Multicultural and communication competency

Read the articles “Applications in Social Justice Counselor Training: Classroom Without Walls” and “The Multicultural Workplace: Interactive Acculturation and Intergroup Relations” and review the APA Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations prior to considering the following scenario.

You are a psychologist in an urban community that has seen a 200% growth in its immigrant population over the past 3 years. Eighty-seven percent of this population speaks a language other than English at home. You work for a community mental health center, which is seeing an increase in referral from this population primarily because of the children’s interactions with the school system. The children typically become bilingual quickly. The parents are typically less fluent in English than their children; however, approximately 30% of the adults in this immigrant population are fluent in English and hold advanced degrees and middle- to upper- middle class jobs. The remaining 70% primarily hold jobs that do not require higher education although many do have degrees from their country of origin.

Based on the reading, evaluate research and practice aspects in this applied context and use elements from previous learning in your program to address the following:

What types of staffing and training recommendations would you make for the community mental health center?
How would you facilitate intergroup work relations among staff at the community mental health center?
Would you support the use of the DSM-5 to diagnose clients with limited English proficiency?
How would you evaluate whether or not your staff is competent to work with this population?
Explain the rationales for your answers by providing evidence from the required readings.

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Read the “Numbers Can be Worth a Thousand Pictures: Individual Differences in Understanding Graphical and Numerical Representations of Health-Related Information” article prior to answering. Informed decision making in the mental health and medical professions requires the ability to understand and effectively communicate statistical information. For this discussion, address the following in your post:

Select one mental health disorder of your choice based on a valid diagnostic category in the DSM-5.
Research the disorder and locate relevant statistics obtained within the past 7 years regarding overall prevalence, gender and age differences, and treatment options.
Present this information in the discussion forum in two formats: Format 1 for individuals with high graph literacy; Format 2: for individuals with low graphic literacy but high numerical literacy. Information regarding each of these two formats is discussed in the assigned article.
Be sure to include your references in your discussion post, that are formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Recommended resources

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Articles
Bemak, F. & Chung, R.C-Y. (2011). Applications in social justice counselor training: Classroom without walls. The
Journal of Humanistic Counseling, 50(2), 204-219. Retrieved from the ProQuest database.
The authors of this article provide an overview of the “classroom without walls concept” to promote social justice in counseling and advocacy training in graduate counseling programs. The classroom without walls activities offer a means for counselor and psychology trainees to learn how to move from application to practice and apply the principles of equity, fairness, and access in their future work.
Gaissmaier, W., Wegwarth, O., Skopec, D., Müller, A.-S., Broschinski, S., & Politi, M. C. (2012). Numbers can be worth a thousand pictures: Individual differences in understanding graphical and numerical representations of health-related information. Health Psychology, 31(3), 286-296. doi:10.1037/a0024850. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database.
This article investigates ways to improve the understanding of conveying health-related statistical information with graphical representations compared with numerical representations
Johnson, R. (2013). Forensic and Culturally Responsive Approach for the DSM-5: Just the FACTS. Journal of Theory Construction & Testing, 17(1), 18-22. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database.
This article argues that the DSM-5 can be an effective assessment tool in clinical case conceptualization with diverse ethno-racial populations when used by culturally competent professionals as a part of a multi-method diagnostic assessment of individuals and families.
Oerlemans, W.G.M., & Peeters, M.C.W. (2010). The multicultural workplace: Interactive acculturation and intergroup relations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25(5), 460-478. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02683941011048373. Retrieved from the ProQuest database.
This study demonstrated that intergroup contact can facilitate intergroup work-relations. The relationships between cultural diversity in organizations and work-outcomes are complex and best understood when focusing on “deep-level” aspects of cultural diversity in addition to “surface level” aspects.
Websites
American Psychological Society. (2013). Guidelines for providers of psychological services to ethnic, linguistic, and culturally diverse populations. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/policy/provider-guidelines.aspx

This website provides the American Psychological Association Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations.

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