Multicultural Counseling in Society - Research Paper Example

? Multicultural Counseling: Being Aware and Respectful of the Differences between Ethnic and Cultural Groups in Society Today and Their Impact on Counseling Services [ YOUR NAME HERE] [YOUR UNIVERSITY HERE] Abstract Though the history of counseling services is as varied and rich as the techniques, terms, and skills offered throughout the profession today, it was not until the 1960s that some counselors started to realize that a one set of skills fits all approach was not appropriate. Multicultural counseling thus strives to understand and observe the unique differences and patterns in each subculture in the United States of America and globally, and to be respectful and observant of those differences. The culturally aware counselor will not only be aware of these differences, but constantly continue to challenge themselves in providing ethical care to those that are of different ethnic or cultural backgrounds than themselves. Throughout the awareness, however, must be the realization that ethics knows neither race, nor creed, nor color, and codes of ethics, while allowing for some slight flexibility in dealing with different situations, must nevertheless be adhered to for a safe, professional counseling relationship. In this paper, multicultural counseling from scant beginnings to how it fits in to society today is examined, along with relevant themes, biblical insights, and personal discussion, interspersed with examples of ethical practices and codes that must be followed in providing multicultural counseling across an ever-widening and diverse client base. Multicultural Counseling: Being Aware and Respectful of the Differences between Ethnic and Cultural Groups in Society Today and Their Impact on Counseling Services History and Development of Multicultural Counseling The history of counseling is more than a chronology of meetings and seminars, entwined with the history of the nation and bearing names such as the Guidance Movement, Humanitarian Progressivism, and the Industrial Revolution that brought forth social reformation and the thought that counseling could, indeed, improve the lives of many (Blocher, 2000). Threaded throughout this history are ideas and progressive thoughts bearing the names “clinical method of guidance” and “Minnesota Point of View”, along with others (Blocher, 2000). And let us not forget those such as Freud, Cattell, and others, as well as skills and practices that came from issues brought to the attention of those that were skilled and successful in their profession (Blocher, 2000). All have come together to blend, mesh, and evolve into the counseling practices and approaches that are known today. The movement within the counseling profession to recognize practices that would benefit such ethnic and culturally diverse groups such as those that reside within the United States did not begin until the 1960s (Patterson, 1996). It was realized at that time that “minority-group clients” received care defined as “substandard” (Patterson, 1996). The failure to return rate after the first visit was over 50% for African-Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, for the Hispanic population it was 42%, and for Caucasians 30% (Patterson, 1996). It was fast becoming obvious that multicultural training, or at least a basic understanding of different cultures was needed, and the movement towards multicultural counseling had begun in realizing that only were not all people able to be treated with the same skills and techniques, and that different skills were needed for different ethnic groups, but that cultural bias, awareness, and experiences were ingrained early, and training and awareness would be needed to bridge the gap between counselor and client (Pedersen, 2002). In the beginning, the focus was mainly on racial groupings. Several papers and studies noted that those in ethnic minorities often took a different view of psychotherapy and counseling (Patterson, 1996). Though the number of academic papers published on these topics mushroomed, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, a survey conducted in 1977 revealed that less than 1% of graduate students had been required to take instruction on the differences of cultural and ethical backgrounds in counseling (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis 1992). As America continued to become more and more multiethnic and multilingual, it became clear that a greater emphasis on what would become known as a “culturally-skilled counselor” was needed, a fact that has continued to this day (Holcomb-McCoy & Myers, 1999). Multicultural counseling has evolved and is continuing to do so, but with it came the discovery that ethics must evolve as well. In 1991, the American Psychological Association published the Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Diverse Populations (Pettifor, 2005). However, the first line of the guidelines, rather than celebrating any sort of diversity, instead contained an admonition: the counselor was to educate clients to the processes of interventions (Pettifor, 2005). Instead of promoting awareness on diversity, the guidelines instead tried to push everyone into the mainstream mold of therapy interventions (Patterson, 1996). Principles of ethics cannot be ignored, and must be adhered to, but counselors must be aware of the fact that ethics deals with human relationships, not abstract rules, and codes of ethics do little to ensure respect for multiculturalism among counselors by themselves (Pettifor, 2005) Multicultural Counseling and its Importance in Society According to