2. Learning Objectives
Attendees will be able to:
1.Describe the difference between cultural
competence and cultural humility as
approaches to counseling work
2.Articulate professional and clinical rationales
for broaching cultural issues during counseling
3.Generate examples of how to broach cultural
issues during counseling sessions
3. MA in Clinical Counseling
Alliant International University, SF (est. 2010)
Strengths-based perspective
Multicultural, social justice
focus
ACA social justice advocacy
competencies
Cultural humility model
Emphasis on critical
consciousness & inquiry
Self-reflection & personal growth
Providing training to under-
represented students
Providing service to under-served
populations
4. MA in Clinical Counseling
Alliant International University, SF (est. 2010)
ACA Social Justice Advocacy Competencies:
Client empowerment
Client advocacy
Community collaboration
Systems advocacy
Public information
Social & political advocacy
5. Cultural humility model
Developed for physician training (Tervalon &
Murray-Garcia, 1998)
Expanded to social work (Ortega & Coulborn
Faller, 2011; Schuldberg et al., 2012) and
counseling psychology (Hook et al., 2013)
“Comptetency” emphasizes “knowledge”
Humility: “having a sense that one’s own
knowledge is limited as to what truly is another’s
culture.”
“Embrace the failure” (Wilchins, 2004)
6. Cultural humility model
The “ability to maintain an interpersonal
stance that is other-oriented rather than self-
focused, characterized by respect for others
and a lack of superiority”(Hook et al. 2013)
• Critical for developing “a
strong bond in a situation in
which relationship partners
may have a strong tendency
to value their own
perspective.”
7. Cultural humility model
Lifelong commitment to
self-evaluation & critique
Make hypotheses rather
than jump to conclusions
Overcome the tendency
to view one’s own beliefs,
values, and worldview as
superior
Accept you will always
be naïve about others’
cultures
8. Cultural humility model
An “antidote to or brake on feelings of superiority,
frustration, and alienation” that may occur when
cultural differences arise in therapy
An ability to stay open and other-oriented when
clients are touching on aspects of identity that are
most salient to them
9.
10. Cultural humility model
Manifests in an ability to express respect and
take a one-down stance, even when
difference threatens the therapeutic alliance
13. Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
Directly addressing
issues of culture and
identity that
translate into
dynamics of
privilege and
oppression that
influence the
presenting issues, the
client’s history, and
the counseling
relationship.
“The counselor’s
consideration of racial and
cultural factors that may
influence the client’s
counseling concerns.”
15. 15
Rationale
Demographic shifts in population
Homogeneity of counseling force
Negative perceptions from minorities
Ethical responsibility
Counseling competencies
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
16. Current context:
White supremacist
Anti-immigrant
Anti-Muslim
Misogynist
Heterosexist, ableist, sizeist, ageist, classist, etc.
Scott & House (2005) – High levels of discrimination
distress associated with avoidant coping styles, whereas
feelings of mastery and control correlated with coping
strategies such as seeking social support and problem
solving in a sample of high school students.
Powell & Jacob Arriola (2003) – examined the
relationship between psychosocial functioning and GPA
in students of color. Talking about unfair treatment was
associated with higher GPAs.
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
17. Previous research indicates that cultural
misunderstanding contributes to premature
termination among clients from culturally and
linguistically diverse backgrounds.
30% of clients prematurely terminate. But 50%
of minority clients prematurely terminate.
What could explain this?
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
18. Damage of micro-aggressions
Damage of silence about cultural
factors
Minority clients leave therapy early
and fail to get as much benefit.
“A counselor’s refusal to both develop and exercise
multicultural counseling competence represents a
potential act of malfeasance toward clients.” (D. Sue
& Sundberg, 1996).
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
19. Damage of micro-aggressions
Brief and commonplace daily verbal,
behavioral, or environmental indignities,
whether intentional or unintentional, that
communicate hostile, derogatory, or
negative slights and insults toward
people of marginalized identities
Microaggressions
23. Damage of silence about cultural factors
Across the developmental spectrum, people from
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
experience racialized stressors
Van Ausdale & Feagin (2001): ethnographic study
to determine whether preschool students
confronted issues of race and representation.
