Blog 8

           I really enjoyed the exercise we did in class on Wednesday because I will need to know how to navigate these websites when I am helping kids look into different career paths. O*NET was particularly helpful as it seemed to contain almost all of the information that we needed. I kept thinking about how an activity like this fits perfectly with some of the different counseling techniques. After I identify jobs or types of jobs my client wants to pursue, we can begin to work on the practical application of it.

Both of the chapters in Brown’s (2012) this week are very important for my future career as a school counselor. The connection that I made between the two of them is that they both require thought. “Do no harm” does not only include intentional harm to my clients. If I give advice that is not sensitive to the needs of my client, it could be destructive to his or her self-esteem or relationships. I also found the section on being advocates for our clients to be significant. This is even more important for a school counselor because I may be intervening in conflicts and am also a mandated reporter for my client.

            Being advocates also ties into the section on multicultural counseling. Minorities in the United States face discrimination and the problem will continue to persist unless people are standing up to it. By being advocates for our minority clients, we can hopefully eliminate problems that future clients that we work with may face. I also appreciated the information on specific minority groups. While every Hispanic is not the typical Hispanic, it is helpful to understand why the counseling process may be viewed different for this client. For example,  many Hispanics are group oriented so I could possibly have multiple family members that want to join a meeting about a child. If I tell an aunt that she is not allowed in the meeting, this may cause discomfort for the family if she is an integral part of the child’s life. By being thoughtful of what I say and who I am saying it to, I will demonstrate stronger ethics and appear more culturally competent.

            While I was expecting the Byars-Winston and Fouad (2006) article to be more specific about interventions to use with different ethnic minorities, I found the suggestion of using metacognition to be very useful. By being aware of my effectiveness, biases, and knowledge of different cultures, I can make sure that I am able to be sensitive to the needs of other clients. I appreciated that this article took the pressure off the culturally different clients and put it on the trained professional. This is a technique that cannot only be used for career counseling, but other counseling as well. It also relates to understanding what it means to be white for white therapists. White therapists need to understand their own racism in order to overcome it. Culturally sensitive counselors will be much more effective with culturally different clients. 

Brown, D. (2012).  Career information, career counseling, and career development

            (10^th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Byars-Winston, A. M. and Fouad, N. A. (2006). Metacognitiion and multicultural

awareness: Expanding the culturally appropriate career counseling model.

The Career Development Quarterly, 54, 187-201.