Theoretical Influences on Counseling Multi-Cultural Populations

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Theoretical Influences on Counseling Multi-Cultural^[b] Populations

The United States has often been called the “melting pot” due to its ever-increasingly diverse cultural cross section. This has made for a complex and challenging society that in reality is disjointed and chaotic, lacking in harmony and unity. With more immigrants coming from many different places bringing with them their individual backgrounds and cultures, a growing concern regarding our ability to provide adequately matched multicultural counseling services has permeated the profession. With this increase comes the distinct issue of the counselor’s own personal culture, including his or her theoretical outlook, and its influence over the assorted components informing the identities of our clients and the services we provide to them^[c].

The Counselor’s Cultural Intelligence

It is essential that a clinical mental health counselor be familiar with a client’s culture and be in tune with his or her own cultural identity and theoretical view in order to be a culturally competent provider. A competent counselor needs to comprehend his or her ow culture and beliefs before commencing to understand and aid others, (Ibrahim, 1985). Attentiveness to personal beliefs, acknowledgement of various frameworks of thinking and logic, and understanding of the influence these factors can have on one’s style of assistance and communication are needed to be culturally competent (Ibrahim, 1985). If we fail to demonstrate this competency we risk obstructing our counseling efficacy and potentially put our clients at risk.

Steeped in predominantly European American beliefs, counselors risk forming opinions based on the array of “white” cultural beliefs and practices. They must find and maintain a balance of traditional societal culture and the unfamiliar ethos of the multicultural client. This adjustment to employing multicultural counseling skills will safeguard the client from personal biases, racism, stereotypes, basic conjectures about their cultural group, and ineffective or inappropriate traditional counseling methods.

Theoretical Influences on Counseling Multi-Cultural Populations

Adhering to a specific counseling theory runs the risk of limiting our success with the multi-cultural client population. Some cultural groups do not share similar values, agree with methodology choices, how the counseling is conducted, or share expectations of its outcome with the counselor. For these reasons, the counselor must investigate a client’s cultural background and be open to flexibility^[d] regarding the definitions of “appropriate” behavior (La Framboise, 1985).

Multi-Cultural considerations for Latino Clients

One in five Americans^[e] identify as Hispanic with cultural ties to Spanish speaking countries and in some states, such as Texas, Hispanics will soon outnumber Caucasians, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. As this population grows, so does their need for clinical mental health counselling. The Hispanic population brings with it special cultural nuances and unique challenges and the success rate of their services is amongst the lowest for multicultural groups.  Treating them successfully requires special considerations and an understanding of their cultural framework will assist counselors in avoiding common pitfalls associated with their treatment.