1 James B. Driscoll Multicultural Counseling and Self-Awareness PCN-158 Professor Harris 6/1/2021 This study source was downloaded by 100000814353112 from CourseHero.com on 04-06-2023 11:52:12 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/99637777/1-Multicultural-Counseling-and-self-awarenessdocx/ 2 Multicultural Counseling and Self-Awareness This paper explores self-reflection and self-awareness from an ethical standpoint, proposing that counselors have a responsibility to their clients, themselves, and the profession to engage in these practices. Multicultural counseling is one of the major forces in psychology and has a broad scope in understanding individuals. Multiculturalism presents a very diverse line, and through this, counselors who practice multicultural therapy must appreciate their patients' challenges with racism, cultural problems, and other relevant issues. It places a strong emphasis on empathy and, compassion allowing therapists to properly approach particular situations by taking into account how a patient's look at life differs from their own (Fietzer, 2018). To further understand this concept, counselors should recognize that people's views on the world are influenced by their upbringing, and the counselor's position must adapt to incorporate these viewpoints and cultural differences. Conscious awareness of one’s actions, intentions, motives, emotions, thoughts, and feelings is an important goal for any counselor. Some researchers have noted that practicing self-reflection can be especially critical, for both counselor and client progress, when working with certain clients. We will define selfreflection as the counselor’s awareness of feelings, thoughts, reactions, and personal values in the context of the counseling relationship. The term “trigger event” was also coined by Holloway (1982) to define events in counseling that provide new information to the practitioner and as a result create a potential opportunity for the self-reflective process to begin. We intentionally choose the term potential opportunity at this point, because although these trigger events may occur, they do not guarantee self-reflection (McAuliffe, 2020). I suggest that the initial trigger event can lead toward self-reflection or stagnation, depending on the choice of the counselor and This study source was downloaded by 100000814353112 from CourseHero.com on 04-06-2023 11:52:12 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/99637777/1-Multicultural-Counseling-and-self-awarenessdocx/ 3 the readiness for reflection. To further understand this concept, counselors should recognize that people's views on the world are influenced by their upbringing, and the counselor's position must adapt to incorporate these viewpoints. Members of the counseling profession have voiced concern about how the concepts of rugged individualism and personal responsibility, ideas so central to the dominant American ethos, are evidenced within major counseling theories (Washington, & Henfield, 2019). The culturally alert counselor needs to engage in advocacy when an individual or systemic injustice is present, especially those affecting clients, even when doing so may be uncomfortable or unpopular. Toward that end, counselors have the assistance of the Multi-cultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (Ratts et al., 2015). Using this awareness and knowledge, along with these actions and skills, counselors can advocate for changing the systemic policies and practices that contribute to clients’ problems as opposed to a focus on changing the client to adapt to unhealthy or oppressive conditions. Conscious awareness of a counselor’s emotions, intentions, motives, feelings, thoughts and actions is an important goal for any counselor to strive for and obtain. This study source was downloaded by 100000814353112 from CourseHero.com on 04-06-2023 11:52:12 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/99637777/1-Multicultural-Counseling-and-self-awarenessdocx/ 4 References McAuliffe, C. (2020). Culturally alert counseling: A comprehensive introduction (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN-13: 9781483378206, Pompeo, A. M., & Levitt, D. H. (2014). A Path of Counselor Self-Awareness. Counseling & Values, 59(1), 80–94. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/j.2161007X.2014.00043.x Washington, A. R., & Henfield, M. S. (2019). What do the AMCD multicultural and social justice counseling competencies mean in the context of Black Lives Matter? Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 47(3), 148–160. https://doiorg.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/jmcd.12138 This study source was downloaded by 100000814353112 from CourseHero.com on 04-06-2023 11:52:12 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/99637777/1-Multicultural-Counseling-and-self-awarenessdocx/ Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
