Domain III: Embrace Cultural Responsivity and Social Justice as a Foundation for Professional Identity
CC8 Cultural Responsivity and Social Change
Embrace cultural responsivity and assume an anti-oppressive stance that fosters social change
Sandra Collins
The eight competency in the CRSJ counselling model (Collins, 2018), shifts the focus away from examining the cultural identities and social locations of counsellor and client to the nature of the professions of counselling and psychology. The activities in the guide to this point have engaged you in a process of consciousness raising about culture and social justice. Through the competencies in this domain, I invite you to consider how this awareness translates into action. First, I position cultural humility as an essential foundation for cultural competency. Cultural humility requires students, counsellors, instructors, and supervisors to position themselves as learners and to assume an other-orientated relational stance (First Nations Health Authority, n.d., Definitions, para. 2; Hook et al., 2013). This positioning is supported through three essential skills: reflective practice, critical thinking, and cognitive complexity. Learners are encouraged to apply these skills to deconstruct dominant discourses within the profession and to actively position themselves relative to the call for social justice. I argue that, in a world in which basic human rights regularly come under fire, figuratively and literally, to assume anything other than active anti-oppressive and justice-doing stance supports the status quo (Collins & Arthur, 2018). Raising questions about professional identity, at the individual and collective levels, often begins with the ethical guidelines for the professions. Professional codes of ethics most often reflect core values grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Gauthier & Pettifor, 2012); however, this social justice agenda is only rarely articulated explicitly in these codes (Audet, 2016; Counselors for Social Justice, 2011).
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Cultural Competency
Cultural Humility
Cultural Safety
Cultural Responsivity
Reflective Practice
Critical Thinking
Cognitive Complexity
Think about your thinking by comparing and contrasting the characteristics of cognitive complexity versus cognitive rigidity below. Honestly appraise your own cognitive tendencies, and consider how these might be assets or barriers to your implementation of CRSJ counselling competencies. It is very important to not falling into either/or thinking; this applies here as well, because you will likely recognize both thinking patterns in yourself. Identify the contexts, relationships, issues, or other variables that might incline you towards one or the other. What meaning do you make of these observations? What implications for culturally responsive and socially just counselling practice might there be of the cognitive style towards which you incline?
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[Permanent link: https://on-linelearning.ca/crsjcounselling/chapter/cc8/#complexityrigidity]
Social Justice
Equity Versus Equality
Consider the following image designed to differentiate between the concepts of equity and equality.
Pair up with a colleague or peer to discuss your interpretations of the image and the meaning it has in terms of fostering social justice in society. Then, create a client scenario that would demonstrate a shift from equality to equity. Consider both how that person might be treated within the counselling context and how you, as a counsellor, might help facilitate change in the direction of greater equity in the broader contexts of that client’s lived experiences. Check out your scenario with your colleague or peer to see how well the scenario illustrates these principles.
Now consider the image below that extends these concepts further. What are the implications of liberation for culturally responsivity and social justice in counselling practice? Extend your scenario above to include this lens.
[Permanent link: https://on-linelearning.ca/crsjcounselling/chapter/cc8/#shiftingtoequity]
Inclusivity/Diversity
One of the risks that counsellors face when their primary exposure to diverse cultural experiences is through their clients (or that counselling students might encounter when they immerse themselves in the reality of social injustices and inequalities) is assuming a problem-focused perspective on persons or peoples from nondominant populations! This is another form of othering.
Listen to some of the stories below of resilience, strength, creativity, courage, and cultural celebration. Remind yourself that culture and diversity are not the problem. The problem is in the stratification of society and the dominant discourses of marginalization and exclusivity. It is important to challenge continually the ways in which we construct meaning around difference, which in some cases, leads those who are members of dominant society, including healthcare practitioners, still to forefront difference even in their attempts at inclusivity and social justice. What if it is actually difference, rather than sameness, that defines what is normal, healthy, or simply human. Some of these videos are a bit longer (15-20 minutes), so watch only what you have time for, but choose at least one to encourage you to celebrate diversity!
One of the greatest strengths of Canada, and many other nations, is its cultural diversity. Let’s remind ourselves that we are exploring these challenging issues, within our society and within ourselves, to increase our commitment to the values of inclusivity and diversity.
[Permanent link: https://on-linelearning.ca/crsjcounselling/chapter/cc8/#letscelebrate]
Unintentional Oppression
Basic Human Rights
Anti-Oppressive Stance
Lightly review (e.g., skim to get a sense of the contents) the following guidelines for affirmative therapy with members of sexual minorities, attending only to the overview of each guideline, not the detailed explanations.
- Guidelines for psychotherapy with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients – American Psychological Association (APA)
- Competencies for counseling with transgender clients – American Counselling Association (ACA)
- Competencies for counseling with lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, questioning, intersex, and ally individuals – ACA
The guidelines published by professional organizations like the APA and ACA are well grounded in the scientific and professional literature and continue to evolve over time. They are an excellent source of current information. As professional counsellors, we are responsible to these bodies of professional knowledge. Select two of the principles (from any of these documents) that you think might be the most challenging for you to implement in your work with LGBTTQI clients. Read the more detailed explanation of those principles and do a bit more research on them, drawing on the resources below:
- Consider the Policy and Position Statements on the Canadian Psychological Association website.
- Review the list of Reports by Topic as well as other materials under Psychology Topics on the APA website.
- Look through the topics covered through the Knowledge Centre of the ACA (click on the Knowledge Centre link on the main menu).
What do you learn from your research that either increases or decreases your personal comfort with adopting the LGBTTQI affirmative stance of the professions of counselling and psychology? How will you address any lingering personal cultural biases that are a barrier to affirmative practice?
[Permanent link: https://on-linelearning.ca/crsjcounselling/chapter/cc8/#adoptingantioppressive]
Justice-Doing
Social Change
Ethical Practice
Ethical Decision-Making
Codes, Principles, Standards, and Guidelines
References
Audet, C. (2016). Social justice and advocacy in a Canadian context. In N. Gazzola, M. Buchanan, O. Sutherland, & S. Nuttgens (Eds.), Handbook of counselling and psychotherapy in Canada (pp. 95-122). Ottawa, ON: Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association.
Collins, S. (2018). Embracing cultural responsivity and social justice: Re-shaping professional identity in counselling psychology [Epub version]. Victoria, BC: Counselling Concepts. Retrieved from http://www.counsellingconcepts.ca
Collins, S., & Arthur, N. (2018). Challenging conversations: Deepening personal and professional commitment to culture-infused and socially just counselling processes. In D. Paré & C. Audet (Eds.), Social justice and counseling (pp. 29-41). New York, NY: Routledge.
Counselors for Social Justice. (2011). The Counselors for Social Justice code of ethics. Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, 3(2), 1-21. Retrieved from https://counseling-csj.org/publications/
First Nations Health Authority. (n.d.). Definitions. Retrieved from http://www.fnha.ca/Documents/FNHA-Cultural-Safety-and-Humility-Definitions.pdf
Gauthier, J., & Pettifor, J. L. (2012). The tale of two universal declarations: Ethics and human rights. In A. Ferrero, Y. Korkut, M. M. Leach, G. Lindsay, & M. J. Stevens (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of international psychological ethics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199739165.013.0009
Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., Owen, J., Worthington, E. J., & Utsey, S. O. (2013). Cultural humility: Measuring openness to culturally diverse clients. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60, 353-376. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032595
