Cultural-Infused Career Counseling Model

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).

Cultural competency is critical in psychology practice. In the United States, the groups, which considered as cultural and ethnic minorities, are growing in the population (APA, 2003). Culture often influences the content and quality of people’s experience, perception, and response. Thus, it is important for psychologists to be aware of cultural influences on client’s presenting experience(s) (Gardiner & Kosmitzki, 2010). Without a regard for cultural influence, there is a significant risk for the psychologist to misunderstand, misinterpret, and misguide his or her client. Such misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and misguidance are not only unhelpful but can be detrimental for the client (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011; Pope, & Vasquez, 2011).

The United States is a giant melting pot with many different cultures and races and people coming from all walks of life. As a counselor, it is important to be able to be competent in a variety of cultures to be effective. Being cultural competent means having the awareness, knowledge and skills needed to function effectively with culturally diverse populations (Sue & Sue, 2016). This project required immersing in a culture that is different from your own. I was allowed the opportunity to experience being the “only one” in a culture that is different from what I am used to.

In her article Siegel states that, “Incorporating components such as culturally framed trust building (such as pairing youths with mentors), stigma reduction, friendly milieus (such as serving culturally familiar foods and playing music popular with the culture), and services; and peer, family, and community involvement (including use of peer counselors and mentors, hosting parent weekends, and linking clients with senior center and community services) are recommended for improving cultural competence”, (Siegel, 2011). By incorporating some of these components into the way I practice and taking these components into mind could hopefully dissolve any limitations or biases that I may hold against any cultures. McBride also states the importance of being well versed in multicultural counseling by saying, “Counselor educators should also encourage self-reflection of counselor trainees to challenge the biases and assumptions they may hold against minority groups, such as the geriatric population. Self-awareness of biases and stereotypes is imperative when counseling diverse clients. This may be an uncomfortable process and, therefore, may cause some anxiety in both counselor trainees and counselor educators. As a result, some counseling programs may not emphasize self-reflection as much as they should. Therefore, greater emphasis needs to be placed on

In this case, cultural competent therapist are more equipped to work with racial/ethnic minority client than other therapist, but the outcome will not be the same for all clients (Hayes, Owen, & Bieschke, 2015). Culturally competent counselors are willing to learn about their clients values and beliefs through openness and curiosity. Although there is an awareness to enhance cultural competence in counselors, there is a lack of multicultural training. Dinsmore and England (1996) illustrates that in half of the programs multicultural content was not emphasized and that there were a lack of minority clients in internship and practicum (p. 72). Counselors in training acknowledge that a course in multicultural is not sufficient in order to best help clients.

Derald (2013) stated, “The adage “counselor or therapist, know thyself” is the basic building block to cultural competence in the helping professions.” (P.6) Part of connecting with clients includes the separation and awareness of the helping professional versus the other person. The helping profession has not always embraced the awareness of self in regards to culture. To be culturally competent the helping professional should conceptualize the issue with the understanding of the cultural background of their client. In this paper I will summarize significant historical changes in society that influenced

Over the course of this quarter, we have gone over a variety of counseling methods that can help a professional become more culturally competent. Multicultural counseling focuses on helping culturally diverse individuals work through their pressing issues and help them adapt to their new environment. Individuals coming from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds respond differently to therapeutic methods and using a single approach to counseling does not always work. Competent counselors need to take into account each client’s cultural backgrounds, biases, and traditions. In the duration of the class, we have gained insights on how power, privilege, and difference affect our daily lives and we have had the opportunity to reflect on the topics discussed in class affect our lives as well. In this paper, I will discuss these topics, as well as personal growth and areas for future growth in seeking multicultural competence in counseling.

This paper will give a brief overview of how bias, assumptions and diversity can impact the career counseling relationship. The impact of values, bias, and the ability to move beyond barriers in the counseling relationship is essential to successful outcomes in working with clients. The rationale for the appropriateness of multicultural counseling competency and the impact of culture in the counseling process will be discussed as will multicultural counseling in the framework of career counseling.