the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD), multicultural counseling is defined as “preparation and practices that integrate multicultural and culture-specific awareness, knowledge and skills into counseling interactions”, in which the term “multicultural”, in the context of counseling preparation and application, refers to five major cultural groups in the United States and its territories: African/Black, Asian, Caucasian/European, Hispanic/Latino and Native American or indigenous groups who have historically resided in the Continental United States and its territories (Arredondo et. al., 1996). It should also be noted that the word multiculturalism, as defined by the AMCD, focuses on “ethnicity, race, and culture” (Arredondo et. al., 1996). Though the terms “diversity” and “multiculturalism” have been used almost interchangeably, it should be noted that they are not entirely the same; while multiculturalism indeed refers to ethnicity, race, and culture, “diversity” refers to other individual differences, including age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability or disability and other characteristics by which someone may prefer to self-define (Arredondo et. al., 1996). It should also be noted that the term “cross-cultural” has come to mean something different from “multicultural”, usually taking “multicultural” and defining it in much narrower terms of ethnic and cultural background, especially being used when the counselor is Caucasian and the client is not (Speight, Myers, Cox & Highlen, 1991). It has also been noted that all counseling can be considered “cross-cultural”, as no two people will ever have the same background, values, lifestyle, upbringing, or life experiences (Speight, Myers, Cox, and Highlen, 1991). However, many views have been published on this subject, and for every view that attempts to redefine multicultural counseling, still another attempts to discredit or review it. Multicultural counseling has become important in the field of counseling and to society today not only for the reasons of understanding clients from different demographic backgrounds, but also because it is important to be able to provide the correct counseling skills to clients of different cultural backgrounds. The United States has become a multicultural grouping in and of itself; ethnic minorities are far more commonly seen today (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis 1992). Therefore, counselors must be responsible and willing to handle different demographic groups and provide services that are appropriate to their culture. To not acknowledge the influence of multicultural needs is, in effect, to deny the realities of the nation and the present time (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis 1992). Efforts must be made to not only acknowledge these practices, but to embrace them, as well as understand them, both professionally and ethically, to better serve the needs of the clients. Themes in Multicultural Counseling Sensitivity to Past Minority Oppressions In counseling those with minority backgrounds, the counselor must be aware of any past prejudices or offences incurred. Counselors must learn to be aware of and watch for any bias that may exist on the part of the client due to past oppressions, and know how to handle such situations not only legally but ethically (Fawcett, 2010). They must also realize that this bias will impact relations between a counselor who is Caucasian, and one that is not (Fawcett, 2010). To understand multicultural counseling, counselors must realize that American history has been experienced differently by different cultural and ethnic groups, and that these viewpoints ultimately impact how clients who hail from different ethnic backgrounds other than Caucasian will see a counselor (Fawcett, 2010). In such cases as these, care must be taken that things have been documented and discussed with the client as far as disclosure, so that the client understands that anything that is said will remain confidential. This will then help them to feel as though they are with a trusted friend, and not another “oppressor”. Ethically in this situation, the counselor is bound by the portion of the ACA Code of Ethics that states “Counselors use with caution assessment techniques that were normed on populations other than that of the client” (E.8). Counselors must also be careful in these cases not to enter any of their personal worldviews into the counseling sessions, lest their clients begin to feel that“oppression” is occurring. Language Barriers Things such as confidentiality and informed consent are two of the most basic and most important components of ethical counseling. Deciding how these will be handled when a client and counselor do not speak the same language can be a difficult problem. For example, the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics states that “counselors have the obligation to review both verbally and in writing with clients the rights and responsibilities of both the counselor and the client (A.2.a.). However, if the client does not speak or read English, a counselor must assess this issue and take action accordingly before services can even be provided. Some solutions might be to bring in a translator, or in an ideal situation, for the counselor themselves to be bilingual and able to communicate with the patient in their native language. Regardless, if a language barrier is raised, ethics must find a way to transcend it. Cultural Differences Different cultures mean different ways of looking at issues, problems, and concerns. Morally as well as ethically, a counselor must exercise caution and patience, to make the