Cultural Humility

Cultural Humility
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Cultural Humility
Thoughts on cultural humility - What is your current understanding of the concept of cultural humility?
As I reflect on cultural humility, I realize that it is ongoing learning but also putting aside my perspective on someone's culture. To showcase cultural humility is to embrace and be open to one’s culture and acknowledge that I will never be culturally competent. I never want to make assumptions about my client's culture. For example, I had a client who had a Latino last name and assumed they were Mexican, and I got them a translator who spoke Spanish. However, the client told me they were Filipino. Rather than asking the client, I assumed that everyone with a Latino last name was Mexican, and in this example, I was not showcasing cultural humility. As a counselor, I want to work with a diverse group of clients with an attitude to learning about the client's culture, recognizing my limitations, showing genuine interest in the client's culture, and openness to growth, which is what cultural humility is in my understanding currently. This concept also applies to people of the same race but with different cultural experiences.
I have learned that cultural humility enables an individual to understand his or her limitations and appreciate others’ cultural experiences and backgrounds. In reality, counseling entails in-depth interactions with clients from different racial, religious, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds. The counselor can only understand the client’s problems by taking an interpersonal stance from the perspective of others rather than being self-focused. In that light, cultural humility comes in to enable the specialist to perceive things from the client’s perspective. Indeed, it is correct to say that it refers to an ongoing self-critique and self-exploration process that is combined with a counselor’s willingness to learn from his or her clients. I think a counselor should create and maintain a proper relationship with others. However, it can be challenging to form and sustain trusting relationships with others without honoring their values, customs, norms, beliefs, and attitudes. No individual can feel valued or respected if others are not willing to comprehend things from their perspectives. On that note, cultural humility enables counselors to be willing to learn from others and compromise their cultural beliefs and values. That way, it becomes possible to provide effective solutions to problems faced by others. Cultural humility leads one to the road of acknowledging clients’ differences and accepting others for who they are without trying to make them see things from one’s perspective. As such, cultural humility is a lifelong commitment to self-critique and self-evaluation that allows individuals to learn about others’ cultures and address issues from their perspectives.
Personal Assessment - What strengths do you have in practicing cultural humility? In what ways could you build on these strengths? What are areas of growth you want to work on?
In practicing cultural humility, I have numerous strengths. They include self-awareness, openness, compassion, empathy, interpersonal sensitivity, and the ability to identify implicit biases. I do not discriminate against others based on their ethnicity, gender, religion, lifestyle, sexual identity, race, or skin color differences. Instead, I am open-minded and like interacting with others so that I can learn more from them. I am empathetic and compassionate, which enables me to create a safe environment for sharing one’s experiences without feeling misunderstood or misjudged. I do not allow my implicit biases to affect my relationship with others. I appreciate others for who they are and do not try to change that when addressing their problems. In addition, interpersonal sensitivity enables me to avoid mentioning things that might make my clients angry or conceal relevant information. In other words, I put myself in the shoes of my clients so that I can understand things from their perspectives.
The most significant way to build on my strengths is to prioritize cultural humility and emotional intelligence. For instance, I will always embrace lifelong learning, accountability, acknowledge power imbalances, and be emotionally intelligent. I am willing to keep learning from others since I know that I will come across people from different cultures in my profession. I will never assume things but instead will consult my clients. I will be authentic and transparent with my clients, which involves sharing my experiences when appropriate. That way, I will connect with my clients well since they will not only see me as a perfect counselor but as a human being who encounters challenges and ask for assistance when the need arises. Additionally, I can build on my strengths by being emotionally intelligent. For example, I will control my emotions and respond to others by respecting how they feel.
Despite having numerous strengths, I have several areas I would want to work on. They are schedule flexibility, tone of superiority, and self-disclosure. Since I want to accommodate more people in a way that they feel comfortable, I need to be flexible. For instance, when setting up a schedule, I need to consider how my client feels about it. In that light, I will consult my client so that the person can choose the time he or she feels that it is the best for him or her. That little action can make the client feel respected and might significantly shape the relationship established. In addition, I need to improve on self-disclose sinc...