Question

Imagine that you are a psychologist working in a youth detention center. All of your clients are adolescents that have broken the law in some form or another, but most are for non-violent offenses. Also imagine that all of your clients are of a different gender, ethnicity, and sociocultural background than yourself. Based on the recommendations of Sue and Sue (2016) and the other points raised in this chapter regarding the therapeutic alliance, explain how your personal experiences and worldview can impact the relationships you attempt to build with your clients.

Answer 1

One of the most important things to build cultural competency in counselling or therapy is to become open minded and accept all the clients irrespective of their race, religion, culture etc. Remaining open towards experience and exposure would help counsellors and therapists to appreciate the differences. Secondly, counsellors should build empathy towards their clients in order to accept their clients without any judgement. This would mean that accepting people with their strengths and weaknesses would help the counsellor provide better solutions by remaining objective. Thirdly, counsellors need to understand the interaction styles and signs and symbols of their clients’ culture in order to ensure that they communicate effectively. It would help them overcome the difficulties in effective communication. Finally, counsellors should avoid forcing the clients with their own beliefs and practices but respect the different beliefs and customs in order to guide the clients through their own belief system or cultural beliefs.

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