clients feel comfortable before proceeding with the issues at hand. For example, the American Association of Christian Counselors Code of Ethics states that “Christian Counselors do not promise or guarantee confidentiality in family or group counseling, but rather explain the problems and limits of keeping confidences in these modes of therapy” (1-542). To explain to a family from a culture that does not engage in counseling readily that a confidence may not be kept, can ultimately be disastrous; the family will never be comfortable enough to speak openly. In cases such as this, it is all the more important for a counselor to understand the cultural differences between themselves and the clients, and conduct themselves not only appropriately in a professional and ethical manner. Cultural Criticisms Criticisms have been brought against current codes of ethics for ignoring cultural differences altogether, or making clients feel as though the codes of ethics do nothing to protect them, and everything to protect the counselor (Pettifor, 2005). One example is that it has been said that, too often, a counselor lacks the skills to understand the community and cultural experiences of a patient (Pettifor, 2005). Other criticisms have said that ethical codes reflect the values of the dominant culture on every other culture (Pettifor, 2005). For example, the American Association of Christian Counselors Code of Ethics states that it will “help achieve the primary goals of the American Association of Christian Counselors —to bring honor to Jesus Christ and his church, and to promote excellence in Christian counseling”. People are not universally Christian, nor do they universally believe in Jesus Christ. Therefore, it remains to be seen how a counselor would potentially handle this situation, if confronted with a person that did not believe as they did. Alternative Therapies An understanding of alternative therapies is important in multicultural counseling because “counseling” is, by nature, considered “conventional Western therapy” (Pedersen, Draguns, Lonner & Trimble, 2007). It is important to realize that alternative therapies can, and may, be integrated into traditional counseling skills; alternative therapies can be less expensive and give the patient a greater hands-on part in their own healing process (Pedersen, Draguns, Lonner & Trimble, 2007). Many cultures and backgrounds use alternative therapies before heading into an office to talk to someone about their problems; therefore, the multicultural counselor should be sensitive to any past approaches tried, or being tried, before jumping to conclusions. In such cases, working with alternative medicine in order to help the client is ethically permissible, provided permission has been secured, and the counselor should be culturally sensitive enough to be able to perform such work, instead of insisting on what they feel is the best approach. Multicultural Counseling: Counselor Identity, Function, and Ethics Counselors must be aware of their own identity, as well as their function, both to themselves and in the face of their clients. They must be willing to “walk a mile in the shoes of another”, as the saying goes, and look at themselves from the perspective of their client. To help facilitate this, multicultural counseling competency standards have been developed to assist counselors in recognizing not only the value of cultural sensitivity, but also to overcome their own bias as well (Holcomb-McCoy & Myers, 1999). These standards have focused on three areas: awareness of personal worldviews and cultural conditioning, knowledge of the worldviews of different clients, and the skills necessary for work with culturally different clients to provide appropriate techniques and interventions (Holcomb-McCoy & Myers, 1999). Within these three competency areas are three more specific dimensions: beliefs and attitudes, knowledge, and skills (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). There are actually two schools of thought even on these counseling competencies; one school of thought views them as fixed, standard points, while the other views them as more of a work in progress and a goal to reach towards (Collins & Pieterse, 2007). In either case, the point is clear: the counselor must be aware of cultural differences and differentiating factors when counseling clients of different backgrounds from themselves. The first principle, awareness of personal worldviews and cultural conditioning, must be thought of as the first “hurdle” when speaking of counselor identity in multicultural counseling. A culturally skilled counselor is aware of how their own experiences and values have helped to shape their own views, and therefore work towards the understanding of other cultures and their views (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). They also possess views on how things such as racism, discrimination, and oppression have affected ethnic minorities, in order to be able to provide effective counseling (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). To have these views is not to discount or dismiss their own discomfort, but rather to be aware that those discomforts exist and work to get past them. They use these views, and even their own discomfort, to sharpen their skills and actively seek out training experiences, as well as to improve their own understanding and remove set limitations in working with clients of different cultures (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). In attempting to become competent in the aspects of multicultural counseling, a counselor must first look to themselves to set the example and help