Multicultural Care - Assignment Example

Running head: MULTICULTURAL CARE 8th October Part I Question One of the factors that made Ms. Lamas to believe that she was unable to learn English, unable to make a living, unable to say no to others, and unable to live independently from others and that she was an immigrant from Colombia. Additionally, she was a victim of an intimate partner as well as lack of financial assistance from her sons. Question 2 One of the major traumatic events that affected Ms. Lamas’ presentation was the La Violencia, a conflict that occurred in Columbia (Comas-Diaz, 2011). Even though the conflict did not affect her directly, she was traumatized by the nature of suffering in the neighborhood. Additionally, she was traumatized by assault from the husband and other male friends, poor financial status and lack of support and companion from her children. Question 3 In order to ensure that Ms. Lamas freely expressed her needs and better communicate with others, the counselor provided the client with permission to express herself without judging her. Additionally, the counselor validated the client’s feelings of abandonment, helplessness and isolation. Question 4 The cultural beliefs that the counselor took into account when conceptualizing Ms. Lamas’ case included the role of women and men, culture shock stages, bicultural identity as well as valuing the culture of others just the way she valued her culture. Question 5 Ms. Lamas’ immigration experience and minority status exposed her to discrimination. For example, for being a Latino immigrant she was discriminated an aspect that led to depression and anxiety. Similarly, she felt guilt after migrating to US (Hays and Iwamasa, 2006). This was due to the way she was ignored and informed to do things as a woman Question 6 Ms. Lamas expect her sons to take care of her due to the way she underwent great financial hardship while she provided for them. Due to lack of adequate finance, she was even unable to pay for their fees. Question 7 In order to build a strong relationship with Ms Lamas, the counselor ensured that the information regarding the counseling approach was provided to the client. Additionally, the counselor utilized self-disclosure where it was necessary. Rather than viewing the client symptoms as manifestations of pathology, the counselor also informed her that they were specialized coping behaviors. As a result, the client was able to express herself freely. Question 8 The counselor helping Ms. Lamas develop a bicultural identity by first providing her with psychoeducation. Additionally, the counselor normalized her thoughts as well as feelings that touched on her experiences as a migrant. Apart from being informed to value other culture just like her culture, Ms. Lamas was informed by the counselor to refrain from describing cultural beliefs as good or bad. Question 9 One of the major interventions I would use with Ms. Lamas is to inform her on the achievement he has achieved for example, the academic excellence, and the two licenses in massaging and facials. The two skills were provided by other individuals who were not his father or brothers who were not assisting her. In this way, the client will have an opportunity to appreciate other people, and culture. Question 10 If Ms. Lamas was a 51 year-old white American woman who was born in Cleveland, OH, I would inform her need to first appreciate cultural diversity. As a city that holds Black Americans apart from the white, Cleveland has different culture that requires residents to value each other. Part II Trauma Trauma entails emotional response caused by a terrible accident, natural disaster or experience. In the case of Ms. Lamas, trauma was as a result of bullying, domestic, emotional and physical violence that she experienced. Ms. Lamas’ trauma was due to her female gender, an aspect that exposed her to physical abuse by men (Comas-Diaz, 2011). The counselor advised her client of the power she possessed to an extent of overcoming the experiences she faced in his family and on the hands of her male friends. The counselor address was that such empowerment relies on and emerges the dynamic processes of freedom and will and it is the one that make it possible for the client to confront and actualize her inner potentialities for living. Gender Ms. Lamas undergoes various experiences that are based on her female gender. For example, the cultural roles of male and female that he faces once she migrated to US, makes her to feel inferior and discriminated. The counselor validated the feeling of guilt due to her client issues regarding her gender socialization (Comas-Diaz and Greene, 1994). One of the ways in which the counselor addressed the client’s gender socialization was by doing the following: “Issues regarding her gender socialization and her cultural background were explored. Ms. Lamas was invited to look at how these issues have influenced her life experiences and her current thoughts and behaviors” (Comas-Diaz, 2011). In my intervention, I would expose Ms. Lamas to various female individuals in the world who have attained a success that not many men can get to that position. Additionally, I would show her such people once had experiences like her but their personal power took them there. Family Having being raised by an aggressive and intimate father, Ms. Lamas was exposed to an environment that negatively shaped her psychological growth. As a female, she needed love from her husband but this was not the case. The division between her sons and the husband still made her to feel emotionally affected (Hays and Iwamasa, 2006). One of the counselor’s interpretations was: “the cultural belief of familismo -which implies that the interests of the family should be considered more important than individual interests-, influenced her decision to stay in the relationship with the father of her children even when she knew he was seeing other women” (Comas-Diaz, 2011). According to my interpretation, the cultural value of a marriage as a marital status by most women influenced her to stay in the relationship with the father of her children even when she knew he was seeing other women. Acculturation Based on her migration, Ms. Lamas faced culture shock stages that she said the new culture limited her ability as a female, since she was not supposed to do the duties that were set for men. Additionally, the cycle of violence that she experienced on the hands of Latino, Eastern European, and white American men, made her to feel aggrieved and depressed. The counselor validated her thoughts and feelings regarding her experiences as an immigrant attempting to adapt to a different culture. She was also advised to value other cultures. References Comas-Diaz, L. & Greene, B. (Eds) (1994).Women of Color: Integrating Ethnic and Gender Identity in Psychotherapy. New York: The Guildford Press. Comas-Diaz, L. (2011).Multicultural Care: A Clinician’s Guide to Cultural Competence. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Hays, P. & Iwamasa, G. (Eds) (2006). Culturally Responsive Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Assessment, Practice, and Supervision. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Read More