Spoiler: THEY DO.
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
25. 25
Lewis (2005)
Ethnographic study of children in a suburban
elementary school to examine parents’ and
teachers’ concept of race, their own racial
identities, and the impact of race on
opportunity structures.
Even though respondents vehemently denied
the role of race within the school and
community, race operated as part of the
hidden curriculum. Essentially, race was very
salient.
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
26. White counselors who addressed racial and cultural
factors were deemed more credible than those who
ignored racial and cultural factors (Zhang & Burkard,
2008).
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
When clients of color for whom
race, ethnicity, and culture
were salient identity dimensions
perceived that counselors
lacked the capacity to broach
racial, ethnic, and cultural
concerns, clients opted to meet
their needs outside the
counseling relationship within
the safety and familiarity of
friends and family members
(Pope-Davis et al., 2002).
27. Power dynamics within the counseling dyad
can promote or inhibit culture-specific
discussions, leaving clients feeling frustrated
and unheard (Thompson & Jenal, 1994).
Higher levels of race neutral attitudes were
associated with lower levels of multicultural
counseling (Burkhard & Knox, 2004; Neville, Spanierman, &
Doan, 2006)
Race neutral attitudes among White counselors
was associated with endorsement of racial and
gender intolerance, racist attitudes, victim
blame perspectives, acceptance of social
dominance, and apprehension around ethnic
minorities (Spanierman, & Heppner, 2004; Neville, Lilly, Duran,
Lee, & Brown, 2000)
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
28. 28
Failure to broach:
Loss of counselor credibility
Client dissatisfaction
Client censure of own thoughts
Client accommodates the counselor’s inability to
broach racial and cultural factors
Client educates counselor in ways that detract
from the counseling process
Premature termination
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
29. Given the power dynamics that
govern the counseling relationship,
avoidance of the client’s cultural
context may prevent the client from
addressing pertinent counseling
concerns.
Acknowledgement of cultural factors
during the counseling process
enhances counselor credibility, client
satisfaction, the depth of client
disclosure, and clients’ willingness to
return for follow-up sessions (D. Sue &
Sundberg, 1996).
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
30. “There’s a wilderness of creative space
in the therapeutic dialogue for the
recognition of race and class, how they
inform who we are, decisions we make
or decisions we fail to make. Because
there’s no aspect of our lives that aren’t,
I believe, shaped by the nuances of all
these issues—race, class, gender, all of
those things.”
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy, Drexel University, Ackerman Institute
for the Family
31. “It’s really important to me to name
race very early in the process…. I’ve
written about the importance of the
therapist being the broker of permission.
And I think that that permission to
acknowledge and talk about race has
to be given before it ever happens
because the rules of race in our society
is that we don’t talk about it. So I use
myself to do that. “Well, as an African-
American” or “as a black therapist,”
which is my way of saying to you, the
white client, “I’m okay acknowledging
race. I’m even okay if we talk about it.”
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
32. “I believe that permission granting maneuver requires
some subtlety. I don’t agree with the strategy
where white therapists ask clients of color, ‘How
do you feel about being in therapy with me?’ I
also don’t agree with me asking a white client that
because of power. In that context of therapy, I’m in a
more powerful role. And so I would be asking this
person to engage in a level of self-disclosure about a
very difficult topic while I’m not revealing anything
about myself. It’s my job, the way I see it, to put my
views out there about it and not require an answer.
It’s up to the client if they want to pick it up and go
with it. But my putting it out there is not
contingent on them picking it up and going with
it. So it’s not like a chess game.”
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
34. Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
We have an
obligation to make
sure we don’t screen
out clues about the
salience of cultural
factors because it is
most comfortable for
us to do so.
35. Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
“I think that these fears are impediments to
talking and yet I think there’s a greater
likelihood to be a problem when it doesn’t
come up than when it does come up. And
I’m not just talking about bringing up race
with clients of color. I’m not just talking about
discussing gender with women. I mean, I
think it’s important for us to have these
conversations with clients across the board
and have an openness to look at them. See,
I guess that’s the difference. I’m keenly
interested in knowing how one’s life and
relationships are informed by all of these
issues, no matter who’s sitting in front of me.
Because I think they do inform our lives
though we may not always be conscious of
it.”
36. Racial, ethnic, and cultural
factors may not impact every
presenting concern, but the
counselor has an obligation to
consider the extent to which
culture does serve as a context
for the client’s concerns. That is,
the counselor’s broaching
behavior serves as an
assessment tool.
Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
38. Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
Only broach when there
is visible difference? No!
Broach similarity rather
than pretending that
you’re identical - that’s
an oppressive force
saying to the client that
they don’t have
permission to be
different from you.
39. Broaching cultural issues
Day-Vines et al., 2007
Depends on
“The counselor’s ability to consider how socio-
political factors such as race influence the client’s
counseling concerns.” – our clinical imagination
and empathy!
The therapist’s willingness to directly address these
dynamics, knowing they will then become visible
in the therapy room
Willingness to consider how the counseling
relationship might suffer if these factors are NOT
addressed overtly.
Broaching combats silence.
41. 41
Continuum of Broaching Behavior
Avoidance of
Broaching
“Way of Being”
Lowest Level Highest Level
Invitation/Dialogue
Isolated
Integrated/C
ongruent
Broaching
Behavior/Attitude
Moderate to Advanced
Continuing/Incongruent
42. Avoidant Counselor
“The client's race does not matter because
good counseling is good counseling.”
“Broaching racial and cultural factors represents
the client's effort to avoid taking responsibility for
her or his actions.”
“If my client were to bring up racial and cultural
factors, I would politely redirect the
conversation.”
“I am not sure that broaching is an effective
counseling strategy.”
43. Isolating Counselor
“I’m worried that the client won’t benefit from
it.”
“I can try it, but if I don’t do it well, I’m afraid
I’ll lose the client and it’s not worth the risk.”
“It just seems like projecting an agenda onto
the client before they’re ready.”
“Whew, checked off that box…”
Resulting Behavior: Broaches reluctantly and
in a simplistic and superficial manner.
44. 44
Continuing/Incongruent Counselor
“I feel really awkward when I address racial and
cultural factors during the counseling process.”
“Sometimes it’s hard for me to know what to
say once the client begins to talk about racial
and cultural factors.”
“I asked if the client was OK having me as a
therapist and they said it was fine.”
45. Integrated/Congruent
Counselor
“I generally bring up cultural issues every so often
throughout my counseling sessions with clients”
“I want to know what my minority clients have
experienced in terms of racism and
discrimination.”
“I try to make it safe for clients to talk about
cultural factors in their lives.”
“I ask about difference, because difference
matters.”
46. Infusing Counselor
“As a counselor, I want to do whatever it takes,
socially and politically, to eradicate of all forms of
oppression.”
“Disagreeing with discrimination isn’t enough. We
have to change the system, even if it’s at our own
expense sometimes.”
“I’m willing to go to bat for a client who
experienced racism or sexism at my agency.”
47. Effects of broaching
Establishing rapport
Establishing counselor credibility
Acknowledging that difference may be
an influence on the relationship
Giving permission to the client to
comment on their experience of
difference in the room
Giving permission to the client to discuss
the effects of outside cultural forces
48. Multidimensional Model of
Broaching Behavior (Day-Vines, 2007)
4 Dimensions
Intra-Counseling
Intra-Individual
Intra-Racial, -Ethnic, -Cultural, etc.
Inter-Racial, -Ethnic, -Cultural, etc.
Spotlighting the Elephant in the
Room
49. The interpersonal processes that govern the counselor-
client relationship.
Cultural differences and misunderstandings between the
counselor and client have the potential to create an
unhealthy power dynamic within the counseling dyad, which
may contribute to counter-transference.
Broaching Example: "I know that this can sometimes be a
difficult topic to discuss, but I was wondering how you feel about
working with someone who is from a different racial/ethnic
background? I ask because although it is certainly my goal to
be as helpful to you as I possibly can, I also know that there may
be times when I cannot fully appreciate your experiences. I
want you to know that I am always open to talking about the
topics whenever they are relevant." (Cardemil & Battle, 2003)
Intra-counseling Dimensions
50.
51. Race
Ethnicity
Culture
Gender
Social Class
Sexual Orientation
Religious Orientation
Disability
Geographic Location
Immigration Status
Linguistic Diversity
Body size
Sample Broaching Statement: "Often I ask my
clients about their racial and ethnic background
because it helps me have a better understanding
of who they are. Is that something you'd feel
comfortable talking about?" Cardemil & Battle (2003)
Intra-individual Dimensions
52. Intra-Cultural Dimensions
Intra-Racial, -Ethnic, and -Cultural dimensions refer more to
sociocultural or within group issues that may arise between
the client and people with whom he or she shares a
common heritage. That is, the client may have personal
beliefs, value orientations, and behaviors that are at odds
with values and viewpoints sanctioned by their cultural
group (e.g. bicultural socialization).
Sample Broaching Statement: Marisol, it sounds like
you are feeling rejected by your friends because
they say you are not Hispanic enough. Is that your
sense of what is going on?
53. Inter-Racial, -Ethnic, and -Cultural dimensions refer to
efforts to help the client negotiate cultural differences
between her- or himself and people from at least one
other racial, ethnic, or cultural group. This would also
include efforts to help the client negotiate encounters
with the sociopolitical dynamics of racism,
discrimination, oppression, and powerlessness.
Sample Broaching Statement: What has it been like
for you as a gay Latino male to work in an
organization that is inhospitable to sexual
minorities?
Inter-Cultural Dimensions
54. As clients take risks of talking about intra-
individual, intra-cultural, and inter-cultural
experiences of privilege and oppression, it’s
critical to go back to the intra-counseling
dimension and check in.
Sample Broaching Statement: Today we have
been talking about your sense that many of your
coworkers are prejudiced. What has this
conversation with me been like for you? What
has it been like for you to share experiences of
discrimination with a White therapist who hasn’t
had those kinds of experiences?
Intra-Counseling (again?)
55. Broaching, or Micro-aggressions?
Counselor trainee conducts a broaching interviewee with
her best friend. The trainee is Caucasian female and the
interviewee is a person of color. In an effort to address
Intra-Counseling Dimensions, the interviewee says:
“I’m a White woman and you’re a Hispanic girl.”
Counselor trainee conducts a broaching interview with
her fiancé’s co-worker, who is Korean-American. She
makes an effort to open the session and states:
“Your English is really good, I can tell, so – when did your
family come here?”
56. 56
Client's Racial
Identity
Functioning
Client's Response to
Counselor's Broaching
Effort
Counselor Considerations
Low
Commitment
Levels
May reject counselor’s
invitation to broach
May have Low Salience
attitudes about Race
Accept and explore the
client’s reaction to issues of
race and representation
May help prepare the
client to deal effectively
with racist encounters
Strong
Commitment
Levels
May have strong reactions
to counselor's broaching
efforts
Do not personalize client
reactions
Identify experiences that
may have led to strong
reactions
Develop interventions that
help client function more
effectively
Balanced
Racial Identity
Levels
May appreciate
counselor’s willingness to
explore how race shapes
their presenting problems
Broach using
recommended guidelines
57. Broaching competencies
Day-Vines et al., 2007
Ability to broach depends on
The counselor’s ability to consider how
sociopolitical factors influence the client's
counseling concerns
“The therapist must learn to recognize clients’ cultural
meaning attached to phenomena and to subsequently
translate that cultural knowledge into meaningful practice
that facilitates client empowerment, strengthens the
therapeutic alliance, and enhances counseling
outcomes.”
Ability to manage their own self-of-counselor
reactions effectively to remain open, other-
centered, and engaged.
