Multicultural Counseling Essay Example

Multicultural counseling is a method of counseling that appreciates that clients are different and hence involves incorporating people from different races, religion, ethnic and cultural backgrounds (Barden, 2015). It helps the patient appreciate and understand the different backgrounds of their colleagues. A good counselor helps the patients gain self-awareness by putting into consideration their different backgrounds, life circumstances, age, gender, sex orientation and socioeconomic status while selecting the treatment approach. The counselor should understand that each client is different from the other and also he/she is different from the client. Therefore, different settings might be required for different clients.

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The increase in population growth and diversity in the world requires counselors to consider multicultural factors while attending to their clients. The multicultural factors affect how clients relate with each other both positively and negatively during the counseling sessions (Barden, 2015). Failure to consider the multicultural factors among the clients can play a negative impact in delivering the clients treatment.

Understanding the economic conditions of different people is a multicultural factor that is very crucial in counseling. This refers to understanding the financial conditions of the different people and clients. Clients with low financial income may not have access to some aspects of life such as proper health care, good education and better living conditions whereas clients with a high financial income have access to the majority of the things they may need in life. Counselors should always consider the aspect of the economic condition while giving instructions to the clients; this is because some of the clients may not have had access to better education due to their financial conditions and thus may not understand some of the complex instructions given to them.

Social and cultural factors are an important consideration in counseling. Different people come from different cultures that have different beliefs, values, and way of life (Schroeder, 2016). The counselor should understand that some of the practices of different cultures may not seem to right to other clients, for example, polygamy is allowed in some cultures whereas to some it is prohibited. The social-cultural factors also affect how people relate to one another including types of foods eaten, communication methods and general aspects of life. For example, Maureen is a divorced 46-year-old woman with no children who was married to her high school boyfriend; her family still accepts her even after the divorce. In some cultures, her family may not accept Maureen in her condition.

Failure to consider the social and cultural factors of different clients during treatments may affect their feelings and may even affect communication during counseling sessions. Lack of proper communication between the client and the counselor will result in wrong instructions given. It is important for a counselor to be open to listening what the different beliefs of different clients are and how important are they to them. Maureen does not have a child at the age of 46; this is not normal for women in some cultures. However, the counselor should embrace the reason why she has chosen not to be a mother.

The gender factors are also an important multicultural factor to be considered by the counselor when giving instructions and advice to the clients. Different cultures, religion, races and ethnic groups have different roles assigned to different genders. Men and women from different cultures are assigned different tasks. Failure to consider the gender factors by the counselor can lead to gender inequality complains and may lead to poor or ineffective treatment assigned to clients. In her case, Maureen is divorced, and hence her counselor should understand how to handle a divorced woman and how to help her relationship with other clients especially because she seems to have a problem of entitlement to others complying with her expectations.

In the case study, Maureen seems to have a problem of being arrogant and inconsiderate of others needs and feelings. This might be as a result of her upbringing or environment she has been brought up in; which includes her parents or siblings behavior. She is also seen to be resentful towards others and has a feeling of entitlement to others complying with her expectations which might be a probable reason for her divorce. The counselor should be fully aware of Maureen's character and seek to help her in a way she will not feel was unfair to her or in a way that misjudged her. The counselor should be careful to maintain a good relationship with Maureen for her to follow instructions given.

Conclusion

In Maureen's case, the counselor should apply the psychological model of addiction to administer treatment to Maureen. She fears that she will lose her friends if she quits alcohol but on the other hand fears to lose her job especially after concerns by her employer who claims that she is not as vibrant in the morning as she was in the past. This shows that she is aware of the consequences of being an alcoholic and the impact it has on her life. This model seeks to find out what lures a person to take alcohol and why they continue to do so until they are dependent on it (Schroeder, 2016). Education on coping strategies should be administered to Maureen to help her with her alcohol addiction. Maureen needs to learn that she cannot face the addiction problem if she fears to lose her friends whom she drinks with.

References

Schroeder, K. (2016). Equine-Assisted Group Work: An Exploration of Therapeutic Factors and Group Practices.

Barden, S. M., & Greene, J. H. (2015). An investigation of multicultural counseling competence and multicultural counseling self-efficacy for counselors-in-training. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 37(1), 41-53.