Co-exploring Cultural Identities and Intersectionalities: Cultural Humility and Cultural Competence in Counselling

Co-exploring Cultural Identities and Intersectionalities: Cultural Humility and Cultural Competence in Counseling Your Name MACP Program, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, Yorkville University PSYC 6273 – Cultural Diversity in Counselling Instructor: Dr. XX Submission Date: Co-exploring Cultural Identities and Intersectionalities: Cultural Humility and Cultural Competence in Counseling Cultural humility and competence are cardinal components in counseling: a means of making clients feel that they are safe and their dignity respected. This paper points out the critical areas that demand cultural humility and competence during counseling and puts forward some relevant strategies by using a conversation between two diverse, culturally different persons having experience in counseling ways that could be used for enhancing these to continue growing an inclusive and effective counseling practice. Conversation Preparation and Experience From my discussion with Stephanie, there is a literal realization of the numerous layers of cultural identities and how they influence personal and professional relationships. I identify as Canadian-Iranian; I was born into an Iranian family and very connected to it, but I was brought up in Canada. My professional identity as an operations manager for a Montessori school merges with my cultural identity to help make cross-cultural understanding and maneuvering easier. In my free time, I volunteer with young children and their families from all walks of life. Stephanie identifies as an Irish-Canadian from Newfoundland, making much of her Irish heritage. She is also autistic, ADHD, and dyslexic, claiming the status of disabled. While a Roman Catholic family brought up Stephanie, she does not associate with any religion. Through this conversation, both of us reflected on how our cultural identities are intertwined with our personal and professional experiences. I shared my struggle as a young immigrant moving to Canada with language barriers and cultural shocks. The struggle to adjust to another culture and get through the process defined my leadership role, inclusively and empathetically, toward others who might have been undergoing similar challenges. By contrast, Stephanie spoke of how her late diagnosis of autism and ADHD affected her professional life through experiences of discrimination due to her gender and disability. According to Stubbe (2020), cultural competence and personal experiences are likely to enhance a professional's connectedness with clients from diverse backgrounds and, by implication, offer an approach that is more sensitive to the needs of leadership and counseling. For this reason, the experiences of such discrimination gave Stephanie insight into understanding and advocating for neurodivergent individuals in her professional coaching role. Stephanie and I emphasized fostering a respectful and trusting environment in our dialogue. In my work, I make sure that cultural competence is at the center of my practice, while Stephanie added that she tries to include everyone in every kind of life, even as a client with a disability. This session allowed us to share our differences and similarities, including how our diverse cultural backgrounds informed our leadership styles, problem-solving approaches, and ways of creating inclusiveness. On this count, intersectionality- as witnessed in Stephanie's remarks related to her gender and disability—further reinforces the necessity for consideration in informing practitioners about more inclusive practices in how these multiple identities interface with professional life (Roldán et al., 2021). Cultural Competencies and Cultural Humility The conversation exposed various facts regarding cultural competency and humility. Cultural humility is an open approach toward variety in reeducating and honoring many civilizations without presuming the supremacy of one's culture (Lekas et al., 2020). Apart from this, cultural competence involves the knowledge, ways of thinking, and interacting that enable us to work effectively with people from other cultures. Clearly showing cultural humility were Stephanie and I, who acknowledged various cultural prejudices and the need to learn from others. Stephanie recognized that she was privileged as a white female, as she did not know that some terms were prejudiced. Learning the history of phrases showed her how language shapes culture. I also acknowledged that my Canadian-Iranian heritage may cause me to generalize from my personal experience, especially with resilience and adaptability. When working with customers with different life situations, I realized I must know how my biases may affect me. From the...