GESTALT

Gestalt



Gestalt

Introduction

The need for therapies to be culturally “sensitive” or “responsive” has been recognized for many years (Zane, Nagayama Hall, Sue, Young, & Nunez, 2004). Nagayama Hall (2001) argues that there is a scientific and ethical imperative for developing culturally sensitive therapy, which “involves the tailoring of psychotherapy to specific cultural contexts” (p.502). Various models of culturally sensitive therapy have been debated, some applicable across cultural groups and some developed for specific groups. However, there is a dearth of empirical research on the efficacy of different therapeutic approaches with different cultural groups and what makes a therapy culturally sensitive.

The “cultural competence” (Sue, 1998) of the therapist is one aspect of delivering services that are culturally sensitive. Sue proposes that cultural competence comprises several characteristics or skills, perhaps the most obvious one being a good knowledge and understanding of the cultural group(s) with which the therapist works. However, he proposes that culture-specific expertise is necessary but not sufficient. A critical skill is when to generalize and when to individualize: that is, the therapist must be able to recognize when and how cultural values or cultural group characteristics may be relevant to the client's problems, but also to see the client as an individual (i.e., to avoid stereotyping). Cultural competence stands in contrast to “cultural encapsulation” (Wrenn, 1962, cited in Pedersen, Draguns, Lonner, & Trimble, 2002), a term referring to the unintentional ethnocentrism that can occur when therapists are unaware of how their own culture shapes their interpretations of, and responses to, what clients bring to therapy.

There is some evidence that when clients see therapists of the same ethnic or linguistic background, treatment outcomes may be better, at least in terms of drop-out rate and number of sessions attended (S. Sue, 1998; S. Sue, Fujino, Hu, Takeuchi, & Zane, 1991). Similarly, clients who utilize ethnic-specific mental health services (typically employing bilingual staff and aiming to respond to clients' cultural needs) also tend to stay in therapy

Religious and Cultural Considerations

Principle D, of the Ethical values of psychologists and cipher of perform (APA Ethics Code, 1992) states:

“Where dissimilarities of age, gender, rush, ethnicity, nationwide source, belief, sexy orientation, disability, dialect, or socioeconomic rank considerably sway psychologists' work in relative to specific persons or assemblies, psychologists get the teaching, know-how, discussion, or supervision essential to double-check the competence of their services, or they make befitting referrals.” (APA Ethics Code, 1992)

Similarly, Pate and Bondi (1992) sharp out that the Ethical Standards of the American Counseling Association state that counselors are to "guard 'the one-by-one privileges and individual dignity of the client'" and to manage so "must discover throughout their expert learning to esteem the significance of spirituality and belief in the inhabits of purchasers and how to integrate that esteem in their practice" (p. 108).

In outlook of these clearly-stated ethical guidelines, it is a inquisitive detail that numerous devout purchasers are painful with therapists who manage not share their beliefs. In such situations it becomes vital to assist the purchaser gain ...