Cultural Issues

In a recent group lead by my supervisor, she touched on a topic that I had not considered during my time here. Although I was aware of a cultural gap between myself and the client group, I did not realize the cultural differences significantly affected my role with the clients. My supervisor spoke about how the client population might not be comfortable speaking about their problems with a therapist or counselor as a result of cultural teachings. Therapy and psychology were not the domain of African-Americans and mental health issues were regarded as a shameful process.

I began to think about why this had never dawned on me before. Then I realized how normal it was for me to constantly hear the problems and concerns of others. I have been working in a therapeutic setting for the past 2 years with little breaks in between jobs and settings. Even in my personal relationships, I often take on a supportive role like a counselor. I had become so acclimated to people (friends, family, clients) telling me about their problems that I was unable to fathom people having trouble divulging that sort of information. In addition, given my education in Psychology, I found it striking and strange that anyone would have trouble expressing their feelings because of cultural conditions (instead of personal trauma, which makes more sense to me).

I think I need to take a step back and take the perspective of the client again.