Exam 1: Obstacles to Developing Cultural Competence and Cultural Humility: Understanding Resistance to Multicultural Training

In order to be a culturally competent therapist, one should avoid personal feelings and previous experiences with race, culture and gender and therefore be free to explore the client's experience with prejudices or racism.

The burden to become multiculturally competent rests on the trainees from dominant culture as in most cases they have been the ones to marginalize, stereotype, and oppress minority cultures. Thus, it is the responsibility of the dominant culture to help rectify this in raising awareness and also in becoming competent in working with diverse populations.

Have you ever been a victim of racial prejudice, racial profiling, or microagression? If so, what emotions did that provoke in you?

One of the greatest concerns of instructors is the strong emotive reactions of students to the material. Some of these reactions may include: _____________, _______________, _________, ____________.

According to Kiselica (1999, as cited in Sue 8th edition) , White psychologists avoid topics of race because

Identify at least three emotions you experienced as you read the reactions of the four students. Reflect on why you feel those emotions surfaced.

The journey to becoming a competent culturally sensitive counselor in working with diverse populations is not complex as humans have innate characteristics that are relatively consistent across cultures with similar hopes and dreams that mark their humanness.

The author states as a "people of color" he directs his anger not at White Americans or the country but rather at

Describe recent conversations you have had about diversity. What were the settings for those conversations to occur? What was the makeup of those participating in the discussion?

Did you experience any positive feelings when you read this chapter? What did those mean for you?

Becoming culturally competent in mental health practice demands that nested or embedded emotions be openly experienced in which of the following sociodemographic dimensions of difference?

Marginalized group members often sense _______________ from the dominant culture.

The subject matter in this book and course requires you to explore your _______ and __________ a task that often evokes ___________ and ______________.

Anger is the primary subjective emotion encountered by White trainees exposed to multicultural content and its implications.

For practicing professionals and trainees in the helping professions, understanding the differing _________ of our culturally diverse clients is tantamount to effective multicultural counseling.

According to Todd and Abrams (2011, as cited in Sue 8th edition) , understanding our own reactions to issues of diversity, multiculturalism, oppression, race, gender, and sexual orientation is equally important to our development as counselors/therapists. After reading this chapter, how do you plan to use this information in your profession?

When counselors explore their own emotional reactions to race and culture, feelings such as defensiveness and anger can be destructive and are better left untouched.

As can be seen from the students' reactions to the text, many marginalized group members react equally strongly as their White counterparts when issues of oppression are raised.

The authors state that in multicultural counseling, best practice dimensions operate at which of the following levels?

What current news stories demonstrate the different reactions to racism between dominant and marginalized group members?