Why should counselors be culturally competent

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Advocacy Policy Platform. Cultural belief systems like spirituality and family-centric issues may in themselves serve as therapeutic vehicles to promote healing. Counselors should attempt to be sensitive to their own inherent racial or cultural identity and privilege, ethnocentrism, prejudice, and stereotypes when interacting with diverse populations. The counselor should be constantly aware of how their own attitudes, racial identity and beliefs impact their perception of the client, the client's presenting problem, and the counseling relationship of rapport.

Counselors should be willing to acknowledge the limitations of their own cultural competency and expertise when dealing with culturally diverse clients. In some cases, they may be advised to seek cultural-specific guidance when working with a client or refer the client to a mental health professional with more cultural competence. Get Your Degree in Psychology today. What Are the 4 Types of Diversity? What is Clinical Psychology? From anxiety to schizophrenia, mental illness affects as many as 1 in 5 adults in the United States.

On average, it takes 11 years for those people to receive treatment after mental illness symptoms…. Clinical psychologists treat clients who suffer from mental health issues, from mild anxiety to serious cognitive disorders. For any therapist, understanding ones own culture is the first step on the road to fully comprehend the impact of culture on how you perceive others.

For example, it can be difficult for a person raised in an individualistic society to understand those coming from a collectivist society. In the United States, we are taught to believe it is our birthright to pursue personal happiness over the good of the whole and we dont stop to consider how strange this may look to members of other cultures. Remember, in our work as therapists we are dealing with individuals, not stereotypes and races 2. In therapy, we are listening to patients and working to empathize and understand their experience as well as their own perceptions of their experience.

It is from this space that we work, we are never trying to impose our own view of whats right on our clients. The therapeutic relationship is an alliance between the therapist and the client.

The fact that the therapist and client are from different cultures may actually foster a closeness that would not otherwise be present if both shared the same culture. In this way, the cultural differences can help the therapist avoid being boxed in by the very social norms and values with which the client may be struggling. Rather than be a detriment to the relationship, the client can benefit from a point of view that is different and free from potential judgments regarding the behavior, wants, needs, and desires that may conflict with social norms.

Over any therapists career, working with patients of different cultures is guaranteed. To provide quality care, the therapist must first be honest about his or her ability to provide therapy to any individual client.

In addition to cultural awareness and competence, the issue of language competency is important and can determine whether a client continues therapy or not 3. If a therapist does not feel qualified to provide adequate therapy, steps should be taken to point the patient in the right direction so he or she can get the help they need.

Some people prefer attending therapy from the comfort of their own home.