Diversity and Cultural Competence in Family Therapy Essay

In my personal opinion and experience, I find that the field of psychology is lacking in diverse cultural competencies as much as the society is diverse in its population. I believe that as with using any theoretical model, the therapists’ cultural knowledge needs to include understanding of the many cultural considerations influencing the effectiveness of treatment when dealing with clients from diverse backgrounds. When servicing the individuals in the family, care and attention needs to be directed towards family and community norms and values around help seeking, secrecy and confidentiality, family roles, child rearing and spiritual practices.

Cultural competency is critical in psychology practice. In the United States, the groups, which considered as cultural and ethnic minorities, are growing in the population (APA, 2003). Culture often influences the content and quality of people’s experience, perception, and response. Thus, it is important for psychologists to be aware of cultural influences on client’s presenting experience(s) (Gardiner & Kosmitzki, 2010). Without a regard for cultural influence, there is a significant risk for the psychologist to misunderstand, misinterpret, and misguide his or her client. Such misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and misguidance are not only unhelpful but can be detrimental for the client (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011; Pope, & Vasquez, 2011).

Critically analyse one of the main challenges, barriers, and enablers for cultural competence in health care when working in a cross-cultural environment.

The United States is one of the most culturally, ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse countries in the world, so it is essential that all service provider know a range of strategies in order to enhance their relationships with families from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It is helpful for those seeking to work as service providers to develop a common foundation of knowledge and practical strategies to address the needs of the families they serve, especially when the families' cultural background are different from their own. The textbook Knowing and Serving Diverse Families is designed for service providers who are providing early mediation services to families of diverse cultures. It includes ideas and

As a health care professional, we are faced with caring for patients of different cultural and ethnic background. Researching and learning about the patient’s culture values, beliefs and practices is essential and remarks the ability to provide quality health care for the patient. “Organizations and individuals who understand their clients’ cultural values, beliefs, and practices are in a better position to be coparticipants with their clients in providing culturally acceptable care” (Purnell & Paulanka, 2008, p. 2). After completing the cultural competence checklist, I was able to identify some of my responses to the patient cultural values and belief practices. I will describe a summary of my assessment results, analyze

Cultural competence is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the individual health care professionals when they treat individual patients who are from different race, ethnicity, and religion and diverse backgrounds. In the U.S, some patients receive equal treatment in the health care facilities, but others receive unequal treatment because they are from diverse backgrounds. In the article, “Cultural Clues” Melissa Hansen focuses on the importance of culturally competent workforce- (nurses, technicians, and doctors) who can recognize cultural differences to allow effective communication with patients. The culturally competent health care workers also include the community health workers- (community health promoters, village health workers, and lay health advisers). In fact, the lack of understanding between the healthcare workers and patients is resulting in an estimated one-third of patients who do not adhere to prescribed medication regimens. This condition leads not only to serious complication and more hospitalizations, but also is costing the U.S. health system an estimated $100 billion to $290 billion every year (Hansen 22). Necessarily, the health care workforce needs to improve this state to reduce disparities.

But, it is the impact that emotional cutoffs inflict on clients that must be explored. Cultural competence Cultural competence in the field of Marriage and Family Therapy refers to a counselor’s ability to recognize the impact of their individual culture and their client’s culture has on the therapeutic relationship. “D.W. Sue and D. Sue (2003) described the following three characteristics of a culturally competent counselor. First, a culturally skilled counselor actively works towards increasing her or his awareness regarding her or his cultural assumptions, values, and biases. Second, a culturally skilled counselor works

"A set of congruent behaviors, attitudes and policies that come together as a system, agency or among professionals and enable that system, agency or those professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations. The word "culture" is used because it implies the integrated pattern of human thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group. The word competence is used because it implies having a capacity to function effectively."

