Six Comments Paper: Different Cultures, Mental Health

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Six Comments
Question 7-1
With regard to Angela’s post, counselors are indeed faced with a number of issues in their professional practice. This argument is consistent with McLeod’s (2014) argument that councilors should be aware of the potential issues that would interfere with their service delivery. The post further emphasizes on the need for counselors to avoid the influence of their personal prejudices and biases on their professional practice.
Brianna’s post is consistent with the fact that people are shaped by their upbringing as well as their religious, political, social and racial beliefs. However, the post correctly puts emphasis on the need to adhere to the professional code of ethics by prioritizing the clients’ interests and needs over those of the counselors. Particularly, the ACA code of ethics requires the professional counselors to not only honor diversity, but also embraces a multicultural approach in supporting people’s uniqueness, potential, dignity, and worth in diverse cultural and social contexts (American Counseling Association, 2014).
Emily’s post cautions that counselors should not let their beliefs cloud their judgment regarding their clients’ treatments. This argument is consistent with Forester-Miller’s (n.d) argument that counselors often work in challenging situations that call for their ability to make sound ethical decisions. She also suggests that Christian beliefs can foster quality service delivery among professional counselors.
Marcties argues that the counselor’s misconceptions regarding other people’s culture can impair their professional practice and thus advocates for cultural competency. According to Lee (2008), cultural competence is important in cross-cultural counseling due to the ever-dynamic population demographics. In addition, Marcties also points out that clients are described by their culture rather than being defined by it.
Question #7-2
Angela’s post correctly points out that different cultures have different perceptions regarding the addition and mental health therapy. For instance, the stigma attached to mental illnesses among the Latino Americans prevents patients from seeking medical attention. Instead, Latinos often utilize alternative medicines (Kramer, Guarnaccia, Resendez & Lu, 2009). Angela also points out that the Native Americans also use alternative therapies as a remedy for mental illnesses.
Emily argues correctly that the different perceptions of addiction and mental health therapies across cultures influence the kind of care and treatment for the patients. She gives an example of the German culture that recognized the need for mental health and addiction services recently. The Germans often turn to their family and friends first on matters concerning mental illnesses and addiction before seeking professional help (PubMed Health, 2016).
References
American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from h...