Cultural autobiography
Professional Context
Sue and Sue (2016) observed that each of us is “born into a cultural matrix of beliefs, values, rules, and social practices” and that this has a “powerful influence” over our views of self and others (p. 50). One aspect of building awareness of our own worldviews is to consider our group memberships and personal identity development. This is essential so that we may approach counseling or therapy with an awareness of our own worldviews so that we do not impose them on clients, and likewise practice with an appreciation for our clients’ worldviews and how those may exert a powerful influence on their views of mental health and help-seeking.
Scenario
While working through your internship at the Riverbend City clinic, you are also enrolled in a classroom experience as part of your internship requirement. Your program strives to deliver excellent training and has embraced a real commitment to preparing students for effective and ethical work with diverse populations. As such, the subject of cultural competence is infused throughout the curriculum. Your internship course is no exception, hence you find that you have been assigned to write your own cultural autobiography as a way of bringing greater awareness to your worldview and how that may impact your counseling or therapy relationships and the counseling or therapy process. In your scenario your world view is Locus of control goes in hand with internal locus of responsibility. The client believes that their actions affect what happens. Therefore, the client is responsible for their actions by how they attribute to society or in their life. you relate to this framework because you always work hard and your actions reflect your work ethic. Prove this in your assignment has you expressing the commitment and cultural competence.
Reference
Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2016). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Assignment Instructions
Based on the data you gather from interviewing a family members and members of a group (who share your cultural heritage), peer-reviewed articles, your assigned readings, and personal reflections write a cultural autobiography that reflects on concepts such as acculturation, personal identity development, and the impacts of identity and culture have on professional practice.
In your autobiography, make sure you address the following:
- Describe how your cultural heritage, including spiritual or religious traditions, and your family’s experience with acculturation have contributed to your family’s and your worldview.
- Explain which groups or aspects of your cultural heritage and your spiritual or religious orientation have been most salient to your personal identity development.
- Explain how experiences of privilege and discrimination for you or your family, based on your cultural heritage and spiritual or religious orientation have contributed to your family’s and your perspectives on seeking professional help.
- Assess how your cultural heritage and spiritual or religious orientation will present opportunities or challenges for you in applying Multicultural Counseling and Therapy with diverse populations.
- Communicate reflections related to cultural heritage and personal identity as they apply and impact personal practice using field appropriate language and writing mechanics acceptable for professional counseling or therapy settings.
- Integrate relevant sources and personal communications to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style.
Submission Requirements
Your paper should meet the following requirements:
- Written communication: Written communication must be grammatically correct and free of errors that detract from the overall message. Writing should be consistent with the graduate-level scholarship.
- Note: Because this is an autobiography, this assignment may be written using the first person.
- APA format: Title page, main body, and references should be formatted according to the current APA style and formatting.
- Number of resources: 5
- Length of paper:4 typed double-spaced pages, not including the title page and reference page.
- Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
