Increasing Your Cultural Competence
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Grand Canyon University *
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CNL 509
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Arts Humanities
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Apr 3, 2024
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docx
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Increasing Your Cultural Competence
Stephanie A. Flores
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Grand Canyon University
CNL 509: Counseling the Culturally Diverse
Dr. Hailey Martinez
November 8th, 2023
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Increasing Your Cultural Competence
Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to provide a self-evaluation using multiple implicit association tests to understand personal preferences or bias with regard to race, gender, sexuality,
religion and/or ethnicity. Two assessments related specifically to religion and skin color were completed and will be discussed and analyzed throughout the essay. It will be important within this essay to discuss areas where growth and development are needed as a future counselor and plans for how cultural competence can be increased for the benefit of future clients and practice. Additionally, this essay will contain a reflection on how the GCU Counselor Dispositions on self-awareness and cultural diversity will aid in plans for growth in cultural competence. Finally, a description of my personal cultural and spiritual beliefs and how they can affect the therapeutic
alliance will be discussed as well as the importance of a counselor being aware of their own racial and cultural biases. Tests Completed and Detailed Summary of Results
The first test that I completed was the Religion Implicit Association Test (IAT). This test consisted of associations of Islam and Christianity with good and bad terms. I first associated the
“E” key on the keyboard with terms and images related to Islam, and simultaneously used the “I”
key on the keyboard with terms and images related to Christianity. The same was done with the good terms and bad terms and they were intermixed throughout the test. The results of this test indicated that I showed no automatic preference between Islam or Christianity. This meant that I was no faster at associating good terms with Christianity than I was at associating good terms with Islam. I did find it interesting that the site provided the results of others who completed the
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test and found that most participants were quick to relate Christianity with good at a faster rate than Islam with good. The second test that I completed with the Race IAT. This was specific to black and white people and much like the previous Religion IAT would show photos of black people and photos of white people as well as good and bad terms and the goal of the test was to quickly tap the “E” and “I” keys to the associated terms and people as fast as possible. The results of the test surprised me, as it was found that I was much quicker to associate black people with good terms than I was to associate them with bad terms. On the opposite side of that, I was quicker to associate white people with bad terms than I was to associate white people with good terms. From my understanding, the tests are designed to help reveal or understand subconscious biases that you may not be aware of. Overview of Impressions My impressions of the IAT’s taken were that it gave me a lot of insight into myself and possible biases that I may not have been aware of. Each of the tests taken provided different results and opened a space for me to reflect on internal biases that I may have. With regards to the Religion IAT test, I feel that it is quite accurate because of my experiences with Islam people
and Christian people. I found it interesting that the test asked questions regarding whether I have a preference for Christian people over Islam people or vice versa. I have people in my life who practice Islam, and people in my life who are Christian and I feel warmness towards both. When I was younger, I had a very close Muslim friend who I spent a lot of time with learning about her
life, her religion, and the religious practices surrounding Islam, I think that sitting down and taking the time to understand her really contributed to my openness and understanding of Islam, rather than allowing myself to accept the biases my parents tried to place on me about Muslims. I
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feel as though this is a strength that I can continue to develop so that I can be open and understanding of people of all religious backgrounds. By taking the time to research and understand these different religious backgrounds, I can help cultivate a space within my counseling practice of acceptance, non-judgment, and safety for people to integrate their religion into counseling sessions and treatment plans with me.
On the other hand, the Race IAT provided insight into biases that I subconsciously had towards white people and is giving me a space for self-reflection. I want to understand why I was
quick to associate white people with bad terms more so than the good terms. Ideally, I would have liked to have my results show no automatic preference toward either race, but I can see this as an opportunity for growth and development and reflect on my own experiences that may have or may still be contributing to why my Race IAT results ended up the way that they did. I grew up attending a predominantly white elementary school and a lot of my previous issues with my sense of self came from bullying from this group of people and a desire to look like them so I could fit in and “be normal”. This test made me realize that some of that may still be lingering in my mind and could be a contributing factor to why those associations came about. Now that I am
aware of these biases, I want to work through these thoughts and feelings because I do not want this to affect my interactions with my future clients. Plans to Increase Cultural Competence and Dispositional Values Counseling students and practicing counselors should consistently be increasing their cultural competence and knowledge because of the diverse individuals they will inevitably be working and interacting with. As a counseling student, understanding this and taking the steps to increase cultural competence is incredibly important to the quality of service they will eventually
provide to their clients. One goal that I will implement to increase my cultural competence is
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learning about myself and my own biases. I plan to take time out of my day once a week to explore my beliefs and values to have a better understanding of my biases within my own cultural and spiritual beliefs. Self-assessments like IAT’s can aid in my plan for increasing my knowledge of my own biases. I can take 1-2 a week and at the end of the week reflect on what I learned about myself and how I can continue to grow in that area. Another goal I have is one that