58. Basic Counseling Skills
Ability to ask open-ended questions
Ability to reflect content and affect
Ability to use foundational counseling skills
Ego Strength
Ability to manage client values, viewpoints, and experiences that may
differ from one's own
Healthy level of racial identity functioning
Multicultural Case Conceptualization Skills
Ability to differentiate between universal and culture-specific issues
Ability to recognize client strengths as opposed to client deficits
Ability to identify/state/discuss the impact of sociopolitical issues on the
client (racism, discrimination, power, powerlessness, oppression, privilege)
Ability to gauge own/client's level of racial identity functioning
Ability to identify culturally relevant strategies and interventions
Broaching competencies
59. Broaching’s role in treatment
Validate the client’s concerns
Empower client
Affirm client’s competence
Accept the feelings and meanings client attaches to
problem situation
Identify client strengths and resources)
Discuss the sociopolitical basis of the client's
concerns
Generate broaching statements & questions in an effort
to translate observations into effective clinical dialogue
Engage in multicultural case conceptualization
60. Broaching’s role in treatment
Explore relevant cultural dimensions with the
client
Brainstorm possible coping mechanisms, solution
attempts, response strategies in a culturally
appropriate context
Evaluate consequences of each strategy
Determine implementation strategy
Implement and review effectiveness of the plan
61. There is no easy road!
Acknowledge
Difference
Defensive; in denial
Guilt; shame; hurt
exhaustion, burn-out
Don’t Acknowledge
Difference
Oblivious; ignorant
Angry; resentful of
having to be “PC”
Support status quo
avoidance, denial
• “A counselor’s refusal to both develop and
exercise multicultural counseling competence
represents a potential act of malfeasance
toward clients.” (D. Sue & Sundberg, 1996).
62. We can be recipients as well as
perpetrators of microaggressions
We must recognize that we all share both
a common humanity AND
particular social identities
which accord power in unbalanced ways
“ Bridging this power divide is at the heart of
healing divisions”http
://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/cushing.pdf
By engaging in the process of ally development,
we can enhance our self-care
63. Practice
How do you identify
your
Gender
Race
Ethnicity/geography
Age
SES/Class
Education level
Dis/ability or health
status
Religion/spirituality
Body shape/size
Education level
What words would you
use with clients?
“As a ____”
“I’ve grown up in/as
______”
“As someone with a
background in/from
______”
“My experience as
_____”
“Coming from the
perspective of ____”
“We both have ____ in
common”
64. Practice
“As a ____”
“I’ve grown up in/as
______”
“As someone with a
background in/from
______”
“My experience as
_____”
“Coming from the
perspective of ____”
“We both have ____ in
common”
“… I don’t have the
experience of ____”
“…I probably can’t fullly
understand what it’s like for
you as ____”
“…we probably have a lot
of differences in terms of
_____”
“…there’s probably a lot of
things I don’t get about
____”
“… we probably have a lot
of differences in terms of
____ that are important
too.”
65. Guided Practice
In a counseling session with Mrs. Pierce, Pedro, a 16 year
old Mexican American male seeks support due to stress
and anxiety about the wild fires in California. The fires
have resulted in the loss of his family's home. Pedro is
finding difficulty focusing in class not only because of
the wild fires, but also from anxiety concerning his
parents' reported losses to their insurance company.
Pedro is afraid that the claim may expose family
immigration secrets: Pedro's father is in the U.S. on an
expired work visa, his mother arrived illegally in the U.S.,
while Pedro and his siblings were born on U.S. soil. His
extended family members have experienced recent
immigration raids that have made him feel increased
levels of vulnerability.
66. Discussion Questions
How might the counselor's attitudes about immigration
influence her/his ability to broach racial and cultural
factors with Pedro?
What might you need to learn in order to work more
effectively with Pedro?
Distinguish between Pedro's universal (etic) and culture-
specific (emic) concerns?
What culture specific concerns should the counselor
address with Pedro?
Generate some sentence stems that will help you
broach racial and cultural factors with Pedro.
