Multicultural Awareness - Assignment Example

Multicultural Awareness Multicultural awareness is considered to be an important aspect and people must possess the knowledge about the various cultures and communities. Each stages of a man’s life are based on the cultural background of a person. Culture and community of a person will certainly affect the development stages. As a counselor, I strongly believe that socio-cultural aspects decide the development of a person. This can be achieved after a person goes through a process of self realization and self awareness.

One must analyze himself in order to lead the life in a more peaceful manner. Lack of self awareness leads to various problems and self awareness will certainly help a person to improve himself. This in turn will improve his life and the development will be at a faster pace. Cultural and communal awareness and beliefs play a vital role in the development of one’s life. Since it is considered to be an important part, each and every person must have the basic knowledge about his/ her own cultural practices.

(Cox & Richlin, 2004). As a counselor, I must also take note of the client’s socio-cultural background. To accomplish this, I must go through a process of self assessment that would help me in dealing with the clients in a better way. The self assessment helped in a great way since it made me a better person as I had an opportunity to know about myself. The self assessment helped me to realize the biases and beliefs of my culture and molded me into a better person. In a multi cultural environment, I had an opportunity to get along with people from different culture and community.

(Erford, 2009) This made me gain more knowledge about their socio-cultural practices and the way in which they deal with people from other culture. The first time when I was realized as other, the situation was completely different. People from the same cultural background try to maintain a safe distance with the people from other culture. The cultural difference creates a sort of stress and pressure in people and due to this, they get depressed. This in turn leads to a situation where they need a counselor to rejuvenate them.

During this period, I understood the necessity of multicultural awareness. If I had known more about the various cultures and cultural practices, it would have been easier for me to interact with them. Due to the lack in multicultural awareness, the people are treated in a different manner. (Chatterjee, Bailey, & Aronoff, 2001). This clearly proves that self realization and awareness are the major concepts one must equip themselves with. Self assessment and self realization must be given more importance and each individual must undergo a training session in self realization and assessment.

I realized the importance of self realization and self assessment when I was treated as other. This creates a strong scar in a person’s mind and he will eventually suffer from mental stress and other problems. As a result of self assessment, I would like to suggest people to gain knowledge about the cultures and their practices. (Graves & Larkin, 2009). This would certainly help them in a situation where they need to work or get along with people from different cultures. This describes the importance of cultural awareness and cultural competency.

There is a high chance of people getting culturally affected and ill treated at workplaces and educational institutions. (Goh, 2005). This can be avoided if they possess cultural awareness which allows them to tackle the problems to some extent. When considering mental health counseling, cultural awareness is of great use, since it makes my job easier as I could relate with the client’s problems in an easier way. Reference Erford, B. (2009). Orientation to the Counseling Profession: Advocacy, Ethics and Essential Professional Foundations. U.S.

A: Pearson Education Limited. Chatterjee, P., Bailey, D., & Aronoff, N. (2001). Adolescence and Old Age in Twelve Communities. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 28(4), 121-159. Graves, S. B., & Larkin, E. (2006). Lessons from Erikson: A look at autonomy across the lifespan. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 4(2), 61–71. Goh, M. (2005). Cultural competence and master therapists: An inextricable relationship. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 27(1), 71–81. Cox, M., & Richlin, L. (2004). Building Faculty Learning Communities.

San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons Inc.