their clients, for only then can the client truly be the focus. Second, in establishing their identity as a multicultural counselor, a counselor must then look at the client. Certain relationships from the client perspective must now be looked at, and the cultural differences between client and counselor examined. Understanding how the race or ethnicity of a client impacts their life choices, as well as having knowledge about the issues that impact them, will aid the counselor in multicultural counseling (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). To help with this, counselors should familiarize themselves with relevant research, and remain current on any readings affecting multicultural counseling (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). Last, but definitely not least, the culturally competent counselor will work with a client in their beliefs, and not against them, above all respecting things such as intrinsic healing and indigenous beliefs (Sue, Arradondo & McDavis, 1992). For example, some things to mainstream, Caucasian America, may be considered spiritual and “taboo” beliefs and attitudes; however, to the client, they are a deeply ingrained part of their culture and lives to be treated with the utmost respect. Counselors must, at all times, take the utmost care not to push their own views onto a client, no matter what the situation is (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). The counselor must understand that their identity might actually be one of many, as some races have active “help networks” within a community (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). Another example is the nonverbal communication that a community may share; if the counselor is not aware of such things, they might miss important cues that could, in the end, help them to help the client (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). They must also understand that, as stated before, traditional healing may go alongside some beliefs of non-traditional healing, such as acupuncture, herbalist treatments, and others (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992). In accepting the beliefs of others, and working with them instead of against them, the counselor will have achieved multicultural competence that transcends color, race, and creed, and be truly successful with clients of all backgrounds. The counselor should be aware in seeking their identity and function as a multicultural counselor that recent shifts in the multicultural counseling movement have moved towards a more “universal” approach in the way counseling looks at minorities. It has been proposed, among other things, that the multicultural competencies are irreparably flawed, as “everyone is a multicultural person” (Patterson, 2004). Though the movement continues towards universality, it should be kept in mind that it is worthwhile to pay attention to those things of different cultures from the one that the counselor represents. It surely cannot hurt the counselor to know about the differences in cultures. Therefore, even if the competencies are “flawed”, as Patterson has suggested, they certainly are not useless, for they do bring about a different way of looking at things, and could certainly aid any counselor willing to learn. No matter what cultural difference the counselor is facing, the issue of ethics must always remain. In seeking the identity that they wish to establish with a client of a different ethnic or cultural background, counselors must not forget that ethics will never go away, and must be adhered to without question. Codes of ethics, while needing some flexibility in multicultural issues, should never be ignored completely, as they are the very framework for counselor-client relationships. The Codes of Ethics that have been published act as a rock-solid foundation to protect both client and counselor, no matter what cultural differences are in place. Counselors, in seeking to become skilled in working with other cultures, must remember that ethics knows no ethnic or cultural distinctions, and stays constant. Biblical Values and Insights on Multicultural Counseling The Bible says to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Romans 13:9 Revised Standard Version). What this means, to counselors, is that whether a client is of a difference race, creed, or color than the counselor, it should make no difference in the feelings of the counselor. Another example of biblical insight on multicultural counseling is found in Matthew 7:12: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Revised Standard Edition).” The Bible advises an open mind, clear thinking, tolerance, and using a lack of judgment in all words and deeds. This is especially true when dealing with multicultural counseling and the associated counselor and/or client views, as the counselor must use a lack of judgment and remain impartial during any client dealings in order to have ethical relationships with clients. Since ethics invariably come into play no matter what the situation is in counseling, it is helpful to try to build a set of biblical ethics when practicing counseling. The five basic principles of developing such ethics are making sure that no clear teaching of Scripture is violated, no clear violation of the human body is harmed, ensuring that no weaker Christian or non-Christian is intimidated or bullied, free will is not inhibited in any way, and that the blessing of God can be asked on the venture with a clear conscience (Felton, 2009). In many ways, these ethics run side by side with the ethics of the American Association of Christian Counselors, and in a secular way, the