Multicultural Counseling

Assistant Professor Michele MallettFellowship of Christian Counselors

February 9, 2007

Objectives

Define multiculturalism

Theory related to multicultural counseling

Multicultural counseling as a professional discipline

Cultural competence

Tasks of the multicultural counselor

Barriers to multicultural counseling

Defining Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism—the professional disposition to acknowledge and appreciate cultural diversity.

• People vary by gender, race, ethnicity, religion, ability, sexual orientation, social class, age, national origin, and unique experiences over the course of life.

Putting Culture in Context

Encompasses a collective reality of a group of people that results in attitudes, behaviors, and formed.

Counseling has traditionally be a professional discipline representative of European and European American culture.

Culture as Ethnicity Dynamics considered in culturally responsive counseling

Relationship between ethnic identity and

• Degree of acculturation

• Strong sense of ethnic identity/high degree of acculturation

• Weak sense of ethnic identity/high degree of acculturation

• Strong sense of ethnic identity/low degree of acculturation

• Weak sense of ethnic identity/low degree of acculturation

Culture as Ethnicity

• Language• Mastery of language implies mastery of culture

• Kinship influences• Immediate and extended family, friends, or

community cultural resources

• Sex role socialization• Awareness of how gender based differences

play into decision making and problem resolution

Culture as Ethnicity

• Religious/spiritual influence

• Immigration experience• Forced separation from homeland and family;

stress to conform to the dominant culture

• Historical hostility• Long term pattern of exploitation and

oppression; can manifest in hostility to helper and helping process

Theory related to multicultural counseling

Cultural Identity Development Theory Members of a particular

cultural group go through different stages or statuses marked by different attitudes toward their own and other cultural groups

Attitudes and behaviors are the result of a cognitive and emotional process surrounding relationship to their own cultural group

The relationship one has with those in their own cultural group determines their relationship to other cultural groups

Racial identity is a group collective identity based on common heritage with that group

Adapting to Dominant Culture

Individuals choose to deal with living in the dominant culture that is different from their own by:

• Moving toward

• Moving against

• Moving away

Adapting to Dominant Culture

Lack of identification with the dominant culture may result in:

• Isolation

• Passivity

• Increased stress

• Anxiety

• Depression

Constructivism vs. Social Construction

Constructivism—understanding of another must access the meaning associated with a particular action and the meaning being understood within context.

• Counselor must interpret within context within culture in which client functions

Social construction focus is on mutually-agreed upon meaning of a particular group and their role in shaping individual constructions.

Constructivism vs. Social Construction

Constructivism

• Access the meaning clients give to experiences within their culture

• There are multiple truths, meanings, and constructions and one story is not considered truth over another.

• Counseling is an effort to construct meanings that can provide for more cultural harmony.

Constructivism vs. Social Construction

Social construction• Society has constructed the concept of race, has

created a finite number of racial categories based on certain physical characteristics, and has agreed that these socially constructed categories are biologically rather than culturally determined.

• Social differences may change over time because they are socially constructed and inaccurate therefore subject to change.

• Meaning and values given to physical attributes of skin color

Multicultural Counseling as a Professional Discipline

Traditional counseling theory enriched by notion that cultural differences are real and must be actively considered in mental health intervention.

International perspective on counseling as a force in human development

Multicultural Counseling as a Professional Discipline

Social responsibility of counselors and the need to consider negative effects of oppression on culturally diverse groups.

• Problems may lie in intolerant or restrictive environments

• Counselors are called upon to be agents of systemic change

Multicultural Counseling as a Professional Discipline

Emergence of a new type of counselor. One who has the awareness, knowledge, and skill to intervene successfully in diverse clients lives.

• Considers the client’s experiences as well as his/her own personal experiences.

Multicultural Counseling as a Professional Discipline

Multiculturalism can contribute to counseling by clarifying • How culture shapes the behavior of all human beings

• How cultural norms, values, and expectations contribute to the problems for which people seek counseling

• How each culture develops institutions and mechanisms to help individuals deal with such problems

• How special problems arise in a multicultural society

• How these problems can be addressed

Cultural Competence—Self Awareness

• How do you define problems?

• What is your style of problem solving?

• Which characteristics do you view as strengths and which as weaknesses?

• Attitudes and beliefs about others values and behaviors

• Spirituality and the role religion plays in your life

• Value place on individualism, family, and community

• Comfort with certain topics

• How is respect demonstrated and who and what is entitled to respect?

• Own internalized social constructs

Cultural Competence

Understanding cultural differences

• Learning more about the reality of client’s lives

• Understand that values vary among individuals and variations may be influenced by a person’s identity or membership in a group experience.

• Becoming knowledgeable about different groups

Cultural Competence

Don’t assume that ethnic identity tells you anything about the person

Question what you “know” about a client from a different culture and test it with each person

Sensitivity to the intracultural experience as opposed to intercultural overcomes the danger of categorization.

Barriers Questioning competence in working with culturally

diverse clients

Focusing on cultural dissimilarities may accentuate human differences and have the potential for fostering renewed forms of intolerance.

Assumptions that all people from a specific cultural group are the same and one approach is applicable in all situations

Barriers

Lack of ethical guidelines in working with culturally diverse clients.

Being unaware of cultural dynamics and their impact on psychosocial development.

Counseling profession not highly valued or seen as a valid helping resource among certain groups of people.

Barriers

Moving beyond awareness and knowledge to actual practice.

Perception of counseling as a tool of oppression and social control (forced rather than a voluntary experience)

Tasks of the multicultural counselor

Build a Relationship

Why Build a Relationship?

• To discover the issues related to the person’s area of diversity and how they deal with those issues.

• To increase awareness of their own prejudice, stereotypes and bias.

Build a Relationship

Achieving a Balanced Relationship

Factors that affect the process

• Preconceived perceptions of roles

• Values and beliefs concerning power and status

• The ability of both parties to identify and appreciate each other’s strengths

• The ability of both parties to accept and respect diversity

Build a Relationship

Achieving a Balanced Relationship

Factors that affect the process (cont’d)

• The ability to overcome judgmental interpretations regarding weaknesses perceived in each other.

• The ability to demonstrate an understanding of the dynamics of powerlessness and its consequences.

Counseling Relationships Gather information from a variety of sources to gain

an understanding about the culture

Teach how to cope effectively with feeling isolated in mainstream America or rejected by their own culture

Support by providing an avenue to express feelings and handle emotional responses to assimilating to new culture

Counseling Relationships

Build a trusting relationship

Facilitate mentoring relationship particularly with children

Group counseling may be effective because of sense of community

Family counseling may be effective due to family being a major part of psychosocial development

References Segal, Elizabeth. Gerdes, Karen. Steiner, Sue. 2004. Social

Work an Introduction to the Profession. Belmont, CA. Brooks/Cole-Thomson Learning.

Das, Ajit K. Rethinking Multicultural Counseling: Implication for Counselor Education. Journal of Counseling and Development, 07489633, Sept/Oct 95, Vol. 74 Issue 1 retrieved from Academic Search Premier June 29, 2005.

Lee, C.C. (1997). Multicultural Issues in Counseling: New Approaches to Diversity. 2nd ed. Alexandria. Va. American Counseling Association.

Sciarra, Daniel T. (1999). Multiculturalism in Counseling. Itasaca, Illinois. F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc.