Imagine that you are a mental health professional. A client from a cultural and ethnic background different from your own comes to you for assistance with an issue.
- Feeling forced into an arranged marriage.
- Being the first generation in the U.S. of immigrant parents.
- A child feeling fearful to eat lunch in the school cafeteria because their packed lunch from home is different from the food many of their peers bring to school.
- Explain the issue in which the client needs assistance. How do the perceptions of people who are not in the client’s ethnic group play a role in their behavior? In what ways do stereotypes, prejudice, and/or discrimination come into play?
- How might your own cultural/ethnic background affect how you approach the issue and the client? Are there any experiences in your own life that have influenced your attitudes, values, or stereotypes about the client’s ethnic group?
- In what ways does the client’s ethnic/cultural background affect how he/she /they feel and/or react to the situation?
- Why is it important to identify the cultural differences between the client and yourself before devising ways to help the client?
- Describe multicultural competence and the role it plays in helping the client. How could you be sure that you are assisting the client in a way that is culturally competent?
- How would you assist the client while still respecting their cultural values? What might you suggest that the client do to remedy the situation/issue?
Book used: Multicultural Psychology
Self, Society, and Social Change
by Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti; Denise A. Isom