Multicultural Training
Welcome
Logistics
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CEU credits
Workshop Schedule
Cell phones
Bathroom breaks
Participant packets
Getting Acquainted
1. Name
2. Profession/Job role
3. Experience working with multicultural
populations
4. Share something that is important to you
about your own cultural, ethnic, and/or racial
background
Workshop Goals
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Increased awareness of own assumptions,
values, and biases
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Greater knowledge of the world view of the
culturally diverse or different client
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New skill with appropriate counselor
interventions, strategies and techniques
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A personal action plan for applying what you
have learned
Guided by:
• Model of Multicultural Competencies (Sue,
Arrendondo, & McDavis, 1992) focuses on
three main areas of development:
– BELIEFS
– KNOWLEDGE
– SKILLS
Awareness
Counselor’s Awareness
of Own Assumptions,
Values and Bias
Understanding the
Worldview of the
Culturally Diverse Client
1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Culturally selfaware
Aware of biases’
influence
Realize personal
limitations
Comfortable with
client’s racial,
ethnic, cultural,
and belief
differences
2.
Developing Appropriate
Counselor Interventions,
Strategies, and
Techniques
Contrast own
1.
beliefs with
client’s in
nonjudgmental
fashion
2.
Aware of
stereotypes and
preconceived
notions about the 3.
different ways of
racial and ethnic
minority groups
Respect client’s
religious or
spiritual
beliefs/values
Respect
indigenous
helping practices
and networks
Value
bilingualism
Knowledge
Counselor’s Awareness of
Own Assumptions, Values
and Bias
1.
2.
3.
Understanding the
Worldview of the Culturally
Diverse Client
How counselor
1.
heritage affects
definition of
normality/abnormality
How oppression,
racism, discrimination,
and stereotypes affect
on counselor work,
allowing counselor to
2.
acknowledge individual
racism
How counselor’s social
impact and
3.
communication style
differences affect on
clients and how to
anticipate their impact
Have information of
particular group one is
working with (e.g., life
experiences, cultural
heritage, and historical
background of
culturally different
client)
Culture’s affect on
personality, choices,
and preferences for
counseling approaches
Sociopolitical
influences that impinge
on minority life (e.g.,
poverty, racism,
powerlessness)
Developing Appropriate
Counselor Interventions,
Strategies, and Techniques
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How generic
counseling skills may
clash with cultural
systems
How institutional
barriers hinder minority
usage of mental health
services
Potential bias in
assessment
instruments
Minority family
structure, hierarchies,
values, and beliefs
Discriminatory
practices in society
Skills
Counselor’s Awareness of
Own Assumptions, Values
and Bias
Understanding the
Worldview of the
Culturally Diverse Client
Developing Appropriate
Counselor Interventions,
Strategies, and
Techniques
1.
1.
1.
2.
Seek our educational,
consultative, and
training experiences
to enrich
understanding of
culturally different
populations,
recognizing the
limitations of your
competencies
Understand self as a
racial and cultural
being and actively
seek a nonracist
identity
2.
Understand relevant
research and latest
findings on crosscultural mental health
issues, disorders, and
service
Become actively
involved with
minorities outside the
counseling setting so
one’s perspective is
more than an
academic or helping
exercise
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Able to engage in a variety
of verbal and nonverbal
helping responses
Able to exercise
institutional intervention
skills on behalf of client
Consult with traditional
healers or religious leaders
Interact in client’s language
Aware of cultural limitations
Is assessment and testing
instruments
Seek to eliminate biases,
prejudice, and
discriminatory practices
Educate clients in goals,
expectations rights, and
counselor orientation
Difficult/Different Clients
• It was so much easier to blame it on Them.
It was bleakly depressing to think that They
were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was
anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that
make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must
be. I've certainly never thought of myself as
one of Them. No one ever thinks of
themselves as one of Them. We're always
one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.
Ground Rules
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Be Respectful of Others
Disagree Agreeably
– Ouch
– Oops
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Respect Confidentiality
Speak One at a Time
Facilitator’s Expectations
• Expect to experience a range of thoughts
and feelings throughout the day
• Expect to start and finish at your own pace
• Expect to leave without all the answers
• Expect to get out of the workshop what
you are willing to put into the workshop
• Expect to take risks
• Expect to be treated with respect
RACE:
GROUPINGS BASED ON
PHYSICAL TRAITS BY WHICH
PEOPLE CAN BE
DISTINGUISHED
Ethnicity
Referring to group membership often, but not necessarily,
specifically linked by race, nationality, religion and/or
language. People belonging to the same ethnic group
share a common cultural heritage and/or derivation,
distinguished by such characteristics as:
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Geographic origins
Family patterns
Language
Values
Cultural norms
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History
Music
Gender roles
Dietary patterns
Culture
Shared values, traditions, norms, customs,
religion, arts, history, folklore, language
and/or institutions of a specific group of
people.
