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by: A. Lorenzo Salvo Lucino Jr.



      It is apparent in the field of counseling psychiatry and even clinical psychology that psychologists and licensed counselors are expected to provide services to culturally diverse clients ethically. It is essential that the psychologists are culturally sensitive and this is best applied in practice. One notices that here in the United States and in most of the world, the Ethic Code are mandated by governing boards such as the American Psychology Association. Despite this standardized format, ethical codes for psychologists have been brought into question for their cultural sensitivity.

   Living in a heterogeneous country like the United States of America, which is composed of multiple racial backgrounds, ethnic compositions, language emulsification, diverse religious practices and a plethora of cultural regalia and symbolism, one cannot help but ask the question of , “What isn’t represented in the United States?” or , “Is there a region of the world that is not transplanted into the United States?” Due to this cultural coalescing, cultural diversity is a fact of life in today’s global village and counselors can no longer afford to ignore issues that are experienced by immigrant populations (Corey et al, 2011).

   Multicultural counseling in the United States has some limitations in that there is a phenomenon called Cultural Tunnel Vision. Cultural Tunnel Vision  is when people have limited cultural experiences, and in many cases they unwittingly impose their values on unsuspecting clients, assuming that everyone shares these values. There are even instances in which the majority group have expressed their attitude, which goes in line that racial and ethnic minorities are unresponsive to professional psychological intervention because of their lack of motivation to change their resistance to seek professional help (Corey et al, 2011). However, the problem in this stereotype, this cultural tunnel vision, is that such stereotype is being culturally insensitive. Unlike members of the majority group, minority groups don’t usually seek professional help before exhausting their resources in seeking help from family, relatives, friends, religious elders and even youth programs.

   Corey et al described a study conducted by D. W Sue and Sue (1990) suggested that the basic reason for the under-utilization of services and early termination is the biased nature of the services themselves. They indicated in their study that the services were usually antagonistic or inappropriate to the life experiences of the culturally different client; the services lacked cultural sensitivity and understanding and were oppressive and discriminating toward minority group. One also has to take into consideration that some ethnic groups stray away from acquiring professional help at first because they believe that their cultural values are jeopardized in the process.

   Another limitation of multicultural counseling is the fact that one has to deal with cultural pluralism. But instead of being viewed as a positive force and not just something as being tolerated, many mental health organizations continue to take an ethnocentric view of the world. They still operate mono-culturally and mono-lingually, as if all clients were the same; this is not realistic.

   I believe that the APA code is culturally sensitive and is progressing to apply a cultural pluralism and is continuing its goal to fostering a better understanding of the plethora of cultural diversity in the United States by counselors and to apply a broad-minded approach (Fischer, 2009). This is made evident in the APA ethics code in 1995 which states the following on diversity, “Where differences of age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, or socioeconomic status significantly affects psychologist’s work concerning particular individuals or groups, psychologists obtain the training, experience, consultation, or supervision necessary to ensure the competence of their services, or they make appropriate referrals (Corey et al, 2011). Despite the fact that the APA code of ethics stresses a broad minded spectrum, there will be biases in principle. We notice that there are some therapeutic practices that are biased against racial and ethnic minorities and women and often reflects racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice. D. Sue states this, “rather than educate, or heal, rather than offer enlightenment and freedom, and rather than allow for equal access and opportunities, historical and current practices have restricted, stereotyped, damaged, and oppressed the culturally different in our society (Sadock, 2009). Sue indicates that these ethnocentric biases have been destructive to the natural help-giving networks of minority communities. By expanding counselors’  perception of mental health practices to include support systems such as family, friends, community, self-help programs, and occupational networks, can the gap be bridged (Corey et al, 2011).

   I believe that the importance of cultural sensitivity in the mental health work place or in any other work place is that it allows an easy and productive therapeutic relationship between the patient and the counselor, irrespective of the racial background (Code for Professional Ethics, 2011). I believe that the APA guidelines that call for service providers to seek out educational and training experiences to enhance their understanding of the cultural, social, psychological, political, economic and historical dimensions that are specific to the particular ethnic group being served. By being culturally sensitive, a counselor recognizes the cultural practices of the patient and reaffirms their identity, and at the same time can further bridge their cultural practices to healing practices needed for their condition.

Works Cited:

Corey, G., Corey, M.S., & Callahan P. (2011) Issues and ethics in the helping professions    (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/ Cole

Fisher, C.B (2009). Decoding the ethics code: A practical guide for psychologists (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Sadock, James and Sadock, Virginia. (2009). Synopsis of Psychiatry. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincot Williams & Wilkins.


   


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