INTRODUCTION
The American population is extremely diverse. In the upcoming years, the U.S. will continue to increase in diversity. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2045 more than half of the population will belong to a minority group, defined by the Bureau as any group that identifies as having a background other than non-Hispanic White (Vespa, Medina, & Armstrong, 2020). Furthermore, by 2060 approximately 20% of the U.S. population will be foreign born (Vespa, Medina, & Armstrong, 2020). Professionals engaged in counseling must become increasingly self-aware and must understand both how their own unique individual experiences influence their worldviews and values and how the unique individual experiences of their clients influence each client’s worldviews and values. Further, various ethnic and racial groups may have a diversity of beliefs, social structures, interactional patterns, and expectations. In addition, each individual client has various intersecting dimensions of diversity that include socioeconomic class, sexuality, gender identification, and dis/ability. Because of these factors, counselors should cultivate the skills of practicing with cultural humility. Counselors who practice with cultural humility use four intersecting elements of ongoing self-reflection, self-critique, lifelong learning, and a commitment to advocacy and institutional change to guide their work with clients (Hook et al., 2013; Ratts et al., 2015). The cultural humility framework recognizes the concepts of power, privilege, and oppression and thus calls on counselors to be agents for change and promoters of social justice (Ratts et al., 2015). Counselors with humility are able to be “other-focused” and have an accurate view of themselves, their values, and their biases (Davis et al., 2016). These qualities allow counselors to practice as partners with clients from a variety of cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds as well as with clients who have various other dimensions of diversity. Culturally humble counselors are able to set aside their own beliefs and values and act as allies with clients, working toward positive personal change as well as advocating for larger societal change (Hook et al., 2013). When developing cultural humility, it is helpful for counselors to understand the sociopolitical landscape in the U.S. with regard to issues of race, immigration/refugee status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification, and socioeconomic class (Ratts et al., 2015; Yeager & Bauer- Wu, 2022). The 2016 presidential election revealed the continued deep divisions within our country regarding attitudes toward racial and ethnic diversity, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identification. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported an increase in incidents of both harassment and intimidation during and after the election. These incidents were perpetrated against various minority groups, including African Americans; immigrants; the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) population; Jewish individuals; and Muslims (Miller & Werner- Winslow, 2016). In the U.S., there are significant economic, health, education, employment, and housing disparities based on minority status (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHQR], 2021). The term minority status as used in this course pertains to race and ethnicity as well as to belonging to any marginalized group, such as having a disability; identifying as transgender, lesbian, gay, or bisexual; or ascribing to a minority religion. Social disparities in access to resources and experiencing acts of racism and discrimination can lead to higher degrees of stress and higher risk for developing mental and behavioral health issues. Despite perhaps having a higher need for services, clients with marginalized identities have less access to quality mental and behavioral health services (AHQR, 2021). This highlights the ethical responsibility counselors have to develop multicultural and social justice counseling competencies to effectively work and ally with diverse clientele. Cultural humility in counseling goes beyond counselors having knowledge of specific cultural and minority groups with whom
they work. It is a way of practicing counseling that requires counselors to have an awareness of how their own culturally embedded ideals, beliefs, and prejudices affect their interactions with diverse clients (Hook et al., 2013). This requires counselors to continually and critically reflect on themselves and their interactions with clients. Through reflection, counselors can improve interactions with clients via honest appraisals of how their personal biases and deficits play into each counseling session and each relationship, allowing them to address power imbalances within the counseling relationships as well as at the institutional level. A culturally humble counselor needs to be able to provide modalities that transcend culture, ability, LGBTQ status, and class as well as integrate client-stated cultural and other considerations into treatment. Moreover, the counselor must recognize the roles that power, privilege, and oppression play in both the counseling relationship and the experiences of clients (Sue & Sue, 2021). A recognition of how power and oppression play out in clients’ lives calls on the counselor to take on a broader advocacy role when appropriate. Lifelong learning, critical self-reflection, and self-critique are needed to continuously hone therapeutic skills and learn new information that is imperative to facilitating the therapeutic relationship and addressing existing societal inequities (Hook et al., 2013; 2016). Given the breadth of issues that counseling with cultural humility encompasses, it is impossible for one short course to address all the intricacies of counseling with humility in a multicultural context. Despite the fact that more ethnic and racial minorities are entering the counseling profession, they still comprise a small percentage of mental and behavioral health workers compared with their White counterparts. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2021, 86% of psychologists identified as white (BLS, 2022). This racial disparity remained true for social workers (i.e., 65%) and other mental health counselors (i.e., 70%) as well (BLS, 2022). Across all mental and behavioral health workers nearly 70% are White, whereas 22% are Black and 13% are Hispanic or Latinx; the remaining mental and behavioral health workers are Native American or Asian. Most counselors are also from middle-class backgrounds, are without disability, and identify as heterosexual and cisgendered. Although the perspective of this course is influenced by the author’s own unique facets of diversity (e.g., White, heterosexual, cisgender, middle class, female, and currently nondisabled), it is likely that clinicians of various backgrounds will benefit from the course and be able to apply the content to their practices. Additionally, it is important to note that the term White , rather than Caucasian , is intentionally used in this course to reflect the view that race is socially constructed and that interactions among people of diverse backgrounds are embedded within structured and inequitable social relations. These inequities in social relations reflect a society structured on White supremacy that serves as a foundation for the continued social and economic disparities existing between White people and people of color living in the same society. The status, power, and inclusion of whiteness within American culture are often unspoken and affect how individuals of differing backgrounds and identifications interact. The term White is used to reflect a concept of identity, rather than biological ancestry (Bonds & Inwood, 2016). Similarly, the term cisgender female is used rather than simply female to illustrate both the invisibility and oppression of transgender individuals. This course presents an introduction to cultural humility and offers tools for social workers, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, and psychologists to use in working with diverse clients in a culturally humble manner.
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Book Code: PYFL4024
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