Privilege
• Right or immunity granted as a peculiar
benefit, advantage, or favor.
• Such a right or immunity attached
specifically to a position or an office.
White Privilege
I have come to see white privilege as an
invisible package of unearned assets
which I can count on cashing in each
day, but about which I was “meant” to
remain oblivious. White privilege is like
an invisible weightless knapsack of
special provisions, maps, passports,
codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and
blank checks. (Peggy McIntosh)
Prejudice
• Process of pre-judging something.
• Prejudice generally refers to existing
biases towards members of a group,
which are often based on stereotypes.
Racism
• Racism is defined as the belief that race is
the primary determinant of human traits
and capacities and that racial differences
produce an inherent superiority of a
particular race.
– Overt
– Covert
Cultural Encapsulation
• Assumptions that are based solely on our
own world views and do not take into
account the context of others
• Universal notions of “healthy and normal”
Barriers to Cultural Competence
Language Barriers
Verbal communication
Non verbal communication
o Racial/Ethnic Identity Barriers
Ethnic Minority Identity Models
White Identity Models
Non-verbal Communication
• Proxemics- personal and interpersonal space
• Kinesics- body movements, posture, gestures, eye contact
• Paralanguage- other vocal cues (rate of speech, inflections)
• High/Low Context Communication
– High: reliance on non-verbal cues
– Low: reliance on verbal message
Racial/Cultural Identity Model
(Sue and Sue, 1990)
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Conformity
Dissonance
Resistance and Immersion
Introspection
Integrative Awareness
White Identity Model
(Sue and Sue, 1990)
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Conformity
Dissonance
Resistance and Immersion
Introspective Phase
Integrative Awareness
The Federal Five
•Between Group Differences
•Within Group Differences
•“Dynamic Sizing”—Be cautious of
generalizations.
Cultural Dimensions
Federal Five
African
American
American
Indian
Asian
American/
Pacific
Islander
Hispanic
White
Americans
Religious
and/or
Spiritual
Values
Family
Roles
Communication
Patterns
Gender
Roles
Cultural
Norms
Historical
Context
Views on
Mental
health or
drug/ETOH
African American
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Religious Influences- Church = Community
Family Roles- Extended family
Communication Patterns- Assertive, Affect, High Context
Gender Roles- Egalitarian
Cultural Norms- Cultural “healthy” paranoia, “people-hood”
Historical Context- Slavery, racism
Mental Health Concerns- 50% drop out after one session
American Indian
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Religious Influences- Shaman and traditional healers
Family Roles- Respect for elders
Communication Patterns- Oral tradition, non-linear
Gender Roles- 27% female head of household
Cultural Norms- collective orientation, harmonic values
Historical Context- boarding schools, treaty negotiations, 512 tribes
Mental Health Concerns- higher suicide rates, high drop out rate
Asian American/ Pacific Islander
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Religious Influences- Buddhist, Confucian, Christian
Family Roles- Extended family, filial piety
Communication Patterns- limited eye contact, use of silence
Gender Roles- patriarchal, submissive females, authoritarian
parenting
• Cultural Norms- collective orientation, shame, model minority
• Historical Context- internment camps, Vietnam War, boat people
• Mental Health Concerns- advice seeking, controlled emotions
Hispanic
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Religious Influences- Catholicism
Family Roles- Extended family, group identity
Communication Patterns- high context, ESL
Gender Roles- Patriarchal, Machismo, Marianismo
Cultural Norms- Fastest growing population in US
Historical Context- Latino/a vs. Chicano/a vs. Hispanic
Mental Health Concerns- role of fate, ¾ speak Spanish in home
White Americans
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Religious Influences- Christian influences
Family Roles- Nuclear family
Communication Patterns- low context, verbal, direct, written
Gender Roles- patriarchal, female is homemaker
Cultural Norms- individualistic, action oriented, protestant work ethic
Historical Context- European immigrants
Mental Health Concerns- verbal, self-disclosure valued
Creating a Personal Toolkit
There is not just one way to be multiculturally competent.
• There are specific skills that are useful to know
• This toolkit outlines those skills
No model or knowledge will apply to all situations.
