Essay Systems and Multi Cultural Approaches p

Below, I will discuss the results of a multicultural self-assessment that I took. I will describe a time in which I felt “other”. I will then proceed to explain my personal feelings regarding each. I will discuss a course of action I plan to take as a result of the multicultural assessment. I will develop a counseling identity statement. Finally, I will explain why multicultural awareness and cultural competency are important in the field of counseling.

As a psychology major, it is important to know how to work with diverse populations, especially in today’s society. It seems that there are more cultural groups today, compared to the past because of groups such as LGBTQ and an increase in immigration to America from more countries than just Europe and Africa. In America, we expect people to know how to speak English and have a basic understanding of the American culture, but for the most part, Americans lack a willingness to understand other people’s cultures. While some do not want to take the time to understand different cultures, those individuals who work with diverse populations have to understand different cultures in order to truly help those from diverse situations. In order to learn

Appleby, G A., & Anastas, J.W. (1998). Not just a passing phase: Social work with gay, lesbian and bisexual people (pp. 3–43, 44-75). New York: Columbia University Press.

The purpose of this paper is to explore various considerations when counseling members of the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender community (LGBT). When counseling LGBT members, the psychology professional must be aware of various factors that may influence effective treatment. For instance, the historical treatment of the LGBT community by the mental health profession is important to understand in order to make strides at improving institutional attitudes and approaches. Other factors such as community perceptions, interfamily relations and cultural bias are all relevant to successful therapeutic outcomes. This paper aims to discuss these factors in order to present a comprehensive review of the cultural considerations involved with counseling the LGBT community.

Child behavior analysis are great spectators, caring, and have a magnificently composed and relational ability; which is the reason, I believe it’s imperative to study this program within a school that underlines cultural awareness, competence, and understanding of diversity. Furthermore, cultural awareness is the establishment of correspondence, and it includes the capacity for being mindful of our communal qualities, convictions, and observations; competence is being equipped or fit for performing an allocated capacity; and comprehension of assorted qualities (diversity) infers understanding that every individual is one of a kind, and perceiving our individual contracts. Besides, what these three words mean, I can conclude that communal mindfulness (cultural awareness), ability/ or skill (competence), and comprehensions of qualities (diversity) are crucial in psychology. Why? A school that is socially mindful is opting to provide students splendid courses with universal and social essentialness. A multicultural fitness instills school therapists with the basic abilities important to set up an affinity with students, their families of a bunch of ethnic and social backgrounds, and go up against expert predispositions and assumptions that may conceivably bring a misdiagnosis. Therefore, cultural awareness, competence, and understanding of diversity are a must for me to study this discipline at school because it helps behavior analysts' endeavor to individuals to carry out individual objectives, decrease enduring, and enhance/ or improve their own fulfillment. In addition, it is a deliberate, information-based way to deal with examining, understanding, and changing human behavior.

Throughout the course of the first semester we as a Psychology class learned a whole variety of different and varying concepts of Psychology. Chapter one we went over all the different ways psychologists study behaviors and mental processes. Included were the contemporary perspectives, such as behavioral, which focuses on behavior that is observed. Psychodynamic focuses on our fantasies and our hidden motives. Humanistic is all about our free will and conscious choices. Physiological is the relationships between biological processes and behavior. Cognitive perspective is our acquired knowledge, and last but not least is sociocultural, which places great value on the role of cultural and social influences on our behavior.

The article helped me to understand that multicultural counseling plays a major part in the understanding of the client. Understanding my own biases regarding multiculturalism based upon my own racial group and identity will fundamentally impact my counseling approach. My Way of Being with the client in the counseling session will be directly affect by my ability to understand his or her cultural differences.

In the beginning of the course I had very little knowledge about the theories in multicultural counseling. I knew that it was centrally focused around social justice and equality but I didn’t know there were theories that pertained to specific ethnic minorities. I also learned that there isn’t a one size fits all theory. What I learned was that each model needs to be unique to the client and very well rounded; it should include a specific goal(s), describe the process, “have both aspects of cognition and emotion, and include justice and equity as well.” (Jun 2010) I have learned that as a multicultural counselor you have to be very aware and mindful of your thoughts and actions. I learned that there is a lot that is integrated into multicultural counseling and it isn’t cut and dry. There are varieties of concepts, such as being aware of oppression, continuous self-reflection, awareness of impact that a multicultural counselor can have on an individual, etc. (Jun, 2010)

Multiculturalism in education is an essential element in shaping America’s increasingly diverse society by reducing racism. This research takes a look at the relationship between multiculturalism and how educating the youth would cure racism. Multiculturalism is the view that cultural differences should be respected or even encouraged. The concept of multiculturalism reduces racism in our society because it forces people to communicate and understand individuals’ cultures that are different from theirs. Multiculturalism is very important in our Society. It helps us look at other cultures

"Conversely, multicultural psychology is the study of multiple cultural groups in the same context. Cultural groups influence one another when they are in the same sociocultural context; the strength of this influence is largely dependent on the power and status that cultural groups have in society. All the cultural groups discussed in this textbook have ethnic minority status. Thus, multicultural psychology is the study not only of culture, but also of the sociopolitical issues that ethnic minority persons face in the United States. Although cross-national issues are of importance in psychology, issues of dealing with persons of multiple cultural backgrounds in the United States are more likely to affect the lives of most American students. There are several cross-cultural psychology textbooks that address multicultural psychology within a single national and sociopolitical context" (Hall & Barongan, 2002).

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

Multicultural competence is the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures. There are four major components present when discussing multicultural competence: (1) the individual (me) must be aware of one’s own cultural views, (2) know ones attitude towards cultural differences, (3) Knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, and (4) having cross-cultural skills (Adapted from class 2 and 3 definitions handout, as adapted from Pope, R.L. & Reynolds, A. L. (1997)). How does one gain this competency though? Is it ever truly obtainable? I would argue that every person, no matter upbringing or background, has the ability to become more multicultural competent. This semester we were

In Chapter 10 of Rudolph K. Sanders’ book, Christian Counseling Ethics: A Handbook for Psychologists, Therapists and Pastors, Mark Yarhouse, Jill Kays and Stanton Jones discuss the “sexual minority” as it pertains to the field of professional counseling. This group is defined as “individuals with same sex attractions or behavior, regardless of self-identification” (Sanders, et. al., 2013, p. 252). By looking at counseling the homosexual community through its etiology, standards by which a counselor should proceed with treatment, and the options a client has on deciding treatment options, we can be better prepared as Christian counselors to be better prepared in serving the needs of others.

Although Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and homosexuality has been in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for many years, I was personally unaware of the controversy that surrounded it. I realized that I needed to educate myself in the issues and changes that have occurred in the DSM regarding GID and homosexuality over the years.

The queerness experience of Latino and African-American folks are very alike. Both ethnic/racial group members not only share culture with similar features, but they also are exposed to the same systematic oppression experience. Latino and African-American queer people likewise have to deal with racism, xenophobic and homophobic sentiment, on a daily basis. Such oppression comes from their most meaningful source of support, which is their family and social community. Both African-American and Latino culture share a similar concept of meaning and purpose of a family as well as religious belief. These are not very queer friendly and make their community an oppressive environment. It is imperative to examine the interaction between ethnic/racial and sexual identity and how it affects the psychosocial well-being of sexual minorities. Likewise, to explore how group therapy can be used to their advantages.