- As a counselor, what does multicultural counseling means to you when working with client/students?
As a counselor, multicultural counseling is a practice involving culturally sensitive interventions to diverse clients. Some of the factors that may differentiate clients that I may work with in the future include race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and many other factors. Culturally diverse clients typically show differences in their beliefs, values, norms, and traditions. As a counselor, I am expected to consider all aspects of my clients' worldview when picking treatment methods. I should use a flexible and adaptive approach, including seeking cultural-specific guidance when working with diverse clients that I have little or no knowledge of. Multicultural counseling also requires me to respect my clients' autonomy in making decisions regarding their care. They should have a say on things that they want to be included in therapy to make them comfortable with the process. Overall, multicultural counseling requires counselors to use multicultural competency methods in their practice. - How has your worldview shaped you as a counselor?
Worldview is a comprehensive conception of the world from an individual standpoint. One of the things in my worldview is the belief that humans have both the good and bad sides that influence their lives in one way or another. Since humans are rational, they can control their harmful desires and live a more positive and fulfilling life. As a counselor, I usually attempt to understand whether my client has destructive thoughts that may be negatively affecting their lives. This knowledge enables me to try to change the harmful thoughts by replacing them with positive ones. Also, I believe that people should live harmoniously with nature. I also have a collectivist worldview that considers family and community relationships crucial as individual relationships. I also tend to be past-oriented due to my concern with traditional values and ways of doing things. These worldviews have taught me to examine my clients at the micro, meso, and macro levels to understand them better and offer effective services. - How have your own culture, values, and biases shaped you as a counselor?
As an African American, I grew up in a culture that emphasizes collective responsibility. There is a lot of emphasis on family dynamics as the locus of responsibility, including extended networks of family members and friends. Moreover, religion plays a vital role in my life since I grew up in a religious family and community. The culture of communication of people in my community tends to be expressive and highly animated. As a counselor, I am aware of how my culture and values influence my approach to counseling. For example, I tend to emphasize the role of the family as a source of support and a source of pride and belonging. Moreover, I usually attempt to understand my clients' spirituality since I was raised in a highly religious background. I also focus on building trust with them in intentional ways, as this element plays a critical role in interpersonal relationships in my culture. - What are your strengths when working with clients/students from different cultures?
One of my strengths is cultural self-awareness because I am conscious of my own cultural background and experiences and their impact on my attitudes, values, and biases. This knowledge can enable me to detect and eliminate biases that may interfere with my work with clients from different cultures. I also have the capability to learn and understand my clients' worldview through cognitive empathy. The knowledge can assist me in avoiding stereotyped generalizations that may be detrimental to the counseling relationship. In addition, I am tolerant of other people's social, cultural, religious, and spiritual beliefs, even when I do not agree with them. My other strength is flexibility and the ability to adjust my approach so as to accommodate my clients' beliefs, values, and norms. I can conduct effective assessments and create interventions that are sensitive to the clients' worldview, such as oppression, racism, and sexism. Overall, I am confident in my ability to work well with students or clients from different cultures. - Which cultures/populations will be the most challenging for you and why?
Working with different cultures or populations can sometimes be challenging for counselors—one of the populations that I may experience challenges working with different sexual orientations. The reason why I have a problem dealing with different sexual orientations, especially the LGBT community, is because I do not fully understand their struggles and limitations. I am heterosexual, which means that I may not face as much discrimination, public humiliation, and agonizing struggles that the LGBT community faces. As such, lack of exposure can make it difficult for me to recognize and empathies adequately with the different ways that their experiences are different from mine. That is the reason why I should learn more about how to address these challenges and provide better services to these populations.
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