• Client populations are always changing
• The skills will apply broadly across populations and situations
You can take this toolkit with you and reference it when
working in cross cultural situations
Personal Toolkit
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Self Awareness
Solid Clinical Assessment Skills
Consultation
Hypothesis testing
Credibility and Giving
Utilizing Multiple Perspectives
Creating Multiculturally Relevant Intervention
Plans
TOOL #1: Self-Awareness
• Knowledge of Ourselves
• Knowledge of Others
• Strengths and Weaknesses
An individual who is unaware of
his or her own cultural values is
like a cup with a hole. Without
knowledge of the hole, the liquid
inside leaks out onto the owner,
the floor, and anything else it
touches (Sue & Sue, 1990)
Tool #2: Clinical Assessment
SES
Between and
Within
Group
Differences
Person/
Family
Influences or
Worldview
Gender
Roles
Values
Support
System
Oppression/
Racism
Presenting
Problem
Ethnic
Identity
Stage
Historical/
Political
Factors
Acculturation
Level
Views on
Mental
Health
Communication Style
Spirituality
Tool #3: Consultation
• A client comes to you who has been abusing alcohol. He
has recently immigrated to the United States from the
middle east. He indicated that he had been planning to
immigrate to the US for the last few years but recently
made the move because he had been given the “evil
eye.” He said that since he was given the evil eye, his
life has gone downhill and he moved to try and improve
his situation. He stated that unfortunately the evil eye
followed him to the US and he is at a loss for how to
regain his prosperity. He said that he started drinking
more frequently to try and escape his bad luck.
Tool # 4. Hypothesis Testing
• Forming multiple hypotheses
• Holding hypotheses lightly
• Comparing hypotheses to other
information (finding converging evidence)
• Continually testing and adjusting strategy
• Consulting with others
• Continual assessment to narrow list of
possible hypotheses.
Example case
You are the clinical coordinator at your agency. You have an American
Indian client who presents because she was charged with
possession of a controlled substance. You know very little about the
client other than the information provided above. You have a new
American Indian counselor starting at your agency in two weeks.
Would it be better for you to wait and refer the client to the new
counselor or to assign her to one of the agency’s existing counselors
(who are not American Indian)?
– What hypotheses might you have about your client that you
would want to hold lightly?
– What information would you want to find out in order to make this
decision?
– What questions might you ask to get the information needed to
check out your hypotheses (hint--look back at the assessment
exercise)
Example, continued
• The client calls you the next day and the first words out
of her mouth are “I am not guilty of possession. The
police set me up because I am Indian. They are always
out to get us.”
– What hypotheses might you have now?
– How would that impact your decision about therapist match?
• What if the client said “I am not guilty of the charges. I
am not one of those dumb minorities that you see on tv.”
– What hypotheses might you have now?
– How would this impact your decision about therapist match?
Tool #5: Attending to credibility and
giving
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Gain Street Credibility
Consider Pre-therapy Preparation
Give “Gifts” to your Clients
Recognize Credibility Failures
Tool #6: Utilizing Multiple Perspectives
• Be aware of the psychological set of your
client and expectations regarding
counseling
• Utilize multiple methods of problem
resolution strategies
• Be aware of the limitations of traditional
mental health services
Tool #7: Creating Multiculturally
Relevant Treatment Plans
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Identified Problems/Diagnosis
Treatment Goals
Specific Treatment
Discharge/Follow-up
Identified Problems/Diagnosis
• Did you complete a thorough clinical
assessment (e.g., ethnic identity, historical
influences, immigration patterns)
• Are there socio-political factors that are
relevant to consider in identifying the
presenting problem (e.g., racism, privilege)
• Did you test multiple hypotheses?
Goals
• What are the client’s expectations for
counseling?
• What would be considered a good outcome for
the client?
• Do you need to consult with other
knowledgeable people about appropriate goals
for this person’s particular background?
• Who referred the client to treatment (self, family,
court, other)
Plan for Treatment
• Are there multiple means for problem
resolution?
• Are the practices from the client’s culture
you might want to consider?
• Are lower level needs met first?
Discharge/Follow-up
• Is the family involved in the treatment?
• What support system exists in the
community for this person?
• Were the client’s goals met from
treatment?
Personal Toolkit
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Self Awareness
Solid Clinical Assessment Skills
Consultation
Hypothesis testing
Credibility and Giving
Utilizing Multiple Perspectives
Creating Multiculturally Relevant Intervention
Plans
 PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE