Multicultural And Social Justice Competencies (MSJCC)

In an effort to become a culturally aware counselor, Stephanie will want to become aware of her own assumptions, values, and bias (Sue & Sue, 2013). Counselors who have an awareness of this, are able to compare their world view with that of their client's and see how they can bridge the gap of understanding. Counselors should actively try to understand their clients worldview by asking questions about their clients cultural background, hopes, fears, and aspirations(2013), thus , gaining a better understanding of the client and who they are,enabling them to work with various clients despite the differences in backgrounds, race, gender, or culture.

In this paper, I will explain how working with diverse and multicultural clients influences career counseling goals and objectives. I will describe specific factors related to racial identity and aspects of culture that contribute to career development. Finally, specific insights are offered for counselors offering assessment and treatment to this specific population.

The journal article examines the teaching of multiculturalism as a discipline in the counseling field. No other field of study is more affected by multiculturalism then the field of counseling. “In the study research appears to confirm the importance of attending to cultural concerns in the therapeutic process as well as the efficacy of multicultural training approaches in the establishment of multicultural counseling competence”. (Fetzer, 2016) Further research also shows that racial group membership and racial identity of the student impacted engagement in multicultural counseling.

To provide excellent help to client, I must build a relationship with that person. For this therapeutic relationship to be strong and trusting; that will lead to a better treatment for the client I should respect confidentiality and the privacy of my client. In doing so I must pay more attention to the clients’ rights. I should be multiculturally competent and know that there is diversity (American counseling association ACA), 2014). This calls me to be careful and respectful of in the ways I react to my clients’

Not only has the need for literature increased, but the need for training programs has been identified in assisting on in multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills (Sue, Arrendondo, & McDavis, 1992). A growing body of research suggests that understanding diverse cultural backgrounds and how this might affect the therapeutic process is essential for counseling effectiveness and increasing the utilization of counseling services, especially in the African American community. Early theorists, including

It is up to her to show empathy, determination, and cultural competency to build a trusting realationship. Understanding of the values patterns and worldviews of culturally diverse populations is key. A self-reported study was conducted on racial discrimination and its association with mental health status and whether this association varied with race/ethnicity or immigration status. The study found discrimination may be an important predictor of poor mental health status among Black and Latino immigrants. Previous findings of decreasing mental health status as immigrants acculturate might partly be related to experiences with racial discrimination (Gee, Ryan, Laflamme, & Holt, 2006). The writer enjoys using the strength based and ecological perspectives when providing interventions to patients and their families. According to Falicov (2014), the strength-based theory helps to focus on the resilience of a client and family, the ecological theory looks into how the client and family lives and fits into the sociopolitical context. The writer believes these two theories would fit the patient and even her family best, due to how resilient they are and how they fit into the sociopolitical

In 2005, the 20/20 committee stated that counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals (Erford, 2014). Therefore, understanding how the culturally diverse groups plays a great role in culture within the context of counseling interactions helps with the understanding of explain how the history and theories of counseling both benefited and oppressed cultural groups, understanding of a specific cultural group and, clarifies how standardized testing benefits or oppresses a specific cultural group like.

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.

Multicultural Awareness will be discussed in this brief journal to identify the important guidelines of a mental health counselor when engaging with a diverse population within the counseling field. Multicultural Awareness is very important in the mental health counseling field due to many factors that counselors have to take into account to include: dissimilarities in religion and spirituality, beliefs, attitudes, sexual orientation, cultural norms and values systems, gender, age and maturity, socioeconomic class, family history, and even geographic location (Sue, Arrendondo, & McDavis, 1992).

Corey, M., & Corey, G. (2014) mentioned that the two important aspects that form the “foundation of multicultural counselling competency” are “self-awareness and global literacy” (as cited in Corey, M., & Corey, G., 2014, p.104). Indeed, in a place with such a diverse cultural network like Canada, working with people who come from different cultural backgrounds is inevitable. Thus, the first thing that a helper needs to pay attention to when working with people is to be mindful of his or her own values and beliefs. Since every single person is unique, if a helper is able to identify her own person, she will be more aware of it and less likely to impose those personal views of hers into professional practice. Therefore, the helper could carefully

In the past, minority groups needs have been neglected in terms of mental health services (Sue & Sue, 2015). While the profession of counseling has come a long way, there is still much work that needs to be done, as can be seen with the WEAVE organization. While it is apparent that the organization has taken some steps in the right direction by having two counselors on staff who speak Spanish, there is still work that needs to be done. This organization does not appear to be addressing the needs of other minority groups or training their counselors on the needs of these groups. The statement that was made about how they didn’t offer training on multicultural issues because they assume this is done in counselor training, is worrisome, as

As our population continues to expand and rapidly diversify, the need for cultural competence within the counseling profession is of high importance. More and more, diverse populations are seeking counseling as a result of increased community awareness, empowerment, and opportunity. Traditional counseling approaches are rooted in the belief that “good counseling is good counseling,” while not recognizing that the definition of “good counseling” originates from White-Euro American norms, values, and points of view (Sue & Sue, 2015, p. 46). Even though strides have been made with the emergence of multicultural counseling techniques and theories, it is important to reflect on the past and present situation of counseling diverse populations. This paper will examine both the oppressive nature of historic counseling theories, as well as the benefits of emerging multicultural counseling

Hence, in order to tackle these multicultural issues, APA published its “Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists” in August 2002. This was a pivotal point in history, as APA itself published its own guidelines as a way to acknowledge the need to address racial and cultural issues within the field of psychology. The documents reviews immense number of research studies conducted on multicultural competence to emphasize the importance and effectiveness of integrating multiculturalism and diversity into the work of psychologists, especially when working with those clients from minority backgrounds. It is noted that it is essential for psychologists to gain self-awareness into

Multicultural and diversity is an important topic in counseling. Counselors provide a service to everyone, regardless their nationality, gender, sexual preference or ethnical background. All counselors are held to a high ethical standard, rather they are school, family, and marriage, mental or spiritual counselors. Counselors must be competent to work effectively with members of society who are culturally different from themselves in order to avoid risk engaging in unethical conduct.

​Multicultural counseling is becoming more imperative as a part of counseling professional’s training and education due to the continuing increase of diversity within our population (Sue & Sue, 2016). The European Western frame from which counseling professionals have based their practices on, are not adhering to the different cultures and how different cultures respond to these practices. Each person belonging to a different culture can often respond negatively to the non-cultural specific practices and methods of counseling (Sue & Sue, 2016). This can often leave and create a group consisting of different ethnic minorities untreated for psychological impairments and distress. Part of multicultural counseling is to become familiar with the different cultures residing within our society, so that one is more prepared to help the individuals with diverse problems. Part of the minority groups that are often overlooked and ignored is the Asian Americans. As African Americans and Hispanic cultures respond differently in accordance to their cultures, Asian Americans too have responses that are influenced by their specific cultural values. It is important to understand the different perspectives from the different identity roles that Asian American can obtain so that one may appropriately design the right counseling path for the individual. There are multiple identification roles that Asian Americans can have depending on their background. Asian Americans can also identify