Cultural Fairness Essay

What is so important to the counselors who practice in a culturally competent fashion is that they   must adopt a broader perspective on culture. In a culturally pluralistic society they must totally understand that culture is more than just race or ethnicity.Given that elements of culture are present in all aspects of counseling, no matter who the patient is, counselors need to see the multiple dimensions of cultural identity presented by those they are striving to help. Counseling interventions must be predicated on the understanding that clients all experience the world on a number of different culturaldimensions that include not only race and ethnicity but gender,sexual orientation, religion, spirituality, and socioeconomic status. Like maintaining a connection to their culture of origin while adjusting to their new cultural environment. The attempt to achieve this balance is important to the developmental process for many immigrants and may need to be considered when helping within the crosscultural zone .Counselors also need to be aware of how issues of social class may affect the lives of clients. For example,the mentally paralizing effects of classism, a subject often taken forgranted in the counseling literature, may affect how some patients perceive the counseling process, particularly if that process is perceived by patients as representing the social values expressed in middle and upper-middle classsocioeconomic cultural realities. A counselor who is sensitive to a client’s or student’s experience of any form of oppression or discrimination must realize that culturally competent counseling is a tool for patient empowerment.