Multicultural Issues and Immigration Acculturation

Do you feel like you don’t belong? Or do you feel like you should belong, but somehow do not fit in or do not feel accepted? Then you are not alone. In a time when our society is dealing with a focus on racial and class distinctions, one can find themselves marginalized and at a loss on how to feel valued, accepted and loved. Know that there are therapists that are not intimidated to enter into this conversation with their clients.

Since the abolition of the law against interracial marriages, the number of interracial marriages is growing. Previous research seemed to suggest that these relationships were unstable, but current studies cannot find a way to agree with this examination. It can be assumed that many of those marriages failed due to a lack of support from the dominant culture. Cultural change is underway. Through assimilation and adaption to different cultures couples learn coping and conflict resolution styles, which help them to grow and develop in a healthier, more open and accepting way.

It is so important for a therapist who is being introduced by a client to his/her culture or norms to be open and willing to understand their rituals rather than disregarding their way of life and forcing one’s own belief system on them. This can be accomplished by respecting the client’s culture and by allowing him/her to share and show them their ways. One-way therapists are called to show respect is by giving the client autonomy to decide what is meaningful to them rather than obligating them to embrace someone else’s perspective. The therapist should be flexible and able to integrate different approaches by accepting the client as who (s)he is. There is so much we don’t know and so much we can learn from each other by sharing ideas, methods and systems. There is no excuse for any person to feel superior to, or even imply that another culture is less important (inferior) because they are different. Being culturally sensitive refers to being in tune and meaningfully responsive to diversity issues.

As individuals, we are ‘different’ from others, meaning that nobody is identical, and everybody is created unique and different.  At the same time, individuals classify themselves with a group identity by recognizing that we are ‘like others,’ because of shared beliefs, values, rules and social practices. Finally, as individuals we are the ‘same’ because we belong to the human race, which gives us a universal uniformity. According to pastor Tony Evans, “all races stem from the same root and it is absurd for any group to claim superiority over another.”

A trained psychotherapist should be able to describe the most basic differences between cultures, ethnicities or races. One of the many concerns when dealing with multi-cultural issues is that people are caught in-between different cultures. When this happens, it can cause tension due to unfamiliarity, discomfort and create anxiety when interacting. Naturally, we are comfortable with what we have learned and what has become the norm to us, yet behaviors or actions that fail to fit that mold is often not acceptable in our eyes.

At Balance, Harmony & Restoration Counseling we are sensitive and aware of our own assumptions, values and biases. One of our main goals is to demonstrate understanding and empathy in order to develop and nurture a healthy therapeutic relationship.  Here, the counselor has the ability to work cooperatively with the client without judgment by exploring biases, assumptions, values, prejudices and privileges in order to understand that attitudes have an emotional impact that can influence and ultimately affect the client. Bringing our own life experiences into the session with different cultures, ethnicities, races, beliefs, lifestyles and views is helpful since we have on a personal level experienced those differences. Without making our own experiences the focus of our session, we strive to relate and adapt to different people, which has helped us to be more attuned and empathic in our approach. We believe that a competent therapist can influence the counseling relationship by understanding the multicultural experiences and worldview of the client’s culture, race, ethnicity, gender issues including sexual orientation and religion.