Mental Health and Therapy

Multicultural Theories of Psychology Multicultural Theories of Psychotherapy Diagnosis, treatment and care of patient and their conditions are greatly influenced by cultural considerations. These actors determine beliefs and values related to health. Yet, these widespread claims about the real value of cultural role in healthcare do not come with sufficient research basis. Psychotherapists have, for a long time emphasized the need to provide multicultural psychotherapy so as to manage and reduce the ethnic and racial disparities in dealing with mental health issues.

How multicultural competencies relate with other clinical process measures and treatment results has demonstrated heterogeneity it effect, though (Karen W. Tao & Jesse Owen, 2015). A famous quote by Slavoj Zizek on multi-culturalism deserves a mention here. "For the multiculturalist, white Anglo-Saxon Protestants are prohibited, Italians and Irish get a little respect, blacks are good, native Americans are even better. The further away we go, the more they deserve respect.

This is a kind of inverted, patronizing respect that puts everyone at a distance"[footnoteRef:1] [1: Slavoj Zizek is a Slovenian psychoanalytic philosopher, cultural critic, and Hegelian Marxist. He is a senior researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana, Global Distinguished Professor of German at New York University.

Zizek's idiosyncratic style, popular academic works, frequent magazine op-eds, and critical assimilation of high and low culture have gained him international influence and a substantial audience outside of academia in addition to controversy and criticism.] Basic Components of Theory Multicultural counseling entails the interaction that occurs between a professional counselor and a client from a cultural group that is different from the counselor's, and how such interaction might be affected by the differing cultural perspectives.

The definition includes the differences in religious views, sexual orientation, maturity, age, gender, socio-economic status, history of the families and geographical location. The main components of the theory are highlighted as (FIVE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCIES, 2014). i. Recognizing Cultural Differences Discussing the cause of the visit is one of the first things that a counselor discusses with a client. The western style approach through direct interrogation of the problem is incompatible a good number of cultures across the globe.

The technique entails the use of direct eye contact, body language, and open-ended questions. It has been noted that recognizing cultural differences and responding to them in sensitive way is a crucial element in effective counseling (FIVE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCIES, 2014). ii. Role of Self Open mindedness, and willingness to expand to expand one's education is an effective strategy towards the goal of successfully working with clients.

Self-awareness is a continuous practice that allows one to accommodate new knowledge and apply it for the benefit of the profession and clients (FIVE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCIES, 2014). iii. Contextualism The concept refers to the tendency to describe the self and others by applying more context relevant references and as little dispositional ones as possible (Lillian Comas-Diaz, 2012). Therefore, contextualizing multicultural individuals are bound by context. They apply their perspective to analyze their reality. iv. Liberation Liberation and freedom are basic humanistic values.

Multicultural therapy promotes freedom, both personally and collectively. One liberates oneself by liberating other people. It is a collective effort. Healing and liberation requires committing to social justice. Therefore, multicultural therapists apply liberation techniques (Lillian Comas-Diaz, 2012). Multicultural Competencies Although there are differences in the theoretical views, conceptions of multicultural therapy observe that suitable ways of handling specific cultural situations vary between therapists. Available current data observes that the high rating of multicultural context therapists are linked to the treatment process and client outcomes.

The study that explores the relationship between MC and the process of psychotherapy uses rating by client of the therapist; the result of which is compared to another outcome reported by a different client. Studies in MC show that the high client rating is linked to critical therapeutic process; which includes the general competence in counseling, working alliance, session impact and client satisfaction. It is likely, too, that such associations vary across the measures of the treatment process applied and their outcomes or the varying MC measures (direct vs.

indirect measures of MC) (Karen W. Tao & Jesse Owen, 2015). The inference deduced by Katz in his dissertation work advances a valid view, as follows. "Only reduced prejudice, in combination with awareness of one's racial attitudes, might be a protective factor in working with minority clients".[footnoteRef:2] [2: Katz, Andrew David (2012). The development of a technique to measure psychotherapists' multicultural counseling awareness using direct and indirect measures.

The University of Wisconsin -- Madison.] Apart from the variability observed in effects because of the MC outcome or measure, there exist other variables that could moderate the relationship that occurs between psychotherapeutic process outcomes and MC. These include demographic factors such as the R-EM status of client, gender and age. Mc has been cited as the most critical when dealing with ethnic and racial minorities compared to clients of white origin.

For instance, clients' R-EM status has been pointed out to influence how they view the MC of their therapist and the satisfaction ratings by the client. Such argument contrasts with other views that MC is essential for every client and that it should be applied without considering whether they come from a different ethnic or racial background. It is noted that clients often show multicultural identities, and they may all be significant (Karen W. Tao & Jesse Owen, 2015).

External View on Multicultural Psychotherapy It is inevitable that in the modern world therapists have to deal with clients from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. Knowledge of the various theories of psychotherapy and the values implicit in the various cultures helps psychotherapists to effectively deal with cases. For instance, in a case where a given culture does not encourage divulging inner feelings to other people, the therapist should know the implications of applying a particular theory that has a strong focus on understanding the client's feelings.

It is common for theories to reflect the cultural background of the proponent of that theory. Although the fact that Sigmund Freud came from a background that may be different from ours does not necessarily negate his findings but does raise questions about the extent of cultural contribution in psychotherapeutic theories (Richard S. Sharf, 2012). There are significant differences in dealing with clients from individualistic cultures and those from collectivist ones. This matter is a possible challenge to many therapists; at least from a clinical perspective.

A lot of minority clients including recent immigrants and refugees are strongly committed to their families. The same clients may also introduce personal issues to do with freedom, and personal development, achievement and self-efficacy. They may even present therapy issues to question, deal with family matters, criticize or deal with cultural issues.