Notes de l'éditeur
Strengths-based perspective:
Prevention & wellness
Resilience & empowerment
Educational & career goals
Helping people find their own strengths & voice
Providing aid in identifying and overcoming barriers
Listen to communities to learn about their needs and resources before offering help; maintaining working alliances
Address larger systems that impact clients’ well-being; advocating for change in those systems
Collaborate with and communicate to others in and out of the field
Seeking and informing allies to aid in change processes
From “Queer Theory, Gender Theory”
Pretty much the opposite of the “cultural tourism” model of “multicultural competency” which encourages, in worst cases, a kind of “keyword mentality” – Asians are collectivist, concerned with family honor and somatisize a lot; African Americans practice kinship parenting and are suspicious of institutions due to racism; Latinos practice essentialist gender roles and something called “machismo & marianismo”, etc.
The “not-knowing” state that Harlene Anderson & Harold Goolishian (Collaborative therapy or CLS) talk about – also adopted by Tom Andersen, Lynn Hoffman, Michael White, David Epston, Insoo Kim Berg, Steve deShazer
“Not-knowing” – not the same as being lost or ignorant.
Some folks say “I don’t want to read the file before I see the client the first time – I don’t want to form any pre-judgments.”
A not-knowing stance, when well-cultivated, means you can read the file, and still be open and curious – how did these stories about the client – these diagnoses, these incidents, etc. – come to be? What else is there to the story? What can this client tell me about his or her situation that I can’t possibly know from the file?
We form instant judgments & assumptions the moment we register race, gender, age, body size, grooming, clothing, posture, mannerisms, accent – the cultural competence model may steer us into making “adjustments” before we even know whether they’re needed or appropriate, while the cultural humility model says “stay open, learn more, ask good questions.” - from Joan Laird writing about “learning about how to learn about culture” (“Tell me about your culture” is not a “good question.”)
When we feel like the alliance is threatened, it’s natural to get anxious. But that can result in us driving a tank through the counseling process – smashing through the clients’ concerns to get them onto a topic where we feel more confident we can “help” – or clumsily informing the client of how sensitive and aware and informed and open we are.
Cultural humility lets us stay present and say “wow, tell me more about that,” even when what the client is saying is “you don’t get this because ____.”
If you want a real brain-teaser, try teaching a bunch of anxious students to have confidence and humility at the same time.
During the presentation, I use the terms race, ethnicity, and culture, interchangeably. We acknowledge the distinctions inherent in the definition of each term, yet we also recognize the overlapping and interacting nature of each construct.
I also use the term “culture” to refer to the more over-arching concept that we might also call “background” or “identity.”
I will often use race as an example of an issue that needs to be broached. Race is such a tumultuous issue in this country, that I feel justified in addressing broaching behavior in the context of race. Moreover, I make the tacit assumption that people appear to have less difficulty addressing other identity dimensions relative to race.
Within the context of broaching, the counselor should aim to understand the client in a cultural context, and translate cultural knowledge into meaningful practice.
Demographic Shifts
30% of US population comprised of minorities – California is a “majority minority” state
Minorities expected to constitute majority by 2050
Population becoming more diverse, while counseling force remains homogeneous
Cultural differences could lead to conflict, misunderstanding, mistrust during the counseling process
Minority groups often have negative perceptions of counseling and mental health
Working Alliance
The ability to broach can help the client feel heard and understood, enhance counseling relationship, client self-disclosures
Counseling Theories
Reflect White Middle Class Bias
Multiculturalism has come under fire for criticizing traditional methodologies without offering innovative theories, techniques, and frameworks
Ethical Responsibility
Counselors have an ethical obligation to deliver culturally competent services
White supremacist – black man gets shot for holding a toy pellet gun in WalMart, black 12-year-old Tamar Rice has an Air Soft pistol in his belt and gets shot as he plays in public, as of two months later there are 8 incidents of white men pointing real guns at police and living.
Anti-immigrant – President announced immigration reforms, one of the first bills Congress takes up is to shut it down.
