The Importance of Culturally Competent Assessment to Multicultural Counseling

A culturally competent assessment is crucial when it comes to counseling Multicultural

clients. Without such competence, counselors will fail to encompass the broad parameters of

counseling that are necessary to maximize people’s progress in therapy. When dealing with

clients, some clinicians opt not to take into account clients' colour, ethnicity, and other social

identities; as a result, some clinicians' racial biases and/or discomfort prevent them from

developing meaningful connections with clients (Sue et al., 2019). However, the majority of

therapists nowadays are aware that client characteristics including socioeconomic standing,

gender, and ethnic or cultural heritage can have a big impact on evaluation, diagnosis, and

conceptualization (Sue et al., 2019). We frequently overlook the fact that we are not "objective"

observers of our patients in our capacity as clinicians (Sue et al., 2019). Instead, each of us has a

unique collection of ideals, theories, and ideas. A mental health professional must be aware of

various biases that can influence clinical judgement, such as the impact of stereotypes, to reduce

inaccuracy (Sue et al., 2019). Unfortunately, these aspects are frequently not fully taken into

account by our existing techniques of assessment and diagnosis, particularly when it comes to

therapist variables (Sue et al., 2019). Additionally, a large number of our assessment and

diagnosis tools and procedures do not meaningfully take client characteristics into account. All

these variables can hinder the client’s progress in therapy so the counselor’s must be competent

in various cultural domains (Sue et al., 2019). There are several elements to culturally competent

assessment that must be considered.

The Essential Elements of Culturally Competent Assessment

 There are four main elements of culturally competent assessment: therapist variables affecting

diagnosis, cultural competence and preventing diagnostic errors, contextual and collaborative

assessment, and infusing cultural relevance into standard clinical assessments.

Firstly, Confirmatory strategy is finding or focusing on data that is congruent with one's

perspective while dismissing data that contradicts it (Sue et al., 2019). Mental health providers

may look for material that supports their worldviews or theoretical orientations when working

with clients (Sue et al., 2019). Attribution error is putting too much focus on internal causes of a

client's issue. Instead of looking at environmental or social causes like poverty, discrimination,

or oppression, a therapist could view a problem as originating from a personal trait of the client

(Sue et al., 2019). Judgmental heuristics can be harmful since they prevent us from doing self-

correction. For instance, if we categorise our client as being immediately "defensive" or

"overreactive," this will hinder our efforts to get more or opposing information (Sue et al., 2019).

Diagnostic overshadowing occurs when a client's issue is not adequately addressed because the

clinician is focused on another, more noticeable characteristic (Sue et al., 2019). For instance,

gay or lesbian people can experience a variety of psychiatric problems unrelated to their sexual

orientation (Sue et al., 2019).

Secondly, regarding both cultural competency and evidence-based practice, self-awareness is

crucial (Sue et al., 2019). The therapy process may be impacted by disparities between therapists

and their clients that they are unaware of, or that stereotypes are shaping their views of and/or

responses to clients (Sue et al., 2019). Studies have revealed, for instance, that mental health

practitioners may pathologize patients who act outside of typical gender roles and may consider

female patients to be less capable than male patients (Sue et al., 2019). Being aware of various

worldviews falls under the knowledge category of cultural competency. As an illustration,

consider the fact that most cultures around the world have a collectivistic and interdependent

perspective and that some families have hierarchical structures (Sue et al., 2019). When working

with ethnic minority communities, such information is essential.

Thirdly, the steps involved in collaborative conceptualization are as follows: To comprehend

the issue, use the clinician's expertise as well as the client's perspective. Assessment, hypothesis

development, client participation, and conceptualization are all reliant on clinical knowledge

(Sue et al., 2019). Establish the issue in cooperation with others. Within this paradigm, problem

conceptualizations are developed by the client and the physician either together or separately

(Sue et al., 2019). Create a theory on the root of the issue together. With questioning, the

therapist can make a rough guess as to what might be contributing to or maintaining the issue

(Sue et al., 2019). Together, come up with methods to support or refute the hypothesis on the

issue, while also keeping other hypotheses in mind (Sue et al., 2019). The client and the therapist

will serve as the evaluators as you test the hypothesis. Create a treatment plan if the

conceptualization appears to be sound (Sue et al., 2019).

Lastly, Diagnostic intake interviews are conducted during the initial sessions by almost

everyone working in the mental health profession (Sue et al., 2019). The client is typically made

aware that the assessment session is not therapy but rather a time to gather data so the therapist

may get to know them and better comprehend their difficulties (Sue et al., 2019). Asking about

the client's motivation for seeking counseling enables the therapist to quickly understand the

client and his or her issue (Sue et al., 2019). Age, gender, race, marital status, and referral source

are among the additional pieces of information collected (Sue et al., 2019). It's crucial to find out

which cultural groups the client feels a connection to. The term "presenting problem" refers to

identifying the cause of the client's pain in his or her own words, as well as learning how the
client sees the issue and gauging their level of understanding of its severity (Sue et al., 2019). In

order to help with the formulation of the diagnosis, it is useful to have a chronological account of

and perceptions of the causes of the condition (Sue et al., 2019). The psychosocial history

provides clinicians with insight into the client's perceptions of their past and present functioning

in various aspects of life, as well as their early socialization and life experiences, including any

family expectations, values, or beliefs that may have contributed to the presenting issue (Sue et

al., 2019).

Agreement/Disagreement with Author’s presentation of Culturally Competent Assessment

In this textbook, I completely agree with the Author’s presentation of the topic of culturally

competent assessment. There are no aspects of the author’s presentation that I disagree with. The

author first begins by laying out a simple background about how culturally competent

assessments are necessary and without them, the therapeutic process is lacking in effectiveness

(Sue et al., 2019). The author then proceeds to discuss each aspect of culturally competent

assessments, as well as their sub-aspects. Just enough detail was given to each aspect and its sub-

aspects in order to provide the reader with an adequate understanding of the subject without

adding unnecessary fluff. There are videos and citations provided at various points throughout

this chapter to further enhance the chapter’s credibility (Sue et al., 2019). Nearing the end of the

chapter, there is a dedicated section for the implications of clinical practice which discusses the

various factors and variables that are necessary to be implemented within the context of the

chapter (Sue et al., 2019). Finally, the chapter ends with a thorough summary of the general

points mentioned throughout the chapter (Sue et al., 2019). I think the overall flow and

organization of this chapter was correct and very easy to understand.

Conclusion
 To conclude, there is a great significance in culturally competent assessments because without

them the effectiveness of the therapeutic practice greatly decreases. Counselors must attempt to

always stay competent and ensure their assessments are up to date with the same level of

competence. Clients may be from diverse backgrounds or have identities which have led to

oppression, so it is crucial that the counseling practice is focused on being highly effective.
 References

Sue, D. W., Sue, D., Neville, H. A., Smith, L. (2019). Counseling the Culturally Diverse, 8th

Edition. [[VitalSource Bookshelf version]]. Retrieved from vbk://9781119448280