R/CID model encompasses a broader population and removes the term “minority,” which can be disempowering to individuals. This model works to aid therapists in assessment and intervention of culturally diverse clients. It has five levels of development that individuals undergo to understand the dominant culture, their own culture, and the relationship between the two cultures, which is often oppressive. The first level of development is the conformity phase.

To effectively lessen the effects of lifelong racism and discrimination, Hays & Erford (2014) recommends a strength-based approach, with the counselor focusing on the individual and family capacities. Focusing on the client’s positive attributes and favorable cultural norms can encourage one to become more resilient (Vaterlaus, Skogrand, & Chaney, 2015). Furthermore, applying counseling skills such as unconditional positive regard, empathy, consistency, focusing on the client, and providing a supportive environment can all help the therapeutic relationship (Hays & Erford, 2014). Additionally, making the counselor/client relationship equal will also allow the client to feel more comfortable, may dispel the mistrust of counseling prominent in African American culture (Hays & Erford, 2014). Finally, acknowledging the racial differences with the client could encourage them to discuss the racism and discrimination they may have experienced (Hays & Erford, 2014).

Although Asian Americans comprise only about 5% of the U.S. population, this group is the fastest growing segment of American society. Despite such rapid expansion, Asian Americans are widely underrepresented throughout media, whether in television, cinema, or literature. Moreover, there are different stereotypes associated with Asian Americans. One of the most pervasive stereotypes details how Asian Americans are a “model minority”. In essence, this myth describes how anyone who is Asian American will become a successful individual able to achieve the “American dream”.

For 20 years, Asian Americans have been portrayed by the press and the media as a successful minority. Asian Americans are believed to benefit from astounding achievements in education, rising occupational statuses, increasing income, and are problem-fee in mental health and crime. The idea of Asian Americans as a model minority has become the central theme in media portrayal of Asian Americans since the middle 1960s. The term model minority is given to a minority group that exhibits middle class characteristics, and attains some measure of success on its own without special programs or welfare. Asian Americans are seen as a model minority because even though they have faced prejudice and

The pain and the suffering, the oppression, and the exclusion all describe the history of Asia America. When they arrived to the United States, they become labeled as Asians. These Asians come from Japan, China, Korea, Laos, Thailand, and many other diverse countries in the Eastern hemisphere. These people wanted to escape from their impoverished lives as the West continued to infiltrate their motherland. They saw America as the promise land filled with opportunity to succeed in life. Yet due to the discrimination placed from society and continual unfair

As the immigrant population currently projected to overtake latinxs and hispanics as largest group of residents in the United States of America, Asian Americans have shown their will to survive in a way that many groups have not, and that is by banding together in order to achieve the life they deserve. Taking the overgeneralization of pan-ethnicity and using it as a device for increased numbers and support for the causes of a group of people who otherwise may not have much to do with each other, is a testament to how vulnerable they must have felt as well as how successful they have managed to be many aspects of progress. What I have gained from this course is the understanding that at the root of ethnic studies and the Asian American community is the “for us, by us” sentiment that contributed to the blurred lines between the different part of their communities as social, political and cultural, structures, collectives and groups which came out of an obligation and necessity to protect those immigrants and their future generations from a country which has always pushed European superiority in all aspects of society.

Zunker informs us that Sue, Ivey and Pederson recognized that a theory for multicultural counseling was necessary; the premise of this theory is that learning occurs within a cultural context, that cultural identity changes and that culture is both inclusive and broad (Sue, Ivey & Pederson 1996; Zunker, 2006).The sociopolitical