week of oct. 21

I thought this article did a great job acknowledging how important it is as counselors to be aware of other cultures. Many times we allow our own cultural views to get in the way when working with someone who has a differing culture or perspective from our own. Multicultural competence is important for counselors and must not be overlooked. I found it somewhat surprising that these interventions have not yet been tested or have any statistical data with multicultural groups. The interventions proposed appear to be great ideas that would be beneficial in a career counseling environment. The model presented really places the work on the counselor to have that metacognitive awareness when working with different groups. Personally I can see it being a challenge working with unfamiliar groups. I think we sometimes forget how powerful our words are to people as counselors. They put their trust in us expecting great results based on what we say. If we do not consider their cultural beliefs we may steer them in the wrong direction even though we see ourselves as doing good. When reading chapter 5 I had never really thought about verbal styles of different cultural groups. I think as it counselor it would be somewhat overwhelming to try and remember each cultures style especially when you do not encounter certain cultures on a regular basis. I do believe that using a values based theory amongst the different cultures is the best way to go. Many people make decisions based on their values and beliefs which would only be sensible to implement and use with multicultural clients.

In regards to the chapter on ethics, I found it interesting that advocacy was added as seventh principle. As counselors we act as cheerleaders for clients, but sometimes it is necessary to act on behalf of our client’s in order for them to realize their goals. I also never knew the process and steps needed to become a certified career counselor. I would have assumed that career counseling would entail much of the same process as becoming a school counselor but the process is a bit more than that. Ultimately the chapter was an eye opener as to how important the ethical guidelines are and how we must familiarize ourselves with them.

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed). New York : Pearson Education, Inc.

Byars-Winston, A. M., & Fouad, N. A. (2006). Metacognition and Multicultural Competence: Expanding the Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling Model. Career Development Quarterly, 54(3), 187-201.