American Counseling Association (ACA), for both codes seek to make sure that the patient is not harmed in any way. For example, the American Association of Christian Counselors Code states, “Christian counselors strictly avoid all behavior or suggestion of practice that harms or reasonably could harm clients” (1-110). The ACA Code of Ethics in Section A.4 states that “Counselors act to avoid harming their clients, trainees, and research participants and to minimize or to remedy unavoidable or unanticipated harm” (A.4.a) It also states that “Counselors are aware of their own values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors and avoid imposing values that are inconsistent with counseling goals” (A.4.b). In this manner, biblical ethics, values, and insights are carried over into professional codes of ethics that apply no matter if the counselor is attending to someone of a similar race and background, or someone who is not. Personal Discussion and Insights I found, through my research on the topic of multicultural counseling, that the surface has only begun to be scratched with respect to the layers available for study and practice with this topic. That being said, I fully understand that, with respect to the area in which I will be practicing counseling, both geographically and professionally, I must as a counselor maintain awareness of not only the biblical principles that will guide me in my practice, but also ethical standards and cultural differences. I will strive to be a competent counselor in the area of multicultural counseling, and am ready, willing, and able to take up the challenge of educating myself and seeing past my own cultural bias when it comes to other ethnic and cultural groups. I resolve, after researching this topic, to not only see past my own views and prejudices, but to take to heart “the Golden rule”, the rule that states to do unto others as I would have done unto me. I will use this as a basis for my counseling practice, always keeping myself current with research and empirical studies done, especially those in a cross-cultural area. I will strive to see clients as people, regardless of color, race, or nationality, and to make them feel as comfortable with me as I would with any trusted friend or associate. In doing these things, I hope to one day call myself a multi-culturally competent counselor, one who is known for the success of my counseling practices rather than any prejudices that might get in the way of such success. References "American Counseling Association (2005). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author." Arredondo, P., Toporek, R., Brown, S., Jones, J., Sanchez, J., Statdler, H., & Locke, D. C. (1996). Operationalization of the multicultural counseling competencies. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 24(1), 42-7. Retrieved from http://emergentrecovery.com/uploads/OperationalizationOfTheMulticulturalCounselingCompetencies1996.pdf Blocher, D. (2000). The evolution of counseling psychology. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, Inc. Collins, N. M., & Pieterse, A. L. (2007). Critical incident analysis based training: An approach for developing active racial/cultural awareness. Journal of Counseling and Development, 85, 14-23. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/counseling_psych/faculty_staff/pieterse/CollinsPieterse.pdf Fawcett, M. L., Briggs, C. A., Maycock, G., & Stine, E. (2010). Multicultural counseling competency development with a Guatemala travel study. Journal for International Counselor Education, 2, 1-18. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.library.unlv.edu/jice Felton, C. L. (2009). Counseling needs: Principles and ethics. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse. Holcomb-McCoy, C. & Myers, J. E. (1999). Multicultural competence and counselor training: A national survey. Journal of Counseling and Development, 77(3), 294-302. Ohlschlager, G. (2004). The aacc code of ethics. AACC Law and Ethics Committee, Forest, VA: American Association of Christian Counselors. Retrieved from http://www.aacc.net/about-us/code-of-ethics/ Patterson, C. H. (1996). Multicultural counseling: From diversity to universality. Journal of Counseling and Development, 227-231. Retrieved from http://www.baatn.org.uk/Resources/Documents/MULTICULTURAL_COUNSELING_FROM_DIVERSITY_TO_UNIVERSALITY.pdf Patterson, C. H. (2004). Do we need multicultural counseling competencies? Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 26(1), 67–73 Pedersen, Paul B. (2002). The Making of a Culturally Competent Counselor. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, Unit 10. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol10/iss3/4 Pedersen, P. B., Draguns, J. G., Lonner, W. J., & Trimble, J. E. (2007). Counseling across cultures. (6th Edition ed., pp. 5-20). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Pettifor, J. (2005). Ethics and multicultural counselling. Culture infused counselling: Celebrating the Canadian mosaic (pp. 213–238). Calgary, AB: Counselling Concepts. Speight, S. L., Myers, L. J., Cox, C. I., & Highlen, P. S. (1991). A redefinition of multicultural counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70(1), 29-36. Retrieved from http://faculty.spokanefalls.edu/InetShare/AutoWebs/TuiL/A redefinition of Multicultural counseling.pdf Sue, D. W., Arredondo, P., & McDavis, R. J. (1992). Multicultural counseling competencies and standards: A call to the profession . Journal of Counseling and Development, 70, 477-486. Retrieved from http://coe.unm.edu/uploads/docs/coe-main/faculty-staff/MultiCultural Counseling Competencies and Standards.pdf Read More