The culture that we live in today is extremely diverse. The diversity and cultures that flourish to today’s society gives credence to the long held belief that the United States is a “melting pot” of ethnic cultures (Wilson, 2014). Within the field of culturally skilled counselors one must be aware of their own culture and bias before they can acquaint themselves with other cultures. I am realizing that as much as I thought I knew about my own culture and others, I do not know as much as I believed. In order to be a culturally skilled counselor I would need to take an in depth look at myself, my beliefs, and my biases in order to better understand myself before I would be able to help someone else from my own culture or otherwise. I
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Textbook learning would only help me in informational knowledge, but not in gaining experience working with other cultures. I feel that I lack being immersed in cultures other than my own. I need a better understanding of worldviews from other cultures, especially smaller cultures. Another area that I need work on is nonverbal behaviors that are specific to cultures. Research has shown that the bulk of messages that occur in communication are conveyed nonverbally; thus the nonverbal channels are actually more important in understanding meaning and especially the emotional states of the speakers (Friedman, 1978; Matsumoto & Juang, 2013, p. 244). I need to train myself to be able to pick up on the nonverbal cues to better understand what the person is trying to convey, not just listening to their words. I have realized that in order to be a culturally skilled counselor you need to constantly keep up with knowledge from other cultures to better able yourself to understand their values and the best ways for assessment of your client. This field is very important with the diversity of America, but for me to work in this area I would need training and interning in the field to feel confident in being able to understand a culture well enough to help my
Textbook learning would only help me in informational knowledge, but not in gaining experience working with other cultures. I feel that I lack being immersed in cultures other than my own. I need a better understanding of worldviews from other cultures, especially smaller cultures. Another area that I need work on is nonverbal behaviors that are specific to cultures. Research has shown that the bulk of messages that occur in communication are conveyed nonverbally; thus the nonverbal channels are actually more important in understanding meaning and especially the emotional states of the speakers (Friedman, 1978; Matsumoto & Juang, 2013, p. 244). I need to train myself to be able to pick up on the nonverbal cues to better understand what the person is trying to convey, not just listening to their words. I have realized that in order to be a culturally skilled counselor you need to constantly keep up with knowledge from other cultures to better able yourself to understand their values and the best ways for assessment of your client. This field is very important with the diversity of America, but for me to work in this area I would need training and interning in the field to feel confident in being able to understand a culture well enough to help my