ch 11 Flashcards
culturally competent assessment
to reduce error, a mental health professional must be aware of potential biases that can affect clinical judgement, including…
the influence of stereotypes and implicit bias
stereotypes
generalizations based on limited or inaccurate information
implicit bias
subconscious negative racial or diversity attitudes that are activated spontaneously
how to consider broad background factors..
- operate from the awareness that an understanding of and openness toward our clients beliefs, expectations, and experiences is an essential aspect of the assessment and case conceptualization process
culturally responsive assessment
occurs through a combination of evidence based guidelines for assessment and a cultural competency framework
areas that have received minimal coverage in our current diagnostic system
the impact of therapist variables on assessment and diagnosis, emphasizing the dangers of stereotyping
ways in which culturally competent practices can reduce diagnostic errors
contextual and collaborative assessment
ideas for infusing cultural competence into standard intake and assessment procedures
assessment is a two-way street
influenced by both client and therapist variables
common diagnostic errors
confirmatory strategy
attribution error
judgmental heuristics
diagnostic overshadowing
implicit bias
confirmatory strategy
searching for evidence or information that supports ones hypothesis and ignoring data that are inconsistent with this perspective
attribution error
placing an undue emphasis on internal causes regarding a clients problem
EX: therapist might interpret a problem as stemming from a personal characteristic of client rather than considering environmental/sociocultural explanations (poverty, oppression, etc.)
judgmental heuristics
commonly used quick decision rules
they short-circuit our ability to engage in self-correction
diagnostic overshadowing
providing inadequate treatment of the clients problem because ones attention is diverted to a more prominent characteristic
implicit bias
therapists with this may unintentionally communicate differently either physically or verbally with diverse populations
culturally relevant self-assessment
can minimize the dangers of stereotyping or of placing inordinate weight on race or other diversity issues
cultural knowledge
involves the awareness of different worldviews
can help with understanding family patterns in different ethnic backgrounds
cultural responsiveness
requires that counselors effectively apply a variety of helping skills when forming a therapeutic alliance
it is important to individualize the choice of helping skills and avoid a blind application of techniques to all situations and all populations
what helps prevent stereotyping?
an awareness of ones values and biases
appropriate use of cultural knowledge
the value of understanding the unique background and experience of each client
an important first step in reducing errors in multicultural assessment
self-awareness
collaborative approach
clients are given the opportunities to share their beliefs, perspectives, and expectations, as well as their explanations of problems
what to emphasize when assessing and diagnosing
a collaborative approach and the contextual viewpoint
contextual viewpoint
acknowledges that both the client and therapist are embedded in systems such as family, work, and culture
collaborative conceptualization steps
- use both clinical skill and client perspective to understand the problem
- collaborate and jointly define the problem
- jointly formulate a hypothesis regarding the cause of the problem
- jointly develop ways to confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis on the problem, continuing to consider alternative hypotheses
- test out the hypothesis using both the client and the therapist as evaluators
- if the conceptualization appears to be valid, develop a treatment plan
- if the hypothesis is not borne out, jointly collect additional data and formulate new, testable hypothesis
intervention strategies should incorporate…
facilitation qualities possessed by therapists, client characteristics, and research-based therapeutic techniques
not rigid, but modified accordingly
the cultural formulation interview (CFI) includes…
an overall cultural assessment that takes into account the cultural identify of the individual and cultural differences between the individual and the clinician
inquiries found in standard diagnostic evaluations
identifying information
presenting problem
history of the presenting problem
psychosocial history
abuse and trauma history
strengths
medical history
substance abuse history
risk of harm to self or others