For instance a Pakistani female of first generation is about to graduate and already has an attractive job offer that demands that she moves to a different city, she expects that such a situation would be rejected by their parents; which in turn causes her a lot of anxiety. The job of the therapist in this situation is clearly cut out. A therapist must seek to help the client to strike a balance between personal goals and obligations towards family.

Available research points out that such work is well informed in most therapy approaches by a strong therapy relationship (Jairo N. Fuertes, Peggy Brady-Amoon, Navneet Thind, & Tiffany Chang, 2015). Many culturally-based healing traditions encourage people to embrace ambiguous ideas without question. Such a situation encourages creativity. Since psychotherapists are aware of the link between multiculturalism and promoted creativity, they allow for creative expression by the clients as a way of self-expression and realization.

A lot of oppressed people have developed several creative ideas such as flamenco, Capoeira, graffiti art, urban paintings etc., to overcome traumatic experience. Owing to the fact that a great number of colored people have applied creativity struggle with oppression, MC therapists commonly apply mind-body action such as creative visualization and art expression to handle traumatized clients. For instance, a man named Thomas; a mixed race man attending therapy with Dr. Carr indicated that his cultural resilience was because of the Capoeira practice.

The practice was nurtured in Thomas while he lived in Brazil. In conscious dialogue with clients, therapists ask such questions as why? How? And What? Such dialogue enhances the awareness by the client of their oppressive situation. Collaboration with clients is warranted in these circumstances to develop a critical analysis and pursue transformational. The actions that smack of emancipation help the client to develop self healing and promote collective well-being. Liberation techniques seek to foster identity by healing the differences between the environment and the relational self.

The method seeks to achieve transformation at collective, personal and societal levels (Lillian Comas-Diaz, 2012). Future of Multicultural Theory Applications in Psychotherapy From the words of Anthony Marais, "If culture were clothing, it would be more like negligee than a parka."[footnoteRef:3] Cultural processes within psychotherapy are obviously important. Such measures as Micro-aggressions against Women Scale and Racial Micro-Aggression in Counseling Scale are the most recent attempts to the perception of clients about their therapist's negative inclinations.

Although this is a good beginning to try and measure the client's perception of their therapist's actions in the course of counseling, there is need for more measurement development to pick out the critical cultural aspects in the psychotherapeutic process. Separating the content-specific elements of culture from the common culture-based processes is a possibility (Jesse Owen, Mark M. Leach, & Bruce Wampold, 2011). [3: Anthony Marais (born 1966, Hollywood, California) is an American novelist, screenwriter and musician.] There are four factors that influence common cultural practices. These include: a).

the openness of clients and their ability to understand the beliefs of clients on the etiology of the problem they are presenting. b). the willingness by therapists and their ability to incorporate new techniques that are in line with their clients cultural biases and values in their practice. c). perceptions by clients as a valid cultural healer. d). the reaction of the therapists to the clients' cultural beliefs and values which are linked to their own biases and cultural values.

This method is consistent with the tripart model that includes attitudes, skills, beliefs and knowledge. Therefore, the ability by the clients to show such cultural processes, may boost the ability by clients to pursue collaborative and focused therapy work and how to attain such goals that are linked to the cultural values of the clients (Jesse Owen, Mark M. Leach, & Bruce Wampold, 2011). It is such research evidence that supports the successful application of MC theories in psychotherapy.

Applications of Multicultural Psychotherapy in the field of Cognitive Behavior Therapy Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is recognized uniquely for recognizing the individual's uniqueness. It is a widely applied therapy. CBT emphasizes on the need to adopt therapy to the individual needs. The wide and eclectic variety of CBT techniques presents the required tools for the adaptations. Although it is true that a multicultural view emphasizes cultural differences; as opposed to individual, the central goal is to increase the effectiveness and appropriateness of therapy for the client.

Thus, both MC and CBT focus on customizing therapy for the situation and benefit of the client (Mrunal A Bhardwaj, 2016). Another CBT feature that lends similarity to multicultural therapy is the emphasis on the empowerment of the client. CBT sees clients as being the ones in charge of their though processes and emotions. Therefore, they are able to make changes on their own. In recognition of the expertise that people have on their own behavior and personality, CBT empowers clients to use the acquired skills independently.

This ensures that the same skills can be used in future without the intervention of the therapist. Respect for the abilities of the client, thus, create collaboration in that enables appreciation of the individual cultural differences (Mrunal A Bhardwaj, 2016). Thirdly, it is noted that the attention by CBT to the conscious processes and specified behavior such as abstract explanations and excessively conscious processes, become increasingly appropriate when the therapy activity is done in the clients second language or by using an interpreter.

Notably, emotional distress reduces fluency in the second language. Using complex theoretical terms with a distressed client seeking to understand their situation can aggravate misunderstanding. Since CBT emphasizes on specific events, thoughts, emotions and behaviors, the conceptual and literal in equivalencies that occur in other types of therapies are significantly reduced.

This should not be construed to mean the second language speakers of English cannot understand the psychodynamic theories; rather, it is an awakening call to notice the real potential for misunderstanding; especially when therapy is based on abstract theoretical formulations (Mrunal A Bhardwaj, 2016). "The number of psychologists of minority cultures and groups increases, it is likely that cognitive behavior therapy will become increasingly attentive to cultural influences and minority groups.

Moreover, it should contribute to the improved effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy with specific groups of people whose mental health needs have been neglected"[footnoteRef:4] [4: Mrunal A Bhardwaj. (2016). Multicultural Applications of Cognitive Behavior Therapy: A Psychological Review. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 23-28] There is increased attention to the essence of socio-cultural context in the development of the individual and mental health in psychoanalytic theory; especially with the.