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Multicultural Key Strategies Multicultural Skills Training Team
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Becoming Aware of Your Own Worldview Multicultural Skills Training:
Operationalizing a Treatment, Training, and Research Model
OW1. Learning About Your Own Culture a. Literature: In order to understand the impact their cultures have on their professional work, counselors must commit to what McWhirter (1994) calls a continuous process of critical inquiry and learning about themselves. b. Marker: BEFORE entering into any multicultural therapeutic relationship, the therapist should become aware of her or his cultural heritage and historical background. c. Consequence: IF the therapist attends to his / her own cultural characteristics and norms, THEN the therapist will be more likely to create a culturally sensitive therapeutic relationship. d. Example: Therapists can increase their cultural self-knowledge through books, videos, workshops, culture-specific community events, dialogues with representatives of their own cultures, and personal therapy. OW2. Understanding Your Personal Worldview a. Literature: The counselor's worldview may not match the worldview of the client, which may lead to an empathic break in the therapeutic relationship. b. Marker: BEFORE starting work with culturally different clients, counselors must become aware of their own assumptions about life expectations, normative human functioning, as well as theories of and strategies for promoting clients' growth. c. Consequences: IF the therapist is aware that a variety of worldviews exists and has good knowledge of her or his own worldview, THEN he or she may be able to more thoroughly conceptualize clients' presenting problems, treatment needs, and goals. d. Example: How is the family unit defined? What are male and what are female roles? How does one address a person in position of authority or expertise? How does one greet clients at the beginning of the session? OW3. Appreciating Your Own Multiple Identities a. Literature: Therapists live within and identify with a multitude of contexts. Some examples include gender, age, spirituality, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, national origin, etc. (Hayes, 2001). b. Marker: WHEN working with culturally different clients, the therapist should examine the similarities and differences between him/herself and the client that arise from both of them holding multiple identities. c. Consequence: IF the therapist is aware of his or her own multiple identities, THEN he or she may be aware of the complex oppression and privilege matrix within which therapists and clients exist. d. Example: A White, female, heterosexual therapist may have similar experiences of sexism as her ethnically diverse female clients. However, she may have never experienced racism or heterosexism that her African American lesbian client experiences. OW4. Presenting Options with Limited Bias a. Literature: Sue et al. (1998) state that “culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge and understanding about how oppression, racism, discrimination, and stereotyping affect them personally and in their work. This allows them to acknowledge their own racist attitudes, beliefs, and feelings” (p. 38). b. Marker: IF the client is considering options that are contrary to the therapist's worldview or belief system, THEN the therapist must strive to assist the client in exploring ALL options that are valid from the client's point of view. c. Consequence: IF the therapist maintains awareness of her or his own assumptions and biases, THEN she or he will be less likely to steer the client in directions based on the therapist's values. d. Example: A client expresses high interest in a particular career path of which his family disapproves. The client is seeking career counseling to identify options that his family would accept. This approach clashes with your value of autonomy and presumption of individuation. OW5. Accepting Responsibility and Tolerating Ambiguity a. Literature: Culturally skilled counselors accept responsibility for the continuous process of becoming “aware of their own assumptions about human behavior, values, biases, preconceived notions, personal limitations, and so forth” (Sue et al., 1998, p.38). b. Marker: IF the client and the therapist reach a cultural or worldview impasse, THEN the therapist should accept responsibility for the empathic break and has to examine what cultural variables contributed to the impasse. c. Consequence: IF the therapist accepts responsibility for the impasse without defensiveness, THEN the client will likely feel safe to explore the difficult situation and the working alliance may be repaired. d. Example: “I feel as if I have been arguing a point with you the last few minutes without getting anywhere. I am starting to realize that we see the issue very differently. I wonder to what extent I am failing to understand your point of view because of our very different cultural backgrounds.” OW6: Recognizing Limits of Your Competence a. Literature: According to Sue et al. (1998), being able to seek further training or consultation as well as to assess accurately limits of competence and expertise are crucial skills in multiculturally competent counseling. b. Marker: IF the therapist has had no training with a particular population and has no access to adequate resources (i.e., literature, supervision, etc.), THEN the therapist has an ethical obligation to refer the client to a more culturally competent therapist. c. Consequences: IF the therapsit is diligent and genuine about his or her own limits of competence, the client's well-being is protected. d. Example: A therapist who has had extensive experience working with Latino and African-American clients should seek additional training and supervision BEFORE starting work with Pacific Islanders.
Copyright © 2004
Larisa Buhin.
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