1. CHAPTER 7 BARRIERS TO MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND THERAPY: INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY PERSPECTIVES

2. Challenge for counselors
Reach out and understand the worldviews, values and circumstances
Free self of own cultural conditioning
Develop new and sensitive approaches
Play new roles of helping 13

3. Counseling and Therapy
A process of interpersonal interaction,
communication, and
social influence. 19

4. Characteristics of Counseling/Therapy
For effective therapy to occur, the therapist and
client must be able to send and receive both
verbal and nonverbal messages appropriately
and accurately.

5. Effective therapy Breakdowns in communication Social influence
Misunderstandings
Culture clashes in the cultural episode 20

6. Generic Characteristics Of Counseling/Therapy
1. Culture-bound values—individual-centered, verbal/emotional/behavioral expressiveness, communication patterns from client to counselor, openness and intimacy, analytic/linear/verbal (cause- effect) approach, and clear distinctions between mental and physical well- being.
2. Class-bound values—strict adherence to time schedules (50-minute, once or twice-a-week meeting), ambiguous or unstructured approach to problems, and seeking long-range goals or solutions.
3. Language variables—use of Standard English and emphasis on verbal communication.

7. Generic Characteristics of Counseling
Western based
Shared common components of White culture values and beliefs
Mainly middle and upper class values
Have influenced the actual practice of counseling
See tables on pages 21

8. YAVIS syndrome( Schofield, 1964)
Therapists preference
Young
Attractive
Verbal
Intelligent successful 22

9. QUOID (Sundberg, 1981) Therapy is ‘not’ for Quiet Ugly Old Indigent
Dissimilar culturally 23

10. Hence the 3 Major Barriers
Class-bound values
Language bias and misunderstanding
Culture-bound values
May be impediments to effective counseling. 24

11. Culture
Those things that people have learned to do, believe, value, and enjoy.
Totality of the ideals, beliefs, skills, tools, customs and institutions into which each member of society is born. 25

12. Marginal Person
A person’s inability to form dual ethnic identification because of bicultural membership.
Pressure to conform to dominant culture
‘different is bad’ or deficient 26

13. Class-Bound values
Low socioeconomic class stressors undermine mental and physical health of clients
Financial resources and class biases affect delivery of services
Classism and discrimination can appear in assessments, diagnosis and treatment
Insight vs. survival
‘Minority standard time’
Present time vs future time
Unfamiliar with process vs. resistant 30

14. Problems and concerns of many groups…
Are related to systemic and external forces rather than internal psychological problems.
Dealing with such factors may be more helpful than self-exploration and insight. 31

15. Be careful not to…
Overgeneralize or stereotype.
Avoid being rigid. 34

16. CULTURE BOUND VALUES OF COUNSELING/THERAPY
1. Focus on the Individual
Counseling promotes individualism, autonomy, and achievement, YET
Many people of color operate in a more collectivistic fashion.

17. Individualism versus Collectivism
Competition
Status
Recognition
Achievement
‘own person’
Autonomy
‘I’
Family
Group
Collective society
‘We’ 27

18. CULTURE BOUND VALUES OF COUNSELING/THERAPY
2. Verbal/Emotional/Behavioral Expressiveness
Many counselors and therapists tend to emphasize the fact that verbal/emotional/behavioral expressiveness is important in individuals, YET
Many cultural groups value the restraint of strong feelings.

19. Expressiveness versus non- expressiveness
Verbal
Articulate
Express thoughts and feelings clearly
Assertive
Stand up for rights
Silence may be valued
Patterns of communication (status)
Maturity and wisdom
Control is valued 28

20. CULTURE BOUND VALUES OF COUNSELING/THERAPY
3. Insight
This characteristic assumes that it is mentally beneficial for individuals to obtain insight or understanding into their deep underlying dynamics and causes, YET
Several cultural groups and those from a lower socioeconomic status (SES) often do not perceive insight as appropriate or helpful.

