The Cultural Influence Of Counseling African Americans

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

Because multicultural counseling can have a myriad of people with different personalities and backgrounds, many ethical procedures cannot address all the circumstances that a counselor could come across. According to Diller (2011) it is critical when preparing to work with clients of a particular ethnic group by doing research into the group’s history, culture, and health issues (p. 320). This would include not only academic, professional, or web searches, but travel,

Although the practice of counseling has evolved considerably since its inception, the concept of multicultural competence remains novel. Engrossed in the lives of every clinician are underlined biases and prejudices that act as filters in which every interaction with a clients is affected. Current research on the topic of multicultural counseling has shown that although multicultural awareness is on the rise there is still a remarkable gap in research regarding the use of counseling service and outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities (Kerney,Draper, & Baron, 2005). Insights such as these have encouraged researchers to investigate multicultural

They suggest going thorough certain Cultural Competence Assessments as a way to expand the facilities cultural knowledge, or cultural competence. The authors define culture competence as, “a term that describes what happens when special knowledge about individuals and groups of people is incorporated into standards, policies, and practices” (Working With Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families, 2008). They stress the necessity of staff being culturally competent for a number of reasons. Some of their reasons include; “Understanding and appreciating a client’s cultural background expand treatment opportunities, enhancing the sensitivity and capacity to treat clients from other cultures improves a program’s ability to treat all clients, and cultural competence is increasingly a requirement of funding and accreditation bodies” (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US),

Many studies and literature reviews were conducted in the direction of coming to an understanding of how cultural competency benefits service delivery. The human service sector offers direct service to a multicultural population and to be an effective organization in this sector it is of the utmost importance that it caters to this demographic. Service delivery for health practitioners and professionals in this field must include a comprehensive understanding of the dimensions of differences in perspectives and cultures and how these have a direct correlation to their patient’s outcomes. Individuals of diverse groups do encounter incongruities in their treatment, quality, access, and engagement to healthcare; these differences are more visibly noted with

When considering a career in mental health, people do not immediately consider cultural diversity. Instead, images of depression, couches, notepads, antidepressants, and clients pouring their hearts out fill the potential therapist’s head. As the student begins their journey however, they learn how important cultural diversity is to the profession of mental health. Issues range from the shifting nature of the ethnic population, to the differing needs among groups. The fact is most mental health counselors remain part of the dominant white northern European population making studying cultural diversity an important element of a well-rounded mental health background (Johnson & Williams, 2014). Cultural diversity is defined as a group of

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.

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.

Upon hearing multicultural counseling, culturally diverse counseling, or counseling of diverse populations most people may think of groups that differ from the dominant culture in our society, such as, race, culture, ethnicity, etc. Many people do not think beyond these categories to consider a second tier of diversity, for instance, age, disability, sexual orientation, etc. What is the dominant culture? In most references the comparison is associated with the White Euro-American norms. The basic assumption that heterosexuality is the only normal path of all human beings creates a need for counseling trainees to consider the hidden minority group of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues (GLBT).

The article A mixed methodological analysis of the role of culture in the clinical decision-making process is written by Hays, Prosek and McLeod (2010). In this article, the authors indicate that counseling process in the United States becomes more complex due to the dramatic growth of racial/ethnic minority populations. In this article, researchers try to address how culture as a factor impacts the clinical decision-making process with clients, and a special focus on clients’ cultural identities, counselors’ (including counseling trainees) biases and stereotypes towards clients’ cultural identities, and cultural matches between clients and counselors are also investigated.

According to (Ihara, 2004), health systems are beginning to adopt comprehensive strategies to respond to the needs of racial and ethnic minorities for numerous reasons. For instance, there are increasingly more state and federal guidelines that encourage or mandate greater responsiveness of health systems to the growing population diversity. Strategies such as this, could be seen as vital to meeting the federal government’s Health People 2010 goal of eradicating racial and ethnic health disparities. Health systems are finding that developing and enforcing cultural competence strategies are a sound business practice to raise the interest and participation of both providers and patients in their plans among racial and ethnic minority populations.

Training in cultural diversity is an important skill to obtain in the health care field. Cultural competence is required of nurses to assist patients in achieving greater health and well-being. This envelops an understanding of the diverse nature of cultures existing in the United States. In providing culturally competent care, nurses must understand a patient’s values and beliefs to create an individualized care plan that meets the patient’s own individual needs. One racial group within the United States we will be examining in particular with this workshop is Black Americans. This group will encompass those who identify is African American, Blacks who do not identify as African Americans, as well as those Black individuals from other countries

Multicultural counseling is the assimilation of cultural identities in the counseling process. Cultural identity is affected by ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social environment, and spiritual affiliation. Diversity can be found in every area of the world, and therefore, knowing and practicing ethics in relation to multicultural counseling is necessary for best practices. Diverse clients have been known to terminate and underuse counseling for a variety of reasons. Counselors should challenge long-held beliefs with multicultural perspectives to enhance decision-making and communication. There are a number of ethical considerations to be aware of for counselors with a diverse clientele. The client’s values, background, identity, community,

​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

Whether you are a part of the minority group or of the majority group we all have differences and similarities. We are all unique beings and there is no other person that is exactly like us. Becoming more familiar with all cultures can positively affect our counseling services. If we do not become familiar we are doing a disservice to ourselves and our future clients. There is no excuse to not learn more for our profession, especially because it has been proven by evidence-based practices that cultural competency is needed when working with diverse clients. This is an important concept to remember as a