Fulfills requirement: Diversity and Multicultural Counseling
Race, ethnicity, racism, immigration, identity, family, and systemic inequities can shape mental health, treatment engagement, and the therapeutic relationship. This continuing education course provides practical, culturally responsive approaches for mental health professionals working with Black and Latin American clients.
The first section focuses on culturally responsive care with Black clients. It examines the diversity of Black experiences and the impact of racism, historical trauma, and systemic inequities on mental health. Participants will explore common psychological phenomena, mental health disparities, and barriers to treatment. The second section addresses culturally responsive care with Latin American clients. Topics include the influence of country of origin, immigration, acculturation, assimilation, documentation status, family relationships, and intergenerational trauma.
Throughout the course, participants will examine barriers to care, cultural beliefs and stigma, and the limitations of applying Western diagnostic frameworks without adequate cultural context. Participants will develop practical skills for building rapport, conducting culturally informed assessment, discussing race and ethnicity, navigating cultural differences, and distinguishing cultural norms from psychopathology. Emphasis is placed on instilling cultural humility, curiosity, and strength-based practice.
Coursework features original content informed by the latest research, along with three interviews with experts in the field, providing participants with evidence-informed knowledge and real-world professional perspectives. Course content is available in written, audio, and video formats.
Educational Objectives
This course will teach the participant to:
- Describe key historical and cultural considerations relevant to mental health and lived experiences of Black and Latin American populations.
- Identify cultural themes, potential mental health concerns warranting treatment, and factors that may influence help-seeking and engagement among Black and Latin American clients.
- Describe important clinical considerations for working with Black and Latin American clients across the lifespan, including issues related to individual, group, and family therapy.
- Apply culturally responsive principles to clinical decision-making and treatment planning when working with Black and Latin American clients.
Syllabus
Part One: Culturally Responsive Mental Health Care with Black Clients
Introduction to Counseling Black Clients
- Terminology – Black versus African American
- Diversity within the Black population in the United States
- Status of Black mental health
- Mental health treatment disparities
- Psychological impact of racism
- Societal factors contributing to the experience of racism
- Psychological phenomena
- Stereotype threat
- Black tax
- John Henryism
- Strong Black Woman schema
- Racial trauma
- Internalized racism
- Best practices in working with Black clients
- Special issues for men
- Special issues for women
Counseling Black Clients: Interview with Marquez Wilson, PsyD
- Understanding the diversity of the Black experience
- Shared historical and systemic experiences
- Trust and experiences with non-Black clinicians
- Cultural humility and clinician’s role
- Understanding resistance and building trust
- Historical trauma and Black mental health
- Looking beyond the individual to consider a broader ecological perspective
- Understanding how systems can perpetuate trauma
- Balancing cultural awareness with individualized treatment
- Strengths of Black communities and implications for treatment
Working with Black Clients: An Interview with Dr. Carmela Daniels
- Building rapport with Black clients
- Cultural bias and health disparities
- Cultural humility as a lifelong commitment
- Mental health stigma and internalized racism
- Strength-based, holistic cultural empowerment
- Incorporating identity and intersectionality
- Best practice approaches
- Recognizing systemic racism, oppression, and disparities
- Black Tax
- Code switching
- “Strong Black Woman” stereotype
- Paternalism
- Meaning of Black Lives Matter movement
- How therapists should approach controversies surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion in sessions
Part Two: Culturally Responsive Mental Health Care with Latin American Clients
Introduction to Counseling Latin American Clients
- Cultural themes to consider when providing mental health services
- Strategies to approach diversity in psychotherapy
- Tips to approach race and ethnicity in psychotherapy with Latin Americans
- Therapists’ culture and developing cultural competence and humility
- Culture and impact on assessment
- Acculturation/assimilation
- Country of origin
- Immigration
- Citizenship and documentation
- Trauma and intergenerational trauma
- Barriers to utilization of mental health services
- Beliefs and stigmas about mental illness, substance use, and treatment
- Useful assessment measures
- Culture and impact on outreach
- Culture and impact on counseling
- Establishing rapport
- Capitalizing upon individual and family strengths
- Counseling considerations across the lifespan and in individual, group, and family therapy settings
Interview with Natalie Reinfeld, PsyD
- Common concerns Latin American clients have about non-Latin American therapists
- Cultural considerations and therapeutic boundaries
- Rethinking “appropriate” boundaries
- Gifts and expressions of gratitude
- Building rapport without stereotyping
- Latin Americans are not a homogeneous group
- Need to individualize treatment
- Curiosity as a clinical tool
- Understanding immigration
- Circumstances of immigration can vary dramatically
- May involve changes in socioeconomic status
- Immigration trauma
- Assimilation and mental health
- Distinguishing cultural norms from psychopathology
- Challenge of Western diagnostic frameworks
- Questions for clinical assessment
- Family closeness versus codependency
- Intergenerational and cultural conflict
- Therapist as guide rather than authority
- Cultural competence and cultural humility
- Working with undocumented clients
- Major clinical takeaways
