Multicultural Interventions

1. Multicultural Interventions Consultation And Counseling

2. Interventions • Indirect • Individual Consultation • Group/ Classroom Consultation • Systems Consultation • Direct: • Individual Counseling • Group Counseling • Family Counseling

3. Consultation • Voluntary problem-solving process that can be initiated and terminated by either the consultant or consultee. The purpose of assisting consultees is to develop attitudes and skills to function more effectively with individuals, groups, or organizations over which they have responsibility. Duncan, 1995

4. Individual Consultation

5. Individual Consultation • You can be consulting with multiple people concerning a single child. • Each person working as consultant/ consultee is an expert in his/ her own knowledge base. • In the school, the consultee is usually a teacher or a parent.

6. Individual Consultation • Typical problems: • Child is experiencing academic difficulties. • Child is experiencing social/emotional/behavioral problems. • Common solutions: • SST/CST/SIPT works with teacher • Teacher is given additional skills to help the child. • Parent is given additional skills to help the child. • Parent/ teacher work together to help the child.

7. Group Consultation

8. Group Consultation • You can consult with multiple people concerning a single group. • Each person working as consultant/ consultee is an expert in his/her own knowledge base. • In the school, the consultee is usually a teacher for an entire classroom or a counselor for a group counseling session.

9. Group Consultation • Typical problems: • Group of children throughout the school in different classrooms experiencing the same problems. • Entire classroom of children are experiencing the same problems. • Common solutions: • Observe and evaluate the current methods/ techniques used. • Research the best types of programs to deal with this specific problem. • Share the results of the research and observations with your consultee. • Work together to come up with solutions.

10. Systems Consultation

11. Systems Consultation • You can consult with multiple people concerning a single system. The larger the organization that you work with, the more people involved. • Each person working as consultant/ consultee is an expert in his/her own knowledge base. • In the school, the consultee is usually a principal for an entire school or a superintendent or school board for an entire district.

12. Systems Consultation • Typical problems: • School is experiencing bullying problems. • Student academics are low throughout the county. • District SPED has overrepresentation of diverse students. • Common solutions: • Consultant works with a committee to develop action plan. • Consultant researches effective techniques for bully-prevention programs and teaches them to the school. • Consultant works with district to help make curriculum, special program, or textbook decisions. • Consultant works with lawyers and/ or state DOE to ensure that the district complies with requirements.

13. Steps to Consultation w/ Diverse Consultee (Gibbs, 1980) • 1. Appraisal: Consultee determines the trustworthiness of the consultant. • 2. Investigation: Challenge the consultant to determine if they qualified to work with them. • 3. Involvement:Consultee will open up if they trust you to develop a relationship. • 4. Commitment: Consultee commits to consultant but not process. • 5. Engagement: Commit to the process if they believe in interpersonal skills of consultant.

14. Consultee is DiverseExample: Duncan (1995) • 5th grade Afr. Amer. Teacher requests consult re: misbehavior in class. • Teacher did not respond to notes. • Teacher did not have time to meet or seem open to meeting. • Consultant began to eat lunch each day w/ teacher and her friends. • No discussion of class took place for 5 days. • Teacher asks again to meet w/ consultant • Teacher and consultant get work done.

15. Points to Consider:Client is Diverse • 1. Must identify consultant’s knowledge of cultural sensitivity. • 2. Must aid consultee in developing cultural sensitivity and knowledge about different cultural groups. • 3. Must aid consultee in developing understanding of system in which client works and lives. • 4. Work with teacher to improve development of curriculum and multicultural education. Duncan, 1995)

16. Group Project • Scenario: Hispanic female teacher has problems working with Arabic male child. She feels that he is not listening to her or respecting her. • Questions: • What issues do you need to consider about the consultee? • What issues do you need to consider about the client?

17. Cultural competence • Cultural awareness and beliefs: Provider’s sensitivity to her or his personal values and biases and how these may influence perceptions of the client, client’s problem, and the counseling relationship. • Cultural knowledge: Counselor’s knowledge of the client’s culture, worldview, and expectations for the counseling relationship. • Cultural skills: Counselor’s ability to intervene in a manner that is culturally sensitive and relevant. D. W. Sue, Ivey, and Pedersen (1996)

18. Improving Cultural Competence • Self-awareness and stimulus value • Assessment of client • Pre-therapy intervention • Hypothesizing and testing hypotheses • Attending to credibility and giving • Understanding the nature of discomfort and resistance • Understanding clients’ perspective • Strategy or plan for intervention • Assessment of session • Willingness to consult Sue, 2006

19. Self-awareness: know your own bias and the impact of this on therapy. Assessment of client: Understand the system and knowledge of the client Pre-therapy: Make client aware of what therapy is and what will happen. Hypothesizing: What are the problems? Credibility and giving: Client must believe in the treatment. Discomfort/ Resistance: Therapists feelings of why is this not working? Client’ Perspective: Know your client Breakdown: Improving Cultural Competence

20. Breakdown: Improving Cultural Competence • Strategy or plan for intervention: Plan sessions based on knowledge of therapy and culture. • Assessment of session: How did that go? What now? • Willingness to consult: Know when you don’t know enough to go it alone.

21. Issues of Counseling for Multicultural Clients • Major stressors: poverty, acculturation and racial discrimination. • Diverse clients terminate counseling sooner. • Given this, many brief therapies may be preferred. • Example of one brief therapy that works well in schools is Solution Focused Therapy.

22. Individual Counseling

23. Individual Counseling • Potential Treatments: • Psychoeducational Counseling: provide information for students on how to acculturate. • Cognitive-Behavioral: help w/ anxiety and depression associated with stress. • Solution-focused: help w/ the specific issue that is challenging the student.

24. Group Counseling

25. Group Counseling • Groups should consist of peers who are experiencing similar problems. • Potential Treatments: • Psychoeducational Counseling: provide information to the group of peers. • Social skills training: improve social interactions • Empathy training: decrease violence

26. Group Counseling How might this change based on our discussions of family styles within poverty?

27. Family Counseling • Note: Increase in diversity often leads to decrease in parent participation. • Potential Treatments: • Psychoeducational Counseling: provide information for parents. • Solution-focused counseling: help the family with the specific issue. • Narrative counseling: help families develop and tell their “stories.”

28. Group Project • African American 12-year-old male with impulsivity problems. • Parents want family and individual therapy with medication? • What are some issues for both therapy and regular medication maintenance?