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Notes on the article:

Operationalization of the Multicultural Counseling Competencies

AMCD Professional Standards and Certification Committee

Dr. Patricia Arredondo

·        Multicultural counseling refers to preparation and practices that integrate multicultural and culture-specific awareness, knowledge and skills into counseling interactions.

·        The term multicultural, in the context of counseling preparation and application, refers to five major cultural groups in the United States and its territories: African/Black, Asian, Caucasian/European, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American or indigenous groups who have historically resided in the Continental USA and its territories.

·        In the United States, men of European background have been and continue to hold economic, political, and educational power. This is an important factor in the development of the multicultural counseling competencies and the domain of multicultural counseling.

·        Multiculturalism puts the focus on ethnicity, race and culture. Diversity refers to other individual, people differences including age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability or disability and other characteristics by which someone may prefer to self-define.

·        For counselors, knowledge about historical and political realities faced by persons of color should be known when providing career counseling or some other interventions.

·        Persons of color have experienced more incidents of oppression, disenfranchisement and legislated discrimination for racial reasons alone. This may also help to explain the phenomenon of learned helplessness and why individuals of color may suffer more experiences that make them the victim of an unfair decision or practice.

·        To be culturally competent, counselors need to understand the political power dynamics of the workplace and how they perpetuated the dominance of certain groups over others.

·        Multicultural counseling leaders have reported that rapport building is critical in counseling with persons of color and at times, a counselors sharing that she has been to the clients home country or knows someone from there may facilitate the connection.

·        When counseling from a multicultural perspective, culturally competent counselors would know that culture is not to ‘blame’ for a persons problems nor does the presenting problem for a person of color have to be culture or race-based.

·        Culturally skilled counselors believe that cultural self-awareness and sensitivity to ones own cultural heritage is essential.

·        Culturally skilled counselors are aware of their own cultural background and experiences have influenced attitudes, values, and biases about psychological processes.

·        Culturally skilled counselors are able to recognize the limits of their multicultural competency and expertise.

·        Culturally skilled counselors recognize their sources of discomfort with differences that exist between themselves and clients in terms of race, ethnicity and culture.

·        Culturally skilled counselors have specific knowledge about their own racial and cultural heritage and how it personally and professionally affects their own definitions and biases of normality/abnormality and the process of counseling.

·        Culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge and understanding about how oppression, racism, discrimination, and stereotyping affect them personally and in their work.

·        Culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge about their social impact upon others. They are knowledgeable about communication style differences, how their style may clash with or foster the counseling process with persons of color or others different from themselves.

·        Culturally skilled counselors seek out educational, consultative, and training experiences to improve their understanding and effectiveness in working with culturally different populations.

·        Culturally skilled counselors are constantly seeking to understand themselves as racial and cultural beings and are actively seeking a non-racist identity.

·        Culturally skilled counselors are aware of their negative and positive emotional reactions toward other racial and ethnic groups that may prove detrimental to the counseling relationship.

·        Culturally skilled counselors are aware of their stereotypes and preconceived notions that they may hold toward other racial and ethnic minority groups.

·        Culturally skilled counselors possess specific knowledge and information about eh particular group with which they are working.

·        Culturally skilled counselors understand how race, culture, ethnicity, and so forth may affect personality formation, vocational choices, and manifestation of psychological disorders, help seeking behavior, and the appropriateness or inappropriateness of counseling approaches.

·        Culturally skilled counselors understand and have knowledge about sociopolitical influences that impinge upon the life of racial and ethnic minorities, Immigration issues, poverty, racism, stereotyping, and powerlessness may impact self-esteem and self-concept in the counseling process.

·        Culturally skilled counselors should familiarize themselves with relevant research and the latest findings regarding mental health and mental disorders that affect various ethnic and racial groups.

·        Culturally skilled counselors become actively involved with minority individuals outside the counseling setting so that their perspective of minorities is more than an academic or helping exercise.

·        Culturally skilled counselors respect client’s religious and/or spiritual beliefs and values, including attributions and taboos, because they affect worldview, psychological functioning, and expressions of distress.

·        Culturally skilled counselors respect indigenous helping practices and respect help-giving networks among communities of color.

·        Culturally skilled counselors value bilingualism and do not view another language as an impediment to counseling.

·        Culturally skilled counselors have clear and explicit knowledge and understanding of the generic characteristics of counseling and therapy and how they may clash with the cultural values of various cultural groups.

·        Culturally skilled counselors are aware of institutional barriers that prevent minorities from using mental heath services.

·        Culturally skilled counselors have knowledge of the potential bias in assessment instruments and use procedures and interpret findings keeping in mind the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the clients.

·        Culturally skilled counselors have knowledge of family structures, hierarchies, values, and beliefs from various cultural perspectives. They are knowledgeable about the community where a particular cultural group may reside and the resources in the community.

·        Culturally skilled counselors should be aware of relevant discriminatory practices at the social and community level that may be affecting the psychological welfare of the population being served.

·        Culturally skilled counselors are able to engage in a variety of verbal and nonverbal helping responses. They are able to send and receive both verbal and nonverbal messages accurately and appropriately.

·        Culturally skilled counselors are able to exercise institutional intervention skills on behalf of their clients. They can help clients determine whether a ‘problem’ stems from racism or bias in others so that clients do not inappropriately personalize problems.

·        Culturally skilled counselors are not averse to seeking consultation with traditional healers or religious and spiritual leaders and practitioners in the treatment of culturally different clients when appropriate.

·        Culturally skilled counselors take responsibility for interacting in the language requested by the client and if not feasible, make appropriate referrals.

·        Culturally skilled counselors have training and expertise in the use of traditional assessment and testing instruments. They are aware of the cultural limitations.

·        Culturally skilled counselors should attend to as well as work to eliminate biases, prejudices, and discriminatory contexts in conducting evaluations and providing interventions, and should develop sensitivity to issues of oppression, sexism, heterosexism, elitism and racism.

·        Culturally skilled counselors take responsibility for educating their clients to the process of psychological intervention, such as goals, expectations, legal rights, and the counselor’s orientation.