Being cultural competent is essential for providers, even though it is not easy. A part of the Health People 2020 discussed cultural competence and health literacy under its goal to improve quality and outcomes of health care (Lie, Carter-Pokras, Braun, & Coleman, 2012). Cultural competence is the ability to provide patients with diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, and to tailor the delivery of health care to meet the patient’s social, cultural, and linguistic needs (Gurm & Cheema, 2013). In order for providers to be culturally competent they should not be afraid to interact with a variety of questions and ask questions to better understand different cultures. They should be able to learn from their patients in order to provide better services. Cultural competent is achieved with time and with the willingness of learning and becoming aware of the difference in healthcare. Providers should not impose their cultural values on patients and instead respect the uniqueness of their patients (Hicks, 2012). Cultural competence may encourage patients to be more open and interact more with providers as well as reduce the fear from interacting with someone who is culturally different (Bates & Ahmed, 2017). When providers are

One of the first steps to providing culturally competent care is to learn about the predominant cultures cared for within a particular healthcare system. This means utilizing community and government resources, analyzing the demographics of the surrounding population, and seeking patient input. Nurses can become culturally competent simply by having daily cross-cultural interactions with both their colleagues and their clients (Killian & Waite, 2009, p. 2). Simply inquiring about ethnically diverse clients, provides a better foundation and framework for becoming a

Understanding cultural differences improves the effectiveness of the treatment a client receives. Cultural competency has a positive effect on client care delivery by enabling practitioners to deliver services that are respectful of and responsive to the health beliefs, practices and cultural and linguistic needs of diverse clients (National Institute of Health, 2015).

Cultural competence requires culture recognition, knowledge and understanding for each individual patients care. “Cultural competence in health care describes the ability of systems to provide care to patients with diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, including tailoring delivery to meet patients’ social, cultural, and linguistic needs” (Betancourt, Green, and Carrillo, p. 5). The ability to deliver culturally

In a multicultural counseling perspective there are four key approaches when counseling individuals, (a) multicultural awareness of culturally learned assumptions about self and others leading to accurate assessments of clients, (b) multicultural knowledge of information, (c) multicultural skills and interventions, that are appropriate treating clients, and (d) individuals are from a variety of backgrounds, demographic status, and affiliation of cultures. The three-stage approach, will direct the counselor towards levels of multicultural competence in therapy by providing a successful outcome in the recovery process. When conducting a psychotherapy session with a client the counselor should be able to demonstrate skills, when exploring the client’s cultural background. Counselors should also be able to focus on the essential skills and pattern behaviors, when identifying cultural differences. Counseling a minority from a different culture counselors’ must be able to identify their own personal behaviors. These behaviors are crucial when counseling these individuals. First, a counselor must be able to sense the clients’ viewpoint or issue in some way. Secondly, a counselor should be specific when asking a question rather than being unclear and confusing.

Family counseling is not a value-neutral process. The counselor must be attenuated to the cultural assumptions of the family he or she is counseling, particularly if the family is from a culture different from his or her own. Asian-Americans have often been underserved by family counselors. This may be partially because therapy is not an ingrained and accepted part of many traditional Asian-American cultures. Particularly amongst members of an older generation who did not grow up in the United States, the assumption may be that entering into counseling is tantamount to "being insane, being disloyal to one's family, being incompetent, or having weak will power...Therefore, it is very important for a counselor to be empathetic with clients in their discomfort, especially at the initial stage of treatment" (Yea Sun et al 2005). Engaging with such discomfort rather than ignoring it is essential, lest the counselor be perceived as insensitive to the needs of the client.

As the population becomes more diverse it is crucial for one to become culturally competent. Health professionals should gain a deeper understanding of cultures instead of memorizing traits that are attributable to certain culture (Kostas & Vela, 2015). Care team should consist of both interprofessional and culturally competent providers to ensure optimal care and a better quality of life for patient. Incorporating shared decision-making including information sharing, treatment options, and mutual agreement on a treatment plan, is an important factor for reducing healthcare inequities.