Integrative Reflection Paper
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Integrative Reflection Paper
Introduction
Growing up in the Germanic suburbs at the heart of northeast Ohio, I did not encounter much diversity. I was exposed to very little variety. My knowledge and experience with different races and cultures have gradually grown during my college years. Although I did not grow up in a multicultural setting, I have always had a particular interest in understanding other people’s cultures. Despite reading much content about different cultures, the ultimate test to multicultural competence comes when working with someone from a diverse cultural background.
The contemporary society of the United States is ever increasing in its diversity. However, in the counseling profession, the largest population is still mostly White and all English speaking. With growing diversity, it is most probable that mental health service providers will encounter numerous cross-cultural and cross-ethnic therapeutic interactions. Since the ethical provisions of the administration of mental health services require cultural competence, it is crucial to understand the varying personal attributes service providers bring into the intervention engagement that affects multicultural fluency.
In the profession, numerous studies explore the concept of cultural competence to understand whether lower stages of White racial identity and higher color-blind racial perceptions would indicate more moderate multicultural counseling skills, knowledge, and awareness. The White racial identity model encompasses six stages that focus on eliminating racism and fostering a more positive, non-racist White identity. The initial steps include contact disintegration and reintegration. The later stages involve pseudo-independence, immersion, and autonomy. These stages enable an individual to use their current position to examine and react to the existing race-related inputs.
Besides White racial identity, a related phenomenon of color-blind racial perceptions involves the denial, distortion, and reduction of the prevalence of race and racism. Color-blind racial views happen across three domains. They include unawareness of racial privilege, unconcealed racial issues, and unawareness of institutional discrimination. These three domains have adverse implications for cross-ethnic therapeutic interactions. Deleterious
Different identifiers and how their Impacts on the clinical set-up
Race
The race is mainly perceived as a genetic trait such as skin color, although there is not sufficient evidence relating race with genetic information. Thus, some of the distinct physical characteristics that inform our perceptions about particular racial groups may occur in people who do not belong to a perceived racial group. However, although race lacks a genetic explanation, the race concept is crucial in the cultural competence discussion.
Race refers to the social construct that defines individuals with shared physical traits. The concept of race can have tremendous social implications related to behavioral health, social opportunities, wealth, and status. The general assumption that people with similar physical characteristics also have shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and ways of life can significantly influence individuals’ lives. However, they may not identify with a particular race. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the dominant social groupings comprise African Americans, Caucasian or White Americans, Asian Americans, Indian Natives, and Pacific Islanders. This classification is limiting because these categories are developed to describe the distinct populations currently living in the United States.
It is important to note that some racial labels in one setting may not always have a definite meaning in other contexts; therefore, the definition of a particular race can change depending on one’s environment. Besides racial categories, do not adequately account for the complexity of multiracial identities. Population projections indicate that the total population of the United States that identifies as a mixed-race will grow exponentially over the next couple of decades. Different racial groups have varying cultures with varying religions, histories, beliefs, languages, and practices, all of which influence the individual. Therefore, in the discussion about cultural competence, it is vital to note the varying racial backgrounds to inform intervention processes.
Ethnicity
Although the term ethnicity and race apply interchangeably, they are distinct concepts. In this context, ethnicity defines the social identity and mutual sense of belonging. It identifies a group of people through similar family or historical backgrounds with similar family origins, beliefs, and standard way of behavior. In other settings, ethnicity defines the identification within a group whose identity originates in race and culture. Ethnicity is distinct from a race in that various groups can identify common racial ancestry but have varying ethnic identities. Therefore, by definition, ethnicity, unlike race, is entirely a cultural phenomenon that relies on similar cultural and family heritage together with shared values and beliefs rather than the same physical attributes.
Generally, ethnicity refers to the social group setting that identifies with shared historical, cultural, political, and national heritage. Ethnicity encompasses shared language, traditions, customs, ancestry, and characteristic physical traits distinct among people. Besides, ethnicity is informed by the particular geographical region of a specific social group. For instance, one might be referred to as Black due to his association with social, economic, and political encounters alongside the distinct physical characteristics of the specific group. However, the individual’s ethnicity may change because he identifies with the cultural, political, historical, and national heritage of another group from a different part. Scientists posit that ethnicity has massive implications on how individuals perceive themselves and experience the world around them. Hence, ethnicity is a big influencer of psychological wellbeing.
Considering the relationship between cultural ethnicity and psychological wellbeing, the concept of ethnicity is a massive variable in the exploration of cross-cultural counseling interactions. Categories of social groups provide the basis for meaning and context for individual and group encounters. Hence, understanding the ethnicity of an individual can give a counselor with a guideline to understand the person from a specific cultural notion.
Culture
Every human community defines its culture. Culture refers to the structured way people view the world and involves the specific sets of beliefs, values, and norms that define the nature of relationships, how people interact with their environments, and how they lead their lives. Culture is an intricate and resourceful concept. The comprehension of society requires dedication to explore and internalize the various elements of culture and their interactions. The main traits of culture involve a common heritage and history that are inherited over generations, together with shared values, behaviors, arts, customs, beliefs, traditions, and institutions. It also encompasses common patterns of communication and language and similar patterns of socialization and interactions. Although these traits may not strictly apply to all cultural groups, they succeed in defining different cultures that make groups distinct to their members and others.
Nonetheless, culture does not exist as a definable entity to which people should subscribe or not. Within the United States setting, people belong to various cultural groups. Each is defined by unique sets of spoken and unspoken standards and rules that define the appropriateness and inappropriateness of certain behaviors, thoughts, and views. Culture is used to describe the different ways of groups that are formed based on sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, profession, disability, geographical region, and membership to specific groups. In multicultural counseling practice, cultural identity shapes the identity of and individual, including race, religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, crucial to defining the interaction processes.
Multicultural Identifiers Strengths and Challenges
With the growing diversity in the population, counselors need to update themselves on the dynamic demands of the cultural competency. Because diversity encompasses features such as sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, gender, and language, there is a need for constant meta-analysis to evaluate the progress in diversity. Consequently, mental health providers need to adjust to the rapid development of cultural competence that accompanies changing population demographics
Strengths
With the rapid development in diversity, one field that is subject to change is health psychology. Culturally competent service providers are useful resources for the restoration of wellness. Greater variety is introducing new concepts of self-identity such as gay, lesbian, and bisexual. Besides, changes in family configurations and lifestyles influence the incidences of chronic conditions and disabilities. Hence, service providers who demonstrate high-level culture proficiency are more adaptable to deliver high-quality services, as they are capable of handling an array of issues.
With the changing population demographics and a steady increase in the minority population, there is a perceived obstacle to the language barrier. This barrier limits the accessibility of health services for the public. This gap creates the need for culturally competent health psychologists to address the surging social and racial health disparities. Therefore, cultural competence enables mental health providers to design more innovative interventions to address the population’s varying needs.
Challenges of Cultural Diversity
Over the last few decades, counseling proponents have advocated migration from a monocultural approach to a multicultural model. One postulation of the nursing ethics that service providers should not cause any form of harm to the consumer. Because of the migration to a multicultural approach, clients might be frustrated by a monocultural approach causing them to decline using mental health services. To deliver satisfactory services, counselors must possess a comprehensive understanding of their culture as well as that of the service users. This introduces the most significant challenge in multicultural service delivery that includes difficulty in selecting the most appropriate skills to apply to help the counselor work effectively within diverse populations.
Another issue in counseling in the multicultural setting encompasses personal bias and behaviors exhibited by some service providers resulting in cultural insensitivity. There is a need to foster cultural awareness, knowledge, and counseling skills to overcome this challenge. Including faculty members with diverse cultural backgrounds introduces new values, experiences, and worldviews essential in the counseling profession in the ethical mandate of social justice.
Strategies to enhance multicultural competency
Learn about yourself
The best way to get started in cultural proficiency is by exploring and understanding their historical background, values, and beliefs. This process involves the description of ancestors and their encounters, evaluating the family functions, and characterizing the most representative form of thoughts such as emotional or rational, me-centered, or we-centered. This assessment of self allows participants to establish the pervasive impacts of culture on individual lives that make one aware of existing biases. It also sparks open-minded curiosity about other cultures.
Interact with diverse groups
In a multicultural counseling setting, professionals can enhance their cultural competence when working with unfamiliar cultures. For instance, in the new environment, take a friend or two for recommendations and discussions about various aspects. An essential part of the development is supporting clinical settings with non-clinical social interactions. Proponents explain that interacting within the broad context of new culture such as events, religious services, and parties are more effective that interacting solely with members of cultural diversity.
Learn about different cultures
When practicing in unfamiliar backgrounds, it is essential first to gain cultural insights into other settings. This evaluation is achievable through academic books and journal articles. One of the most effective strategies of immersing into another culture and worldview is learning a second language. Learning a new language allows one to demonstrate greater reach out and connect with people of different cultures. Besides, one of the most mind-challenging encounters is learning new words and concepts that do not exist in their language.
Attend diversity-focused conferences
Getting a formal education and diversity-related training on practice issues and meeting potential collaborators on diversity issues will enhance cultural competence among psychologists. It is vital to keep track of professional organization calendars for upcoming meetings. Such initiatives allow service providers to explore how sciences can be more sensitive to changing population demographics, thus providing insights into diverse communities that face marginalization.
Actions You Might Consider In Advocacy
The concept of social justice contains two parts: ensuring that all members of society access equal opportunities, freedoms, and rights. The second part focuses on helping vulnerable persons in the community. Counselors can advocate for social justice at individual capacity or group settings. Counselors mostly participate in advocacy because mental health therapy is not adequate and equally accessible across the diverse American population. Intervention often requires linking service users with useful community resources that enhance the quality of life. In the advocacy for social justice, psychologists can help overcome individual and community biases and prejudices by taking stances against intentional and unintentional discrimination and oppression of minority groups, through this advocacy, counselors’ foster individual self-awareness that is crucial for empowerment and good social change.
Counselors can assume various actions in the advocacy for social justice. One such strategy involves client empowerment. This refers to the belief in one’s capacity to effect change. Although counselors are crucial assets in the community because they possess the knowledge and resources to act on behalf of society, they can only be available for a restricted period. Therefore, counselors must empower their clients through offering education, evaluating their strengths, training the values of self-talk, positive thinking, and new skills, including communication skills.
In their role as advocates, counselors can agitate for clients through various entities that offer help for the vulnerable. Such entities may include agencies, health systems, community resources, educational systems, and organizations. For instance, in advocating for a child enduring discrimination from peers, a counselor can schedule a meeting with the administration and proposes various strategies the school can use to curb such vices.
Another strategy counselors can assume as advocates are by collaborating with the community. Through community leaders, counselors can work with the community, leaders, and agencies such as the police to address a surge in violent and aggressive behavior against a minority population. Organizing parades and community gatherings can help raise awareness about pertinent issues in the community, such as violence.
How Multicultural Competence Content Fits In Personal Religious/Spiritual/Pastoral Orientation
Inclusivity
The concept of cultural competence relates to my orientation in an inclusive society. My perceptions of a progressing community are that it does not discriminate against its members irrespective of the numerous variations and capacities members possess. The cultural proficiency approach seeks to enhance social justice and inclusivity of all members of society. The inspiration for inclusivity challenges the notion of White racial concepts and foster color-blind perception to bridge any existing gaps towards achieving an inclusive community irrespective of the diversity.
Equality and Parity
The advocacy for social justice and cultural competence seeks to enhance equality and parity among all members of society. In this line, I feel it matches my interest in achieving an equitable society that presents equal opportunities for all its members. This objective of social justice aligns with my orientation because it highlights the interplay of racial discrimination in the distribution and access to health services. In my pursuit as a counselor, it has been my ambition to ensure equitable access to health services, more so for mental health services.
Non-Judgemental Approach
My spiritual orientation prescribes that we should avoid judging others. Similarly, the postulation of the profession prohibits service providers from being judgemental. This notion ascribes to the fact that all individuals are intrinsically different. Thus, this point is essential for service providers and the public to acknowledge the differences that exist among individuals and respect others’ uniqueness. Therefore, it is vital to embrace every individual’s uniqueness to promote an integrated and cohesive society.