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Multicultural Orientation

Student’s Name:

Professor’s Name:

Course:

Date:
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Multicultural Orientation

The society we live in is very diverse. There are many cultures, and while there is continuous

evolution in technology and interactions between different people from different cultures, human

interactions and engagement have continually shifted, so that aspects like intermarriages among

different communities have made culture to shift in various dynamics, and resulted in the

evolution of new cultures. Counselling is a vital field of practice, which entails clients sharing

very personal issues and it is expected of them to be frank and open, with the professional

expected to be accommodative and respectful to all clients without showing any propensity for

bias or prejudice against any particular culture (Chatraw & Prior, 2019). Professionals must

therefore, learn to work with and be comfortable accommodating all cultures if they are to foster

a healthy ground for the client’s well-being. However, in a world of many and diverse cultures,

professionals need to ensure that they are familiar with their own cultural limitations and

weaknesses. Self-awareness helps them foster cultural humility, which empowers them to be

more accommodating and to ensure that clients are made to feel comfortable. This paper seeks to

explore my own self-awareness, which will inform my actions towards upholding cultural

humility, including seeking professional training (Hook et al., 2017).

Limitations and Strengths

Through this course, I have been able to correct myself, and understand what culture really

means. Initially I thought culture refers to the race or ethnicity one identifies with. However,

through engagement with the course, I have been able to identify that culture is not necessarily

one’s nationality, religion, or sexuality, but rather a way of life that dictates and influences the

way people conduct and interact with each other. As a future counsellor, I will engage in

counselling different people from different walks of life and from backgrounds. As the world
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diversifies and globalization continues to spread, the need for multicultural counselling is also

great. As a professional, I have to ensure that I am self-aware and culturally open. Since I am

oriented with multicultural counselling, it is an added advantage as it allows me to gain

knowledge, sensitivity, and increase my self-awareness (Chatraw & Prior, 2019).

Among my potential limitations in multicultural counselling include my awareness of my own

cultural values and biases. It is needful that counsellors be aware of their own cultural values in

multicultural counselling. Awareness of cultural values is critical to enhance client experiences.

Being aware of the biases I possess helps me recognize my limits of practice. I need to

acknowledge my own racial and cultural heritage. I may not be very much aware of my cultural

heritage, which may pose significant challenges in practice. When I am culturally self-aware, I

can recognize that my own culture is likely to differ from that of the client. When I fail to realize

that I have biased cultural beliefs, I am highly likely to offer ineffective counselling services.

Failure to be self-aware and to recognize my bias could result in a high rate of client dropout.

Cultural awareness in a counsellor helps the counsellor recognize when they are conceptualizing

clients’ cases based on unfounded bias and prejudiced beliefs (Sue et al., 2019).

Another limitation that may act as a barrier to successful practice in multicultural practice is lack

of cultural knowledge. When I am not culturally knowledgeable, it may act as a barrier to

effective counselling. Cultural knowledge refers to my understanding and being knowledgeable

of other cultural practices and beliefs. Cultural norms are reinforced over time. The norms

influence the way professionals and their clients view their worlds and each other, and influences

the counselling experience. Being culturally knowledgeable influences the decisions made by

both counsellors and their clients. For instance, some cultures are open and supportive to traits

such as passivity, while assertiveness is revered. I am not knowledgeable of multicultural

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practices. When professionals lack knowledge of cultural groups, they tend to rely on stereotypes

to help them understand their clients. However, most of the stereotypes are negative as they are

anchored on faulty and erroneous perceptions. Besides, most stereotypes are of unspecified

validity.

Finally, despite undergoing multicultural counselling classes, language barriers may pose

significant challenges. Language barriers in counselling may result in misunderstandings,

miscommunications, misdiagnoses and misinterpretations. Language barriers are stressors for

both clients and professionals. A clients’ acculturation may significantly their language and

communication skills. Moreover, clients who are bilingual can have challenges using the both

languages, and may seek to use their native language to express their emotions. Out of language

barriers, many clients have failed to seek counselling services, as they end up getting frustrated

by language barriers. Since counselling banks interpersonal communication, language is an

essential toolkit for facilitating successful counselling sessions and therapy. Language barriers

also manifest in the interpretation of nonverbal languages (Sue et al., 2019).

