It's about feeling more comfortable with yourself
It’s about cultivating a genuine curiosity about different cultures and a willingness to examine our own biases and assumptions. This isn’t about cramming for a test on cultural facts. Ignoring these factors not only hampers the effectiveness of treatment but can also perpetuate harmful stereotypes and biases. As our communities become more diverse, the one-size-fits-all approach to therapy simply doesn’t cut it anymore. Think of it as the difference between memorizing a phrasebook for a foreign language and immersing yourself in the culture, always ready to learn and adapt. The client, nervously fidgeting with their hands, wonders if the person sitting across from them can truly understand their experiences, their struggles, their world.
These lessons should be reinforced through existing training structures.4,35,36 Notably, many accredited programs and professional organizations already have requirements for multicultural training. Yet, these approaches are sorely needed in order to resolve mental health inequities. Normative referents were agencies and clinical practices, professional associations, university training programs, and supervisors and mentors. Furthermore, participants had high scores on the multiculturalist inclusive subscale of the CERIS-A, supporting the notion that this sample had a strong bond with their own cultural groups and respect for others’ cultural identities.
The IOM report was a primary impetus for the cultural competence movement in health care. Common racial stereotypes about health beliefs and behaviors are deconstructed through our training activities (eg, interview practice scenarios and role play by diverse trainers). This model emphasizes the concept of health habitus, that is, our tendencies to care for our emotional, mental and physical wellbeing in ways that are shaped by culture and social structure.18 The model indicates that health habitus, informed by (1) our culture, (2) our place in the social structure, and (3) our choices, shapes our health behavior (e.g., whether and how we communicate with providers) and, over time, becomes a health lifestyle.
A conversation on addressing cultural differences in psychotherapy. At Rula, we pride ourselves on serving a diverse https://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Health-Services/Cancer-Prevention-and-Health-Promotion-Coalition/LGBTQ-Health/Mental-Health client base and having a diverse provider network to match. To avoid making assumptions or perpetuating unconscious biases, encourage your clients to share feedback about their therapeutic experience. Therapists should take into account a client’s unique background when crafting the type of treatment they provide for that client.
This review aimed to systematically assess the breadth of conceptual and training literature in peer-reviewed publications drawn from PsycINFO, CINAHL plus, Google Scholar and Scopus, from 2007–2018, utilizing cultural humility as the key search term and its relevance to service provision. When therapists approach their clients with cultural humility, they signal that they are open to learning and growing alongside their clients. When your clients feel respected and heard, you can focus on building a strong bond that can improve their mental health outcomes.8 Cultural humility in counseling involves approaching each client by understanding how these factors can influence their mental health.8 Pay careful attention to social customs such as greeting, personal space, and other practices.6
Individuals’ knowledge about and decisions related to health care are personal, varied, and impacted by their environment, cultural beliefs, and socioeconomic status.18 Clinicians have a moral duty to treat patients with respect by incorporating patients’ choices, preferences, and boundaries with evidence-based care.19 Respect allows patients to be active participants in decision-making regarding their care. In the medical context, cultural humility may be defined as a process of being aware of how people’s culture can impact their health behaviours and in turn using this awareness to cultivate sensitive approaches in treating patients (4). Mental health care for neurodivergent people of color must be explicitly antiracist and culturally humble. Mental health providers should strive to develop cultural competence and deliver culturally sensitive interventions to meet the needs of diverse populations.
Beyond being a study “subject”, the research participant is a partner who is an expert in her/his own experience. Also values, beliefs and attitudes may differ based on age and generational factors, need to also be considered (van Ryn & Burke, 2000). Education, religion, sociocultural factors, geographic location, gender, sexual orientation, and age affect attitudes toward research as much as historical events. The history of slavery, racism, and segregation, and the continuing shortage of minority providers and researchers contribute to mistrust.
