Multicultural Competency In Counselling

822 Words4 Pages
Introduction In this global era the likelihood of counsellors to be encountered by the diverse clients on a routine basis is rather common. Despite its ubiquitousness, disparity continues to exist in the counselling delivery with these group of clients. Counsellors can be unravelled by the lack of familiarity with culture-specific knowledge, awareness and skills in their interaction with the diverse clients (Arredondo et al, 1996). Multicultural competence in counselling is defined in this essay as the ability to form the therapeutic alliance with a diverse client in a culturally appropriate manner (Arredondo et al, 1996), which refers to the counsellor’s ability to treat the diverse client with the level of dignity and respect that he/she…show more content…
Foremost, the complex interaction between pre-post migration experiences contribute significantly to the high rates of mental health concerns. Across diverse refugee populations, pre-migration trauma consistently predicts symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety (Ai et al., 2002; Ichikawa et al., 2006; Birman and Tran, 2008; Carswell et al., 2009; Nickerson et al., 2011; Schweitzer et al., 2006, 2011), cited in Murray et al., (2013) and preliminary evidence also suggests pre-migration trauma is predictive of somatisation (Schweitzer et al., 2006), cited in Murray et al., (2013). Higher rates of PTSD, anxiety and depression were found in people who reported higher rates of post-migration living difficulties (Carswell et al., 2009; Schweitzer et al., 2006, 2011), and lower socioeconomic support (Birman and Tran, 2008; Schweitzer et al., 2006), quoted in Murray et al.,…show more content…
After fundamental needs for safety have been met, refugees may require intensive and carefully targeted psychological and integrated social services (Hollinsworth, 2013). Mental health interventions for this population have primarily focused on treatment of PTSD (Nickerson et al., 2011). Additionally, a considerable proportion of research has focused on cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT) and narrative exposure therapy (NET) (Crumlish and O’Rourke, 2010; Palic and Elklit, 2010), quoted in Longacre et al. (2012) and medication (DeAngelis, 2008). While evidence suggests that these therapies can be effective in decreasing PTSD, anxiety and depression (Murray et al., 2010), recovery is often not complete, with studies identifying high levels of distress and relapses of symptoms as many as 10 to 23 years post-resettlement (Boehnlein et al., 2004; Vaage et al., 2010). Despite the eventual improvement, refugees remain vulnerable to mental health problems. There has been some criticism of an overly biomedical paradigm in evaluating refugee wellbeing, calling investigators for a more multi-dimensional mental health practice response (Watters, 2001; Miller and Rasco, 2004; Grodin et al., 2008; Westoby and Ingamells, 2010), cited in Longacre et al., (2012). Gerritsen et al (2006) and Norrendam et
Show More
Related

  • Teacher Education Case Study

    5600 Words  | 23 Pages

    Part B 7. Issues and concerns in Teacher Education between developing and developed country. (Choose ant ONE (1) country from each category) Abstract Teacher education programs among countries are often examined and are analyzed for further enhancement of their effectiveness. In this 21st century, teachers are not only expected as imparters of knowledge, teachers are also to hold the responsibility of shaping a better citizenry. This paper aims to compare and contrast the teacher education in Singapore

    Read More

More about Multicultural Competency In Counselling

Open Document