Culture may be defined in a broad and narrow context. The broad definition includes demographic variables ( age, gender), status variables ( social, educational, economic) and affiliations ( formal and informal), as well as ethnographic variables, such as ethnicity, nationality, language. Narrow definition of culture is limited to the terms of ethnicity and nationality, which are important for individual and familial identity, but the concept of culture in Counselling usually goes beyond national and ethnic boundaries. It interprets culture in a broader aspect, it aims to go beyond its more obvious and verifiable symbols toward the more subjective perspectives its members hold. Counselling deals

The relationship of a counselor to his or her client can be troubled when the two come from different cultural backgrounds. "As counselors incorporate a greater awareness of their clients' culture into their theory and practice, they must realize that, historically, cultural differences have been viewed as deficits (Romero, 1985). Adherence to white cultural values has brought about a naive imposition of narrowly defined criteria for normality on culturally diverse people" (Bolton-Brownlee 1987). The challenge for counselors today is to balance multiculturalism and sensitivity for the client with the need to move the client forward and enable him or her to reach productive life goals. Cultural acceptance cannot be synonymous with complacency.

Multicultural group counseling takes place when a counselor and/or clients are from differing cultural, race, and/or ethnicity groups. Due to the significant demographic changes that are occurring in the United States, multiculturalism is becoming increasingly important. When acting as a multicultural group counselor, it is important to modify techniques to reflect the cultural differences of the client, be prepared to deal with difficulties during the counseling process, and understand the way culturally diverse people conceptualize their problems as well how they resolve them (Gladding, 2012). In order to be an effective multicultural counselor, it is important that one is aware of their cultural heritage, understands how their cultural background affects their attitudes, values, and beliefs, recognizes the limitations of their multicultural expertise and/or competency, and identify the root of their discomfort with different clients (Gladding, 2012). One can implement these through three key aspects Gladding (2012) outlined in his book and effective leadership skills.

In a multicultural counseling perspective there are four key approaches when counseling individuals, (a) multicultural awareness of culturally learned assumptions about self and others leading to accurate assessments of clients, (b) multicultural knowledge of information, (c) multicultural skills and interventions, that are appropriate treating clients, and (d) individuals are from a variety of backgrounds, demographic status, and affiliation of cultures. The three-stage approach, will direct the counselor towards levels of multicultural competence in therapy by providing a successful outcome in the recovery process. When conducting a psychotherapy session with a client the counselor should be able to demonstrate skills, when exploring the client’s cultural background. Counselors should also be able to focus on the essential skills and pattern behaviors, when identifying cultural differences. Counseling a minority from a different culture counselors’ must be able to identify their own personal behaviors. These behaviors are crucial when counseling these individuals. First, a counselor must be able to sense the clients’ viewpoint or issue in some way. Secondly, a counselor should be specific when asking a question rather than being unclear and confusing.

With all of the topics discussed by Dr. Capuzzi and participating students (2017) on the conference call, the most meaningful topic for myself that was covered was the need to take a holistic approach to career counseling. Dr. Capuzzi stated that, even as career counselors, we are “dealing with the whole person –their physical health, their mental health, and their spirituality,” (2017, 21:20). He also noted similarities between career counseling and mental health counseling, and made a direct correlation and connection between the two. One way I will incorporate this into future work with clients is to seek understanding of an individual’s entire worldview, life experiences, and culture, as opposed to narrowing the focus simply to discussions surrounding career exploration and difficulties (or successes). Helping

Counselors who are unaware of diverse cultural viewpoints are more than likely to do intentional or unintentional damage when working within communities opposite of their own and with those whose cultures and worldviews differ from theirs. If a counselor is unaware of their own cultural identity, biases, and stereotypes, how then will they know if they are unintentionally causing harm to their clients or build rapport? Cultural self-awareness is relevant because counselors need to know their cultural identity and what they must offer their clients in a therapeutic relationship and to help clients become aware their cultural identities.

Initially, the guidance and client context is identified, with reference to their age group, diversity and need for careers guidance. This is followed by theories of