Anti-Muslim – just two months ago the owner of a gun range in Arkansas refused to let a south Asian man and his son sign up to shoot because she believed them to be Muslim Arabs and said her business was a “no-Muslim zone.”
Misogynist – last year hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent in court by corporations wanting to get an exemption from the ACA’s requirement to cover contraception. A graduate student who testified before Congress on the importance of this kind of healthcare was called a “slut” and a “prostitute” by Rush Limbaugh, who still has a job and listeners.
“Are you waiting for someone?”
“Did you need to return something?”
“Maternity is only available through our catalog.”
“We don’t have anything for you.”
Name some micro-aggressions you’ve experienced recently.
Has anyone caught themselves committing a micro-aggression against someone else? (tell my story about meeting Neil deGrasse Tyson in NY, during Ferguson part I)
Project at Harvard to highlight micro-aggressions on campus
Now imagine having straw after straw, when you already feel bad, from the person you’re seeking help from.
“I don’t think of you as a black girl, I just think of you as a successful student.”
“For someone who came from such a hard background, you’re really showing tremendous promise.” - someone whose parents were lawyers
“That sounds like just the same kind of thing my kids went through at that age.”
A male therapist getting the afternoon “yawns” with a female client in his office.
“I never would have guessed you were a lesbian.”
“You need to take some time for you, really indulge yourself” – a client who was living on food stamps, caring for her father who had been unable to find work since the recession who was off his medication and having psychotic symptoms
Van Ausdale & Feagin: They maintained that many adults presume that children do not encounter racialized stressors, based on the research of authors such as Piaget. However, when the researchers studied children in their natural environment, they found that students enacted numerous racial incidents among themselves. For instance, children used racial epithets, included and excluded peers on the basis of racial characteristics, and expressed their own racial identities. Many of these behaviors remained unnoticed by adults.
Anderson Cooper video – 4 mins
The counselor creates a certain emotional safety so that the client can talk freely about concerns and move from a level of superficiality towards greater depth of analysis of problem situations. After you broach, clients feel more comfortable articulating cultural dimensions of their problems, showing increased levels of introspective awareness
If you’re a woman: are you ever NOT thinking about how a man is reacting to you when he is is in the room? If you’re middle-class, do you ever NOT notice when someone with a very expensive car pulls up net to your scratched up sedan in the parking lot? When you were young, were you ever not aware that some of the kids on the playground were in higher grades than you?
Whenever someone talks we engage in selective attention in that we pay attention to some things and not others.
Among many novice counselors who are uncomfortable with cultural factors and who lack cultural understanding, there may be a tendency to circumvent issues of race and representation. If these issues are salient for the client but inconsequential to the counselor, the counselor may neglect to attend to the prominent features in clients’ lives.
“I do not believe that every issue is related to culture and identity,, but recognize that when presenting problems do have cultural connections, the counselor has an obligation to acknowledge these factors in a meaningful and substantive manner. I also recognize that clients may not always immediately give credit to the way cultural factors are in play, or speak up about their relevance, because they are taught not to from birth.” – Day-Vines
We are taught to manage difference by being silent about it and pretending not to notice it
Being “colorblind”
Looking for explanations other than race in Ferguson, Trayvon Martin, etc.
Laughing at sexist or racist “jokes”
Expecting people to “pass” as part of the majority culture (“keep it to themselves,” “not shove it in our faces,” etc.)
“We’re all the same under the skin”
A client may not come to counseling because they are Filipino, but being Filipino may impact one’s personal experience.
For instance, a female Filipino business manager seeks counseling services for job related stress. During the context of counseling she may notice that clerical support personnel take care of her Caucasian colleagues insofar as booking appointments, scheduling travel arrangements, coordinating materials for meetings, etc. However, she has noticed that she does not receive the same consideration. The presenting problem is stress related, but racial factors may compound some of those stressful experiences.
