Multicultural counseling proficiencies are essential to good counseling. Since Western counseling initially emerged from Europe it is culturally immersed with European culture values. European culture is very individualistic, self-centered and free of many forms of oppression due to the fact Europe was the colonizing force between the 16th and 19th Centuries. Furthermore, while Europe’s secular awakening drove a wedge between its Christian culture and itself, Christianity still plays a key part of life in millions of individuals of European descent, as well as a driving force behind the intent of nations to colonize. With these things in mind, the classic male European descent counselor must be aware of his cultural identity and how that same identity translates his world views, as well as how others of different cultures perceive him as a person when counseling. Within melting pots nations, such as the United States or Canada, many minority cultures can look upon counseling itself with suspicion as a Western custom created by white men.
Grief and loss is also cultural and is expressed differently. This type of difference that inherently exists within different grieving cultures needs to be understood and respected within the grief counseling session itself. Kastenbaum points out that many from a different culture can misinterpret expressions of grief or rituals within another culture (2018, p.372). Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification, as well as its Grief Diversity Counseling Certification to learn more about responding better to other cultures during times of grief.
Basic Understandings When Helping Others
There is strong scientific documentation that minority cultures mistrust counseling services (Pedersen, 2016. p.14). Also from a human perspective and counseling perspective, when similarities become less and differences rise between groups one can see a correlated sharp rise in disinterest. Grief Counselors need to be aware of these realities and be able to utilize inclusive cultural empathy to increase awareness against false assumptions, increase knowledge to better comprehend and improves skill for proper calls to action (Pedersen, 2016, p.28).
While employing multiculturalism on grief counseling or any counseling is critical, it is still important to identify a few clear points when working with a group outside one’s cultural circle. Leong cautions against homogeneity to all clients from a particular group (Pedersen, 2016,. p. 44). This simply means, one should not assume certain individuals exist a stereotypes of their particular culture. If working with a culturally distinct client, the grief counselor or counselor should not assume the problem of this individual automatically correlates with the problem of the race or population itself. Different individuals will have different levels and ties to their cultural heritage, creed, race or forms of expression. It is important to realize different persons exist at different facets and are unique hence requiring individual focus, or in some cases universal focus. When counseling across culture, it is important to remember the dictum of Kluckhohn and Murray (1949) that “each person is like all other persons, like some other persons and like no other person (Pedersen, 2016. p.42)”.
This ideal of personhood is key. Many within populations have varying degrees of cultural awareness. Some are aware of microaggressions even against themselves, while others may be very naive to not only differences but also microaggressions. Many individuals within diverse populations exist at an integrated level where they maintain their culture of origin but adopt the culture of the majority. They exist at a dual level. Others my completely assimilate and function and exist within the majority culture. Still others may separate from the majority culture and exist primarily within their culture of origin, or oppositely exist within marginalization that adopts the majority culture (Pedersen, 2018. p. 103).
In any of these four cases, this presents a diverse reaction from ethnic individuals who may appear a certain way but may personally very different. In grief counseling, it is important to understand the individual and not hold that individual to a particular paradigm of how to grieve.
Multicultural Issues and Grief within Native Populations
Within Native American populations and other indigenous people worldwide, European contact has left extreme historical trauma due to centuries of war, massacres, exploitation, relocations, betrayals and disease (Pedersen, 2016, p. 103). This concept of past wrongs that leave a history of cultural trauma is referred to as soul wounds. These wounds shape the culture because the history of it not only shaped the present but also the community living in the present. Present conditions due to massive trauma to ancestors greatly affect present day living conditions and economic wealth due to past exploitation and theft from previous generations. Many tribes were stripped of identity when children were cruelly separated from their families and culturally indoctrinated into European culture. Hence, these type of soul wounds are essentially an intergenerational transmission of trauma from one generation to the next (Ivey, 2018.p. 33). Native Americans hence have a unique collective grief of past historical wrongs against their tribes at the hands of European aggression. These past wrongs has been transmitted into a strong and heavy mistrust of indigenous communities with Western forms of counseling (Pedersen, 2018, p.103).