the Clay (2023) suggests for counselors looking to increase their cultural competence and that is to research different cultures through journal articles and academic books twice monthly for the purpose of increasing my knowledge of other cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and practices. Fee (1998) conducted an experimental cultural diversity course on a group of 79 students, throughout
the course the instructor implemented various techniques such as interactive videos where a video was shown of a Chinese American client discussing traditional herbal teas being used within their family for medicinal purposes. This opened discussion within the course of how western health professionals can learn from this video when treating individuals with traditional Chinese medical beliefs (Fee, 1998). In the same way, another goal I have is to seek out opportunities to work with diverse groups of people through local volunteer work at cultural events and even religious services. I think that integration into a culture in that way, and speaking with people from that culture is the best way to learn. The GCU dispositional value on self-awareness supports my goal to take time out of my week to learn about my own biases and beliefs because it calls for counselors in training to understand their own personal beliefs and how it affects their personal and professional relationships. By being aware of your own biases you can work to keep them in check when working with someone of differing beliefs and values to avoid causing harm to the client (GCU, 2022). Furthermore, by learning about and integrating myself into local events from diverse
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groups, I am exemplifying the GCU cultural diversity disposition. GCU (2022) expects counselors in training to embrace and honor diversity and multiculturalism as a way of supporting the dignity and worth of the client. When you take the time to learn and understand cultures outside of your own, it broadens your empathy and acceptance of the individual within the context of their cultural identity. Cultural and Spiritual Beliefs and the Therapeutic Alliance
When reflecting on my own spiritual and cultural beliefs there are two aspects to this that I believe affect the therapeutic alliance you create with your client. On one hand, there is the positive of a counselor who is aware of the way that culture and religion affect life experiences and behaviors and use that understanding in a way to benefit the counseling process and relationship, but on the other hand, if a counselor has unresolved trauma related to religion and/or culture, this can create a barrier between the client and counselor with those specific areas. Frame & Williams (1996) highlight a very important point with counselors who have trauma or feelings of confusion, fear, and/or ignorance related to religion and spirituality, and these counselors run the risk of reacting to their personal issues rather than that of the clients. With this in mind, I think understanding those risks puts a responsibility on myself as a counselor in training to ensure that I am consistently working through my own cultural and spiritual identity and beliefs because I don’t want to unintentionally, negatively affect the therapeutic alliance I am building with my client by allowing the unresolved issues I have to seep
into the way that I treat and interact with my clients.
Importance of Understanding Biases in Racial/Cultural Differences
When working with diverse groups, it is incredibly important for practicing counselors and counselings in training to be aware of and understand their biases specific to race and
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culture. The reason for this is because, if you have subconscious or even conscious biases about a
group of people, you can unintentionally place unfair biases on clients and treat them based on those assumptions. Each individual that we will encounter in practice may belong to a specific group that you have biases or even stereotypes about that are not necessarily true. If you go into a counseling session without keeping these in check, you run the risk of unintentionally harming your client with assumptions that may not even be true or applicable to them. In my own personal experience, I have met with school counselors who have placed harmful stereotypes on me that were not true. For example, I was meeting with a counselor after class to discuss my grades and a plan for how to raise those grades in order to graduate and she had made a note about how she was surprised I was failing math because Asians typically excel in that subject. These stereotypes can be so harmful and lead to mistrust in the counseling relationship. Frame &
Williams (1996) also discuss the importance of biases with regards to religion because a counselor who is non-religious may avoid or not be able to properly associate connections between a clients problems and their religious background due to their own feelings about religion. In the same way, it is important for counselors to keep their own biases in check so that they can provide the best possible care to each of their clients individually, within the context of the clients’ lives and experiences.
Conclusion
In conclusion, as counselors in training, we have a duty to consistently be working to increase our cultural competence for the benefit of our clients. Reflecting on areas of strength and weaknesses in our knowledge and skills can aid in allowing us to self-evaluate and continue to grow so that we can be the best version of ourselves for our clients. Counselors need to be aware of the importance of understanding our own racial and cultural backgrounds and biases
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and the importance of increasing our understanding of diverse races and cultures outside of our own to provide the best possible care to our clients and build a strong therapeutic alliance. Finally, counselors in training and practicing counselors should always make themselves aware of their own biases with regard to race and culture to avoid them seeping into the care we provide to our clients.
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References
Clay, R. A. (2023) How do I become culturally competent? American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2010/09/culturally-
competent
Fee, C. H. (1998). Increasing cultural competence for effective client counselling: An experimental course.
Journal of Nutrition Education, 30
(2), 117–119. https://doi-
org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/S0022-3182(98)70290-0
Frame, M. W., & Williams, C. B. (1996). Counseling African Americans: Integrating spirituality
in therapy. Counseling and Values
, 41
(1), 16–28. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/j.2161-007X.1996.tb00859.x
Grand Canyon University. (2022). GCU Counselor Dispositions. Retrieved from https://aws-
files.gcu.edu/ssc/chss/Counselor%20Dispositions.pdf
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