Culturally Adapted Therapeutic Process - 2013 Words

Great strides have been made in the counseling field to promote multiculturalism, yet it is a complex endeavor and continues to meet challenges in implementation and efficacy. Challenges such as cultural encapsulation, client access to care, implementation of multicultural counseling competencies, and unique issues involved in the practice of counseling a diverse population of clients remains. Research is ongoing to determine the efficacy of culturally adapted treatments in the therapeutic process. Cultural Encapsulation A challenge in implementing culturally sensitive techniques for counselors is recognizing their biased perspectives, assumptions, and worldview. Cultural Encapsulation is the tendency of counselors to view the world†¦show more content†¦Access to Care An additional barrier to multicultural counseling is client access to care. The utilization of mental health services by minority groups is low in the United States (Smith, Domenech Rodriguez, Guillermo, 2011). The fact that minority groups underutilize mental health services is attributed to systemic issues such as lack of affordable transportation, inconvenient office hours, demographic mismatch, language barriers, economics, and lack of clinics in neighborhoods with predominately ethnic minority groups (Smith, Domenech Rodriguez, Guillermo, 2011). To address these issues, multiculturalism in the mental health services field has committed to equipping more culturally competent counselors, encouraging community-based counseling efforts for easier access, increasing bilingual and culturally diverse counselors, as well social advocacy. Despite their recognition, these challenges are difficult to remedy and remain a problem for clients of minority groups. Integration of the Multicultural Counseling Competencies Ongoing efforts to remedy inequities in counseling practices continue. One way is to train multiculturally competent counselors who are aware that a â€Å"one size fits all† approach is not effective for a diverse population of clients (Gerig, 2014). The American Psychological Association created a task force focused on