An effective counselor would examine the problem situation with the client and develop an action plan that would permit the manager to address this problem and explore possible options in a pro-social and pro-social manner. The generation of solutions may include an effort to ask the clerical staff to perform similar duties for her, document instances of perceived injustices, identify ways to enlist more support from her peers around her concerns, lobby for standardization of the job description for clerical support personnel, suggest cultural competence training, etc. Afterward the counselor and client may analyze the most appropriate resolution. But you can’t do that if you don’t talk about race!
it’s like the waitress asking if you want ketchup or mustard - if it’s not an issue, leave it alone.
But it’s an assessment of how comfortable the client is with their identity etc. in terms of how they react
“I know how that kind of comment might feel to me as a woman, but I’m wondering how it hit you.”
“What was it like working your way through college without support from your parents?” – even if you did it yourself.
I broach gender with heterosexual couples all the time.
This is what I’d do if teaching this with students right now, and here would be my learning objectives.
Day-Vines 2007 – studied since then, results in a 2013 book chapter – collapsed the model a bit
Accepts and encourages client to make culture specific
Accepts and encourages client to make culture specific interpretations of their counseling concerns.
Values importance of broaching in order to strengthen therapeutic alliance.
Broaches effectively during counseling process. Integrates broaching behavior into professional identity. Can distinguish between cultural specific behaviors and unhealthy human functioning. Recognizes complexities associated with race & culture
Regards broaching as important and related to other efforts to eliminate oppression and promote social justice and equality.
Demonstrates a commitment toward broaching race, ethnicity and culture. Feels a sense of responsibility towards eradicating all forms of oppression.
Broaches as a way of being and not as a professional obligation. Broaches as a lifestyle orientation.
Works within and outside the counseling relationship to provide systemic interventions that improve client well-being
Cobbs & Greer - “Black Rage” psychiatrists, 1967? - healthy paranoia - your inability to recognize threatening situations can be dangerous - you may be in danger if you don’t think about how people will potentially react to you
Language like “projecting”, “forcing,” “rushing,” - “wait for the client” - you don’t have to agree philosophically with these ideas but you need to recognize that this is out there and may be helpful to the client.
Momma and the Meaning of Life: Tales of Psychotherapy - Yalom - patronizes and minimizes a black woman, glosses over her - she leaves before he can repair with her. Reconstruct the dialogue where he acknowledges what she really wanted, the sociopolitical forces that held her back
Norma
This is the conversation most counselors fear, and screw up out of anxiety, or just avoid all together.
What do you think about this example?
My “let me know if I’m getting too white on you” conversation.
Janie’s example – “difference matters.”
This is a student annotation of a transcript of a session with a client.
The client’s internal experience of their own intersecting identities.
This is the one most multiculturally-educated counselors feel comfortable with, at least with some practice. This is the relatively safe zone because it doesn’t implicate us directly, and although we can get tangled up in language or get an unexpected reaction, over time, we can settle into a style that is fairly smooth without too much anxiety.
See “pride/shame issues” per McGoldrick et al in “Ethnicity and Family Therapy.”
This is where, if we’re not comfortable with the intra-counseling dimension, we can undercut and “gaslight” clients out of our own unresolved racial and cultural anxieties. We try to to help women and minorities “better adjust” to oppressive conditions by making themselves smaller, less visible, less outspoken about micro-aggressions and silencing and systemic oppression. We try to teach them to “cope” rather than to explore options for advocacy for themselves and their communities.
Imagine if this client came to us and we explored his “black and white thinking” or his “persecution complex” that we see as being part of “a pattern of self-sabotage,” and prescribed him some thought-stopping exercises to do whenever he got angry, plus some yoga for self care?
Broaching can lead to micro-aggressions.
What feedback would you give a supervisee or student?
Relationship Between Client's Response to Counselor's Broaching Efforts and the Client's Racial Identity Functioning – broaching doesn’t always go well. (Tell my story on myself.)
Norma
Norma
Norma
Free write: What word(s) do you use for each of these? “I am a…”
Which ones are hard?
Pair up. Try out some of these beginnings and endings.
Demonstrate with a few students.