Among the strengths that I have that will foster my multicultural counselling experience include

culturally appropriate intervention strategies. I am very respectful and open-minded. My

readiness to learn will help me in multicultural counselling. As I am able to respect everyone, I

will be tolerant and have zero issues navigating different client religious issue, personal values,

personal beliefs, culturally-oriented practices, and languages. I have a good understanding of the

characteristics of therapy and the potential impact of therapy on groups and individuals. Cultural

groups are affected and perceive counselling differently. My rich knowledge in family dynamics

and hierarchy will help me perform and conduct therapy in a multicultural setting in a better

way. I am well-versed in knowledge on how discriminatory practices may affect my clients and
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their attitude towards future counselling. As a result, I anticipate that as I am culturally skilled, I

will be able to transcend such barriers as race and nationality, hence eliminating prejudice in

counselling (Hook et al., 2017).

Another strength that will be essential in navigating multicultural counselling is emotional

intelligence. While navigating my own competencies and improving my skills, I have worked on

my emotional intelligence, ensuring that I have improved my understanding and my attitudes

towards differences in ideas and perceptions within my networks. I have the understanding that

clients’ worldview is different than my own, and that we cannot always have the same point of

views or perception. As a result, I am careful to watch my reaction to clients’ opinions and

feelings. To safeguard my reputation and ensure that I retain clients, I have to accommodate all

divergent views and opinions. I have invested in gaining knowledge of the population that I am

likely to work with, as I familiarize myself with culturally appropriate research. I am able to

understand that a client’s race and culture affects tremendously personality, decision-making

skills, and other factor that motivate them to seek mental health help.

Plan for Seeking Feedback

Feedback is essential to determine how effective counselling has been for clients. Feedback helps

professionals shape and tailor future counselling in line with the views of the clients rather than

the assumptions of the therapists, which helps improve the outcomes of counselling. Feedback

helps provide a therapeutic alliance with clients. To obtain feedback, I will ensure that I carry out

formal collection of feedback. I will cultivate a quality relationship with my clients, as I support

their goals and ensure that I actively participate in meeting them. Creation of a service that

generates positive outcomes will also ensure that I can evaluate all necessary factors to ensure

that both my clients and I benefit from therapy. Formal feedback will help create an environment
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that encourages clients to accurate appraise their experiences and progress. Secondly, I will

ensure that I foster session-by-session feedback generation from clients. Session-by-session

feedback will be obtained by using an outcome measure metric (Hook et al., 2017).

To demonstrate my cultural orientation, I would ask a question like, “what is the role of the

woman in your society, and your view on the same?” secondly, I would ask questions such as

“according to your family, how should the problem be treated?”

I am very open to growth, hence open to feedback from my colleagues and supervisors.

Feedback is meant to help us grow and develop, and for professionals, it is useful in improving

processes, which essentially improves outcomes. As a result, I am open to feedback from both

clients and colleagues.

Plan for Addressing Limitations

To address limitations, I will ensure that I engage more with my culture, by studying and

researching more about the same, which will help me be more culturally aware and foster my

self-awareness. There are various resources and libraries with materials and documents on

cultural diversity, from which I could learn about my own culture. Additionally, I would ensure

that I engage in learning other popular languages such as Española. When need be, I would seek

the services of an interpreter to ensure that all language barriers are overcome.

To address multicultural limitations or weaknesses, I would take professional readings on the

same such readings as “Integrating evidence-based practice, cognitive-behavior therapy, and

multicultural therapy” by (Hays Pamela, 2019).

To improve on my multicultural awareness, I would enrol for a professional training such as

“cross-cultural couples counselling – Strategies to Navigate Multiculturalism in Racial & Ethnic

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Diverse Couples.” Available on https://www.pesi.com/search?

Keyword=Culture&keywordSearchType=All&_ga=2.56998121.237602123.1654077668-

1291491065.1654077668
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References

Chatraw, J., & Prior, K. S. (2019) Cultural engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary

Issues. Zondervan Academic.

Pamela, H. A., (2019). Integrating evidence-based practice, cognitive-behavior therapy, and

multicultural therapy. https://www.pesi.com/search?

Keyword=Culture&keywordSearchType=All&_ga=2.56998121.237602123.1654077668

-1291491065.1654077668

Hook, J. N., & Watkins, C. E., Jr. (2017). Cultural humility: The cornerstone of positive contact

with culturally different individuals and groups" American Psychologist, 70(7), 661-661.

https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038965

Sue, S., Zane, N., Nagamaya, G. c., & Berger, L.K. (2019, December 14). The case for cultural

competency in psychotherapeutic interventions. PubMed Central (PMC).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2793275/