Client Culture Research Articles

Common Errors in Single-Session Therapy

Single-session thinking and practice are being increasingly recognized as an important component in the landscape of mental health service delivery. At the same time, however, there are some common misunderstandings that may impede applications and further developments. Inspired by Jay Haley's (1969) ironic “The Art of Being a Failure as a Therapist” and others of his articles, the authors describe some ways to avoid successful single-session therapy (SST), including insisting that therapy be only one session; disbelieving that therapy could be only one session; lowering hopeful expectations; avoiding clarifying a specific goal for the session; disregarding real-life issues; insisting on one model of therapy; ignoring context and working against the client's culture; thinking that the only single-session goal should be total resolution of whatever problems have brought the client to therapy; and neglecting implementation, supervision, and administrative support.

Examining the Experiences of Counselor Trainees towards Practices in Individual Counseling Practicum Course

The aim of this study is to examine the experiences of the counseling trainees regarding the first practices they have carried out within the scope of Individual Counseling Practicum course. In the current study, phenomenological method based on qualitative approach was used. The sample group of the research consists of 20 participants who are senior students of the Counseling and Guidance undergraduate program and have completed their counseling practices. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview form and analyzed by inductive thematic analysis method. The experiences of the trainees were classified under 6 categories as a) the problems faced by trainees, b) the resources they use to solve their problems, c) their perceptions and experiences of their client's culture, d) contributions of the practices to them, e) their preferences for clients and f) the use of Culturally Sensitive Counseling course contents in counseling practices. The findings of the present study concluded that while the trainees were anxious due to the problems which they encountered during the practicum; they enjoyed many contributions of experiencing counseling. Based on the findings, some recommendations were made.

Occupational therapy students' experiences and perceptions of culture during fieldwork education

BACKGROUND: Understanding a client's culture allows practitioners to consider the planning of intervention and allows for a client centred approach to be provided. During fieldwork education occupational therapy students can face the challenge of other cultural practices, standards, morals and ways of life coming into conflict with their own. PURPOSE: There is minimal South African literature discussing the challenges and supporting factors that assist students in becoming culturally competent across cross-cultural settings. This article explored occupational therapy students' experiences of culture, and their perceptions of the barriers and enablers that culture presents during fieldwork education. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted with undergraduate occupational therapy students from a university in Cape Town, South Africa. Data were collected using focus groups with each group of students from first to fourth year and were analysed using thematic analysis. FINDINGS: The two main themes that emerged from the analysis, were: 1) "Culture is easily defined but not easily described", which focuses on the students own understandings and interpretations of culture, and 2) "Is there no 'me' in OT?" which specifically describes students' experiences of culture during fieldwork practice. IMPLICATIONS: The findings of this study questioned whether cultural competence is static but determined that exposure to, positive attitudes towards and self-reflection on culturally diverse experiences are the factors that contribute towards developing cultural competence in culturally diverse situations. Key words: Occupational therapy; Students; Culture; Cultural Competence; Cultural Sensitivity; Acculturalization; Fieldwork Education

Efektivitas Penyelenggaraan Konseling dengan Memahami Komunikasi antar Budaya

Cross- cultural counseling is done in different cultures , given to minority groups that the counseling process is a cultural encounter between counselor and client it serves. Problematic behavior will be different in different cultures , as well as the adjustment. So that effective counseling process, counselors are required to have cultural sensitivity and break away from cultural biases, understand and can appreciate and have skills that are culturally responsive. Communication activities between nations is a consumption activity that occurs between different clients mores, race, language, religion, level of education, social status or even gender. Thus intercultural communication should be by the diplomacy of foreign astudents, a teacher at an international school , social workers and others.To be able to understand more , intercultural communication as well as some that affect communication (1) Comunication approach, (2) Communication barriers between cultures, (3) How can these barriers interfere with communication between cultures. At the time of counseling , the counselor does not deal with the client's culture but also cultural counselor with individual clients. This view is dangerous for the counseling process, as it would appear culturally insensitive counselor, unsympathetic and very likely impose its own cultural values to the clients it serves.

Ethos–Intensive Objects: Toward a Methodological Framework for Identifying Complex Client Cultures

Along with other design professionals in a globalizing world, interior designers are serving clients who are increasingly complex. Understanding exactly whom design professionals are designing for now requires more than just developing a program; it requires the designer to comprehend the multiple layers of a client's culture. Clients tend less to be individuals, but rather institutions and corporations, and even the smaller ones among these may well have international scope. This increased complexity has also rendered the client culture more sophisticated. Questions arise as to how a designer can offer solutions that truly fit a client's needs. This paper proposes a method that frames ethnographic data into design programs through the identification of Ethos–Intensive Objects (EIOs). EIOs are culturally descriptive, case–specific objects that encompass multiple levels of meaning linked to human lived experiences associated with physical attributes, human activities, and human narratives of a specific cultural context. Identifying EIOs allows designers to develop more accurate design programs by enabling them to see the client's world through the client's eyes. This paper begins by defining EIOs, clarifying how they bridge the gap between cultural data and the design program, and then provides examples of EIOs in three case study samples. First, a historical example in the literature makes a broad case for the utility of EIOs as cultural identifiers. Next, an example from the design literature illustrates design ethnographic methods from an EIO point of view. Finally, an analysis from an interiors venue provides a prototypical example for EIOs in a design practice setting. In sum, the paper argues for a way by which designers can comprehend client cultures through EIOs and empirically frame the cultural experiences embedded in these objects into understandable and operational frameworks for the purposes of informing design programs.

A study of auditor–client relationships and problems in the Bahraini audit environment

Abstract We report on a survey study of auditor–client relationship problems in an under-developed audit market in Bahrain. The study investigates client perspectives and views on important auditing process issues, value added audit activities for client organizations, and auditor rotation. Clients viewed high fees, excessive audit time requirements, difficulty in meeting auditor's requests, and audit personnel difficulties in understanding the business due to a lack of adequate audit professionals' experience as problems. From the audit firm perspective, the study explores audit client acceptance factors, independence issues, and common problems encountered with the clients. Auditor respondents indicated the major process problems to be associated with the client's culture, lack of access to information, and poor accounting systems. Auditors reported problems in collecting evidence. The audit process and evidence problems reported indicate possible audit quality problems faced by audit firms in Bahraini environment when conducting external audits, indicating the need for future research on auditor–client relationships in emerging economies.

West African beliefs about mental illness.

Traditional West African beliefs about the cause and treatment of mental illnesses. To demonstrate how learning about West Africa's cultural beliefs allowed the instructor to teach psychiatric nursing in a way that integrated, rather than dismantled, the students' cultural beliefs. Content analysis of West African students' written assignments. Psychiatric/mental health nurses must understand the client's culture in order to understand the client.

Culturally responsive caring in occupational therapy

The present study examined how practitioners conceptualized culture and used their understanding of a client's culture to provide culturally responsive caring. Descriptions of practice were elicited from experienced practitioners serving culturally diverse clients. Twelve practitioners completed a written questionnaire and participated in a telephone interview. Half of these same participants also participated in a follow-up interview, which was confirmatory in nature. Grounded theory methodologies were used to identify and conceptualize key processes inherent in these practitioners' descriptions of providing culturally competent care. Practitioners' perceptions of providing culturally responsive care were categorized into five interrelated constructs: building cultural awareness; generating cultural knowledge; applying cultural skills; engaging culturally diverse others; and exploring multiculturalism. One environmental construct, the diversity context was also defined in the data. Culturally responsive caring is described as a process of actively developing a synergistic relationship grounded in mutuality and an intentional respect for a person's cultures. The findings add to the discourse on cultural competency in occupational therapy and may help to examine conceptual models of cultural competency for the profession. Possible implications for culturally responsive professional development, education, practice and research are presented.

Stakeholders' Perspectives on the Recommendations of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

Stakeholders' Perspectives on the Recommendations of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

Incorporating 12-Step Group Attendance in Addictions Courses: A Cross-Cultural Experience

ABSTRACT The development of cultural competency skills is important for a clinician in any cross-cultural setting where a working knowledge of the client's culture is important to the delivery of services. This paper suggests that incorporating attendance at Twelve Step recovery programs may begin to facilitate cultural competency for students, or at the very least provide exposure to the culture through a cross-cultural experience. From the perspective of cultural competency, an understanding of the culture of Twelve Step groups is important to any clinician working with clients who may be referred to, and/or are members of a Twelve Step group. This article defines cultural competency, applies this to the culture that has developed around Twelve Step groups, and provides a model of integrating Twelve Step meeting attendance into addictions coursework as a mechanism for development of cultural responsiveness with addicted clients.

Applying a Cultural Competency Framework to Twelve Step Programs

It is important for clinicians to develop cultural competency skills in any cross-cultural setting where a working knowledge of the client's culture is important to the delivery of services. Twelve Step recovery programs represent a distinct culture, where members have developed their own set of norms, behaviors and even language. An understanding of this culture is important to any clinician working with clients who may be referred to and/or are members of a Twelve Step group. This article defines cultural competency, applies this to the culture that has developed around Twelve Step groups, and provides information to familiarize clinicians to these cultural norms.

A multidimensional conceptual framework for understanding HIV/AIDS as a chronic long-term illness.

New treatment advances have radically altered the course of HIV illness and created new challenges for HIV-affected individuals, families, and communities. This article provides a conceptual framework for understanding HIV in the multiple contexts of the client's culture, strengths, life course, and biomedical progression. The article concludes with a discussion of HIV prevention and treatment adherence as key focal points for social workers and their clients.

Sunrise model and the sensitive reason in nursing

This study stems from an assistance and investigation practice on how to offer nursing care based on sensitive reason, compatible with the client's culture, as well as with his/her familial links. We have tried to apprehend the meaning they confer to nurses, to the health-disease process, and to home nursing. The Sun Rising Model was used in order to report the elements emerging over the nursing care periods. Later, a Sun Rising model in post-modern times was drawn, whose culture expressed through beliefs, practices, and habits favored a patient-nurse interaction. Finally, the presentation of the elements emerging form this practice comprises both transcultural theory and sensitive reason at the same time.

Transcultural Differentiation: A Model For Therapy With Ethno‐culturally Diverse Families

This article evolved out of the writer's experience of being an immigrant, a systemic thinker, and a therapist involved in working with individuals and families from many different cultures. It proposes a model of ‘transcultural differentiation’, drawing on Western notions of separation‐individuation (Mahler) and differentiation of self (Bowen), but arguing that these concepts may have equivalents within non‐Western philosophies (e.g. Indian cultural beliefs). The model suggests that families co‐existing with both a culture of origin and an adoptive culture must inevitably change, and that in this process, they necessarily evolve into entities which transcend both culture of origin and adoptive culture. Implications for therapy are explored; in particular, it is argued that the therapist's awareness of, and sensitivity to, the transcultural experience may be more crucial than whether or not she/he shares the client's culture of origin.

Cultural assessment in home healthcare.

As the nurse becomes adept at performing cultural assessments and culturally competent care, it will become clear that "although it is critical to conduct a cultural assessment with culturally and ethnically diverse groups, it is also important to realize that every client needs a cultural assessment. Every client has values, beliefs, and practices that must be considered when a clinician renders healthcare services. Therefore, cultural assessments are not limited to specific ethnic groups, but rather should be conducted on each individual" (Campinha-Bacote, 1995, p.148). Nurses who have been identified as good transcultural nurses have been found to be empathetic, caring, open, and flexible. They have a positive attitude toward cultural differences and have a genuine interest in learning from the client about the client's culture (Emerson, 1995). Talabere (1996) states that openness, appreciation of another's perspective, holistic communication, genuine interest, and a nonjudgmental attitude are central to cultural sensitivity. When a culturally sensitive nurse develops mutually agreeable goals with a patient from another culture, a kind of cultural synergy occurs, resulting in care that is "meaningful, satisfying and beneficial to clients" (Leininger, 1988, p.155).

Multicultural Perspectives on Counseling Survivors of Rape

The dominant Euro-American culture is a rape-prone culture, as defined by Sanday. Within that culture, rape is both a tool and a consequence of interlocking systems of oppression based on race, ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation. The impact of rape on an individual survivor can only be fully understood in the context of the survivor's own culture, religious beliefs, and experience as an immigrant or refugee. Issues of race, culture, class, and sexual orientation influence every step in the counseling of a rape survivor. Knowledge about the client's culture is essential if accurate assessment and culturally appropriate service are to be provided. Specific examples of the impact of these issues are presented. Ways in which the cultural values implicit in the crisis counseling model may conflict with the client's values and needs are examined.

Cultural Accessibility of Services for Culturally Diverse Clients with Disabilities and their Families

The following paper describes the dilemma faced by many professionals in special education and rehabilitation when serving clients and their families who come from culturally diverse populations. Understanding both the service delivery system's culture and the client's culture can provide the professional with insight into how better to deliver culturally sensitive intervention. Strategies for providing cultural accessibility of services to clients are provided.