Integrating Diversity into Clinical Psychology

Neha K. Dixit, M.S.Doctoral Candidate

Dept. of Clinical & Health Psychology

The Effective Psychologist

The most important instrument you have is YOU Your living example, of who you are and how you

struggle to live up to your potential, is powerful Be authentic

The stereotyped, professional role can be shed If you hide behind your role the client will also hide

Be a therapeutic person and be clear about who you are Be willing to grow, to risk, to care, and to be involved

Personal Characteristics of Effective Counselors

Have an identity Respect & appreciate themselves Able to recognize & accept own power Open to change Make choices which affect their lives Feel alive & make life-oriented choices Authentic, sincere & honest Have a sense of humor Make mistakes & admit them Appreciate the influence of culture Sincere interest in welfare of others Maintain healthy boundaries

The Counselor’s Values

Be aware of how your values influence your interventions

Recognize that you are not value-neutral Your job is to assist clients in finding answers

that are most congruent with their own values Find ways to manage value conflicts between

you and your clients Begin therapy by exploring the client’s goals

Multicultural Counseling Become aware of your biases and values Attempt to understand the world from your

client’s vantage point Gain a knowledge of the dynamics of

oppression, racism, discrimination, and stereotyping

Study the historical background, traditions, and values of your client

Be open to learning from your client

Issues Faced by Beginning Therapists

Achieving a sense of balance and well-being

Managing difficult and unsatisfying relationships with clients

Struggling with commitment and personal growth

Developing healthy, helping relationships with clients

If the world were a village of 100 people, there would be…

57 Asians21 Europeans

14 from the Western Hemisphere (north and south)8 Africans

52 would be female 48 would be male70 would be non-white, 30 white

70 would be non-Christian, 30 would be Christian89 would be heterosexual, 11 homosexual

59% of the entire world's wealth would be in thehands of only 6 people and all 6 would be citizens

of the United States80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death, 1 would be near birthOnly 1 would have a college education

1 would own a computer

What influences your clinical skills/counseling?

1) Your positionality (perspectives resulting from an intersection of multiple social identities)

2) Your experiences as a function of dynamics created by and resulting from membership in multiple social groups

Complexity of Multiculturalism

Multicultural Issues

Biases are reflected when we: Neglect social and community factors to focus

unduly on individualism Assess clients with instruments that have not

been normed on the population they represent

Judge as psychopathological ~ behaviors, beliefs, or experiences that are normal for the client’s culture

Values and the Helping Relationship Value conflicts:

To refer or not to refer Referrals appropriate when moral, religious, or

political values are centrally involved in a client’s presenting problems and when:

therapist’s boundaries of competence have been reached

therapist has extreme discomfort with a client’s values therapist is unable to maintain objectivity therapist has grave concerns about imposing his or her

values on the client

Role of Spiritual and Religious Values in Counseling Spirituality refers to:

general sensitivity to moral, ethical, humanitarian, and existential issues without reference to any particular religious doctrine

Religion refers to: the way people express their devotion to a deity or an

ultimate reality Key issues:

Can the counselor understand the religious beliefs of the client?

Can the counselor work within the framework of the client?

Knowledge of Client Cultures

Differing Worldviews Views about family Cooperation vs. Competition Time Orientation Communication Styles Locus of Control

Knowledge of Client Cultures

Beliefs about psychological problems and therapy Sources of problems

Internal vs. External Expectations about how therapy works

Counselor’s role Client’s role

Area Euro American African American

Hispanic American

AsianAmerican

NativeAmerican

Human Nature Mixed Mixed Good Good GoodPerson and Nature

Mastery Subjugation Subjugation Harmony Harmony

Time Future Present Past-Present Past-Present PresentActivity Level Doing Being Being-in-

BecomingBeing-in-Becoming

Being-in-Becoming

Social Relations

Individual Collateral Collateral Lineal Collateral

Handling Time Time is not flexible Time is defined by the rhythm of social relationships

Time is relaxed

Time is a reflection of the eternal

Time is flexible

Aging Respect youth Respect Elders Respect Elders

Respect Elders

Respect Elders

Belief System Rational/empirical belief orientation

Rational/spiritual belief orientation

Rational/spiritual belief orientation

Rational/spiritual belief orientation

Spiritual/magic belief orientation

Group Relations

Competition Cooperation Cooperation Cooperation Cooperation

Clinician Attitudes Overt racist

overtly hostile, homophobic, racist, ageist, sexist, judgmental (should stay out of the field)

Covert prejudice tries to hide negative, stereotyped opinions but client

picks up cues Culturally ignorant

lack of knowledge based on homogeneous background (need to learn about other cultures before working with them)

Clinician Attitudes Cont…

Color blind denies differences: "I don’t recognize

differences; I treat everyone the same." Culturally liberated

recognize, appreciate, and celebrate cultural differences; strives for freedom from judgments of diverse clients

Assumption

Cultural diversity is a fact of life and efforts to build a common culture inevitably privilege the dominant culture

(Ortiz & Rhoads, 2000)