Cultural Consideration in Counseling Research Paper

Cultural Consideration in Counseling
Institution
Date
Immigrants
Counselors face challenges on a daily basis when dealing with immigrants both documented and undocumented. Immigrants more so of Asian origin tend to retain strong cultural values, a fact that counselors need to take into consideration and become more responsive and culturally adaptive (Kim et al., 2009). Cultural barriers to counseling include conflicting view about causes and ways of coping with mental health problems. Immigrants may prefer alternative methods in dealing with problems that are rooted in culture while others may not clearly grasp the western perspective of dealing with conditions. Other issues include a shortage of culturally sensitive health providers and immigrant language interpreters and also a lack of workers trained to work with minority ethnic groups or immigrants (Sue & Sue, 2008).
Refugees
Refugees suffer various problems when they move to the host nation. The problems vary from acculturation, culture shock, assimilation, language barrier and stigma. In some minority refugee communities, mental illness and other related conditions are considered hereditary, and that can damage an individual's reputation. While counseling, the practitioner should be in the familiar cultural conception of the matter at hand, for example, the immigrant perception of mental health should be well understood by the counselor. According to Chung and colleagues (2008) refugees who spent most of the time in camps finds it hard to adapt to a new country.
The Hmong in California
When offering to counsel to Hmong community of California, the practitioner must take into consideration the cultural definition of mental health and its manifestation by the Hmong. They should also understand the parent-child relationship and the role of gender and religious implication on the type of treatment. As much as communication is concerned, Hmong members may avoid direct eye contact with the counselor as a show of respect. Additionally yes in Hmong may not mean the same as in contemporary American society thus may create misunderstanding between counselor and the patient (Kim & Park, 2008). Hmong were used to their traditional culture and culture shock means slow adaptation and thus, may take time counseling (Sue & Sue, 2003).