21. CULTURE BOUND VALUES OF COUNSELING/THERAPY
4. Self-Disclosure (Openness and Intimacy)
Most forms of counseling and psychotherapy tend to value one’s ability to self-disclose and to talk about the most intimate aspects of one’s life, YET
Some cultures may not value self-disclosure for fear it brings shame to the family, and others may not feel comfortable self-disclosing to White therapists due to mistrust and oppression.

22. Other culture variables
Cause and effect vs. intuition and natural
Linear, rational, analytical
Mental and physical functioning
Ambiguous vs. structure 29

23. CULTURE BOUND VALUES OF COUNSELING/THERAPY
5. Scientific Empiricism
Counseling and psychotherapy in Western culture and society have been described as being highly linear, analytic, and verbal in their attempt to mimic the physical sciences, YET
Many cultural groups emphasize the harmonious aspects of the world and minimize the importance of analytical inquiries.

24. CLASS-BOUND VALUES OF COUNSELING/THERAPY
To effectively work with lower-class clients, counselors need to:
understand their own biases,
understand how poverty affects the lives of people,
be cognizant that sometimes behaviors for survival are pathologized, and
consider information-giving activities and a more active approach.

25. Language Barriers
The practice of using children as interpreters can cause several problems for families of color and other cultures.
More bilingual counselors are needed.
Use of Standard English in health care may unfairly discriminate against those from a bilingual or lower SES background.

26. Language-Barriers Children translators
Regional differences within countries
Nonverbal cues
Ebonics
Emotion is hard to translate
Language problems with assessments and tests 32

27. “American” Cultural Assumptions And Multicultural Family Therapy
Counselors need to become culturally aware of their own values, biases, and assumptions about human behavior (especially as it pertains to the definition of family).
It is important to become aware of the worldview of the culturally different client and how that client views the definition, role, and function of the family.
Appropriate intervention strategies need to be devised.

28. Value Preference Considerations
Time Dimension
Relational Dimension
Activity Dimension
People-Nature Relationship
Nature of People Dimension
People-Nature Relationship
Traditional Western thinking believes in mastery and control over nature and therapists operate from a framework that subscribes to the belief that problems are solvable and that both therapist and client must take an active part in solving problems via manipulation and control
However, many Asian cultures emphasize harmony within the family and the environment leads to harmony within the self.--dependence on the family unit and acceptance of the environment seem to dictate differences in solving problems and Asian cultures tend to accommodate or deal with problems through indirection
Time Dimension
U.S. society may be characterized as preoccupied with the future
American Indians and African Americans tend to value a present time orientation, while Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans have a combination past-present focus
Relational Dimension
The U.S. can be characterized as an achievement-oriented society, which is most strongly manifested in the prevailing Protestant work ethic
Almost all racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States tend to be more collateral in their relationships with people.
Activity Dimension
One of the primary characteristics of White U.S. cultural values and beliefs is an action (doing) orientation: (a) We must master and control nature; (b) we must always do things about a situation; and (c) we should take a pragmatic and utilitarian view of life. In counseling, we expect clients to master and control their own life and environment, to take action to resolve their own problems, and to fight against bias and inaction
It appears that both American Indians and Latinos/”Hispanics prefer a being or being-in-becoming mode of activity-the American Indian concepts of self-determination and noninterference are examples--value is placed on the spiritual quality of being, as manifested in self-containment, poise, and harmony with the universe and on the attainment of inner fulfillment and an essential serenity of one’s place in the universe

29. Implications for Practice
Become aware of the generic characteristics of counseling.
Advocate for multilingual services.
Provide community counseling services in the client’s natural environments (schools, churches, etc.).
Help clients deal with forces such as poverty, discrimination, prejudice, and immigration stress in contrast to developing personal insight through self- exploration.

30. Implications for Practice
Understand the different cultural conceptions of family.
Families cannot be understood apart from the cultural, social, and political dimensions.
Learn the definition of family for specific groups.
Be careful not to overgeneralize or stereotype.