Multicultural Counseling Competence

In the past, counselors have lacked the knowledge and skills to interpret ethical guidelines in multicultural counseling. The ethical guidelines dictate how a counselor should have the necessary tools when conducting a counseling session. There is a shortfall of training and education when dealing with race, ethnicity, and cultural backgrounds in today’s society. Ethics is a hot topic for counselors, partially because there are so many different situations that can be affected by ethical behavior. These situations can range from betraying the clients trust to injustice. There tends to be a lot of ambiguity for how to handle a situation ethically since there are a lot of

Immigrant children endue a great deal of stress. This stress is created as a result of leaving familiar people and places and entering a new place with a different culture and language. During this process, many immigrant children struggle to re-establish themselves as they enter the United States. These children need to feel connected and accepted because these are important factors of child development. For children who do not feel connected with their peers, family, or school may have an increased risk of suicide, school failure and drop-out, and criminal activity.

This paper will introduce and define the need for Multicultural awareness as a clinical mental health counselor. It will further explore examples of various topics in Multicultural counseling such as: Racial and ethnic diversity, gender and social economic status. As a result of this research, in Multicultural awareness, the self-assessment rendered the identity of myself. It allowed me to realize what and who I was as “other.” In realizing who I was as “other”, I saw my own self-identity, and some of my flaws. Therefore, this assessment made me realize the need to develop a plan to correct areas of which demonstrated lower scores in: acceptance of change, stereotyping, and assuming may interfere as a mental health counselor if not corrected. Multicultural Self-Assessment After taking the multicultural self-assessment, my results revealed the following about myself. For the most part of this assessment, my strongest points were rounded in cultural diversity and understanding. Contrary to such, I scored lower in the areas of “assuming something is when it’s not,” “stereotyping,” and “adapting new changes” (Petrone, M. C. 2004). Lastly, more often than not results displayed equality, and positive outlook type of personality. For example, in posting to the discussion board, I tried to respond to topics without, disrespecting ones’ values, and at the same time introducing awareness about the topic. First Time I Realized I was “Other” The first

Over time, society has become increasingly diverse and globally connected. In order to meet the needs of an interconnected society, the American Counseling Association (ACA) endorsed the creation of multicultural and social justice competencies (Ratts, Singh, Butler, Nassar-McMillan, & McCullough, 2016). The Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC) were developed in order to showcase the importance of integrating MSJCC into all aspects of the counseling profession. Originally, these competencies were geared more toward majority professionals working with minority clients. However, it has become more clear that the range of diversity is endless and it is not uncommon for privileged clients to be counseled by minority counseled (Ratts, et al., 2016).

Cultural diversity continually grows, and as a counselor, it is my job to remain culturally competent, through keeping abreast of empirical research methods and educating myself on current sociocultural developments. Admittedly, I enjoy working with diverse populations; I easily transcend cultural, spiritual and socioeconomic differences. I have many friends from various faiths, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds. There is a definite need for empathy and empowerment within the cultural sphere; human interactions are vital to our wellbeing, and acceptance of others cultural differences is helpful to understanding one another.

Dependent variables were asked for both perfectionism and depression symptoms. Participants responded with scores on the depression subscale containing 13 items measuring sadness, hopelessness, and loneness (e.g. “I just don’t care anymore.” and “No one understands me.”) There was approximately equal numbers of true or false and 4-point Likert scale items (Never=0, Sometimes=1, Often=2, Almost always= 3). The other key dependent variable for perfcetionsim asked participants to respond to a 22-item self-report scale with two subscales measuring SPP (“My family expects me to be perfect”) and SOP (“I want to be the best at everything I do.”) Participants rated the items on a 5-point Likert scale where 1 was not at all true for me and 5 was very true for me.

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.

Starting this course in August, I didn’t realize the power that multicultural counseling had instilled in it. The fact that its central focus is around social justice and equality is a characteristic our society much needs today. Throughout the duration of this class, I learned about multicultural counseling as a whole, new theories that can be applied specifically to different racial/ethnic minorities, the ACA code of ethics, and who I want to be as a future counselor.

In this case study I will explore certain possible dynamics related to culture and ethnicity that have been reported in relation to the psychology of Mexican Americans as well as other immigrant communities. Cristal is a 16-year-old Mexican American female. Cristal seems to be experiencing some distress in her life, which seems to stem from cultural conflict rather than inherent psychopathology. Cristal is struggling with the question of whether she should stay home and care for her mother and family or if she should go away to college. She

Perfectionistic is Traya’s limiting style. The percentile score received for this style was 63. This style can cause stress because the perfectionist tends to feel as if they have to be more than they are. They also feel as though they have to prove themselves on a consistent basis. Perfectionists seldom have a true sense of accomplishment, because they feel that the end product of whatever task they are working on is never good enough. They also are startle themselves with how irritable and angry they can get. This style is a hindrance to Traya’s work atmosphere because she becomes easily irritated and can irritate others. If Traya could change one of the behaviors associated with being a perfectionist, it would be the tendency to become easily irritated. If this could be eliminated, this would help created a more pleasant atmosphere.

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.

People behave accordingly to their culture which makes them to behavior in a certain direction. Thus, it is important for to a counselor to treat a client according to his or her culture. Some peoples' culture consists of religious beliefs, certain customs, rituals, which involves social, morals and values. Likewise, the part of a researcher is to deliver knowledge about the participant’s background and lifestyle which is essential for cultural competence (Sue & Sue, 2013, p. 9745). Also, (Code # A.2.c.) a researcher must respect their client’s culture and be culturally sensitive. Thus, it is important that researchers are culture competence when participants partake in a research study (ACA, 2014, p. 3). For this reason, the researcher most

From what I have read is that community counseling assist towards helping those in multicultural competence and towards social justice. They try to assist victims who are living in poverty, racism, sexism, which leaves individuals feeling powerless. Counselors recognize that need for healing that healthy environments provide. The counselors work towards both healthy human development and healthy community development. Today’s counselors are trained to be helpful towards the mental health clients as well as to be more tolerant, responsive and caring communities. Which they have to work this people coming from different multicultural races and respect persons from different groups and background. My thoughts are that with people coming in

Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience.