Cross Cultural Issues

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Cross Cultural Issues

As Canada continues to become more and more diverse in terms of gender identity, ethnicity, sexuality, socioeconomic backgrounds and race, we must adapt a more effective way of supporting its population.

Multicultural counseling seeks to further understand how identity and cultural issues impact and individuals mental health and how factors can influence relationship with counseling itself.

What is Multicultural Counseling?

We use the term “multicultural counseling” to help describe a type of counseling practice that validates how various aspects of cultural identity may influence an individuals mental health. Quite a few factors can include issues of race, immigration status, ethnicity, religion, gender identity and socioeconomic background.

Here at Clayton Counseling, we place an emphasis on the fact that individuals are not all the same and that their personal background – their ethnicity, cultural context and their race, is an important part of who they are. We use all these factors as part of the assessment process for treatment.

Those who embrace tenets of multicultural counseling, understand and acknowledge how these factors might influence the individual. They will also seek to understand how various cultures and groups approach mental health and any counseling issues to tailor treatment plans to these realities more effectively.

Why is Multicultural Counseling Important?

Our Multicultural counseling service is extremely important as we live in a diverse society that is becoming more and more diverse as time passes. As more people from various backgrounds seek treatment, our Counselors need to be able to take a holistic approach in understanding, acknowledging, and addressing their needs.

Our Counselors understand that people from various cultural backgrounds often have different lived realities. These differences influence mental health issues some people experience but also their perception and relationship to counseling.

Most of us view the approach to counseling from the lens of a socioeconomic background, views from an ethnic standpoint or cultural backdrop. When a group has assigned a negative connotation to the idea of mental health counseling, that belief can lead to a reluctance to seek out help, which can inhibit effective treatment.

Is some regions of the world, there is a strong emphasis placed on gender roles. In males, this is usually characterized by the term "machismo”, which refers to a form of strong, often aggressive masculinity. Unfortunately, this concept can cause someone from that background to avoid or forego counseling, even at the point of necessity which may be seen as a point of weakness. The same belief may also cause intimacy issues, depression or even relationship troubles.

Quite a few studies have clearly demonstrated that Canadians have less access to mental health services than those who live in high-income regions. Its also been clearly demonstrated that African Canadians are less likely than white Canadians to seek mental health services, even when they believe that such services are effective.

As you can see, several potential reasons exist regarding the mentioned disparities, and affordability and access receive much of the discourse around the subjects. As mental health professionals, we seek to understand cultural issues which also play a role in making someone more or less likely to seek help.

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