_________________________________________________________ Cultural Humility in Behavioral Health
Microassault A verbal or nonverbal attack intended to hurt another, such as name calling or visually ignoring a person. Microinsult Rude or insensitive communication that is demeaning of the person’s heritage, such as implying that an African American was chosen for a position only because of their minority status. Microinvalidation Excluding or negating the individual’s thoughts, feelings, or experiences, such as telling a person with a disability that they are being too sensitive to their perception that attitudes toward individuals with disabilities affected a particular interaction (Sue & Sue 2021). Respectful partnerships are developed when the healthcare professional facilitates a dialogue that illustrates an under- standing of and attends to the complex dynamics related to privilege, oppression, and marginalization present within the patient–healthcare professional relationship and embedded within the larger society. Recent research has suggested that microaggressions interfere with the counseling relationship (Davis et al., 2016; Wong et al., 2014). Therefore, it is impera- tive that counselors be aware of what microaggressions are and actively reflect on their own attitudes and behaviors within and outside the counseling session. The healthcare professional levels the playing field by conveying a respect for the patient and the patient’s lived reality while inviting the patient to enter into an equal partnership with the healthcare professional. The development of respectful partnerships is ongoing and acknowledges that the counselor does not know what the cli- ent’s identity, life, or struggles look like but is eager to learn from the client. Further, the counselor who is developing a respectful partnership recognizes that they may make mistakes and is open to client feedback regarding those mistakes. Healthcare Consideration : The development of respect- ful partnerships is ongoing and acknowledges that the healthcare professional does not know what the patient’s identity, life, or struggles look like but is eager to learn from the patient. Further, healthcare professionals who are developing respectful partnerships recognize that they may make mistakes and are open to patient feedback regarding those mistakes.
Self-Assessment Quiz Question 8. All the following statements concerning self-reflection, self-critique, and respectful partnerships are true EXCEPT:
A) Discussing and addressing topics and issues such as race and sexual identify may be uncomfortable for many people. B) Healthcare professionals seldom attempt to take emphasis off race, gender, and other areas of differences. C) Self-reflection and self-critique are ongoing, lifelong processes. D) Self-reflection should result in an automatic process as an integral part of practice. LIFELONG LEARNING The mental and behavioral health professions are committed to lifelong learning, and such learning is typically a part of prac- ticing within the ethical standards of counseling professions, including social work, psychology, mental health counseling, school counseling, and marriage and family counseling (Ameri- can Association for Marriage and Family Therapy [AAMFT], 2015; American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014; Ameri- can Mental Health Counselors Association [AMHCA], 2015; American Psychological Association [APA], 2017; American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2016; National Asso- ciation of Social Workers [NASW], 2021). The commitment to lifelong learning within these ethical standards requires healthcare professionals to participate in activities that keep them current on issues and interventions within healthcare and that allow them to provide patients with the most appro- priate care and service. Lifelong learning in the context of cultural humility emphasizes the importance of current issues inclusive of a multicultural perspective that encompass aspects of critical self-reflection and advocacy involving continued growth and learning. According to Fisher-Borne and colleagues (2015): “Cultural humility considers the fluidity and subjectivity of culture and challenges both individuals and institutions to address inequalities.” Cultural humility requires self-reflection and taking risks, discovering new information, and using patients and others as resources (Obiakor & Algozzine, 2016). Culturally humble learners understand that they will both make mistakes and learn from those mistakes because, as healthcare profession- als, they are in a constant state of becoming. Lifelong learning allows the healthcare professional to integrate shifting para- digms and embark on continual reflection and reeducation regarding dominant perspectives on marginalized populations and communities (Obiakor & Algozzine, 2016). Finally, it requires that healthcare professionals separate themselves from thinking about patients from a deficit perspective and instead think of patients as fellow humans with rich intellectual,
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