Native American populations due to these wrongs look to reassert cultural identity and pursue more traditional forms of treatment as well ritual. Numerous cultural recovery programs exist within the country that looks to help these groups rediscover their culture (Pedersen, 2018, p. 105). This strive for identity has at times also put native populations at odds with European and conventional forms of counseling with suspicion.
Grief counselors who work with native populations need to be self aware of their own ethnic background and how this is perceived by native populations. Pedersen notes that counselors cannot blindly pretend a cultural difference does not exist between a client and counselor, especially with native populations (2018, p. 105). In some cases, counselors can also sometimes question the efficacy of conventional methods of treatment for depression or other mental disorders when working with a mistrusting client. Of course, all persons are still persons and genuine empathy, warmth and respect are critical for any person much less one of a different culture (Pedersen, 2018, p. 106).
Many Native Americans are essentially spiritual in healing and those spiritual traditions are important to their identity. Hence counselors working in indigenous populations should work with healers within the community. Counselors should seek the advice of healers and when clients request it, form a care team that best meets the overall needs of the client. Presenting a ethnocentric therapeutic approach to a population with distrust can be disastrous and lead to no healing. Pederson recommends a healing combination of both Western and Native modalities that link the community and spiritual nature of native populations (2018, p. 110).
In addition, Pedersen points out that counselors need to become comfortable with ways natives express themselves, not only in grief but also in communication. Within Native American populations, clients are usually more comfortable with silence and long pauses and responses (2018, p. 107). If a counselor is ignorant of these types of responses or pauses, then the counselor may perceive it as a form of pathological grieving, or denial, or lack of intelligence. Grief counselors need to properly understand the social patterns of interaction within natives to better understand their grieving process. Obviously, grieving and ritual within these populations is also more communal in nature and the community plays a key role in helping others grieve. When natives are isolated or stripped from this population then it can negatively affect their ability to grieve in a healthy way.
In conclusion, Herring points out that counselors should discuss differences instead of pretending one does not exist between client and counselor, secondly, schedule appoints that are flexible and even open to family if requested, third, the allowance for natural trust to grow, fourth, the respect of silence and pause, fifth, a strong respect and honor for the client’s culture and application when necessary of it, and finally, the universal ideal of all counseling, confidentiality (Pedersen, 2018, p. 114).
Conclusion
Counseling across multicultural scopes is difficult. This is especially true when one is a counselor of European descent. With that ancestry carries a history of incidents, that through no fault of oneself. can lead to mistrust between client and counselor. It is important to be self aware of these differences and to be able to show empathy and respect cross cultural lines to the client if one truly hopes to help the client. This involves adaption and flexibility in how one approaches certain clients. This is especially true of Native Americans who have their own unique views on counseling and healing and how they express and communicate grief. It is also important to have a true understanding the of the nature of soul wounds that exist within the Native American population and how this not only affects grief but also present day economic and social life. While it is still critical to acknowledge this, a counselor still cannot assume each Native American is cultural. Every person is diverse and only through communication and genuineness can one truly understand the subjective nature of the individual.
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a grief counseling certification. In addition to AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification, AIHCP also offers for Grief Certified Counselors a specialty program in Grief Diversity that covers in greater detail many multicultural aspects of grief and diverse populations.
References
Ivey, A. et, al (2018). “International Interviewing and Counseling” (9th). Cengage.
Kastenbaum, R & Moreman, C. (2018). “Death, Dying and Human Experience” (12th). Routledge
Pedersen, P. et. al. (2018). “Counseling Across Cultures” (7th). Cengage
Additional Resources
“Healing Trauma, Attending To Grief – Native Wellness Institute & Jillene Joseph” Click here
Lovering, C. (2022). “Mental Health in Native American and Indigenous Communities”. PsychCentral. Click here
Franco, M. (2020). “Culture Impacts How We Grieve”. Psychology Today. Click here
Stringer, H. (2022). “The healing power of Native American culture is inspiring psychologists to embrace cultural humility”. APA. Click here