What is cultural competency? Cultural competence is not like a qualification for counsellors, where they can simply go to a training and say “I’m culturally competent. Moving on now.” With all of the individual differences a client can bring to the table, there will never be enough written about cultural competence which is meant to help. It is a never-ending element of self-development.
Well, cultural competence can be difficult to define. It is often divided into three core components: awareness, skills, and knowledge. Though, some counsellors and researchers also consider attitude to be a core component. If you want to test yourself on these core components, you can try this culturally competency test and see how well you do:
Each one of these components could have whole books written about them. Indeed, people have. So, this will just be a droplet in a vast ocean of texts about the topic, where I’ll focus only on cultural awareness because I believe that the best place to start is by reflecting on our own views, values and assumptions of the world around us.
Cultural awareness comes down to recognising aspects of one’s own culture and how they differ from those of other people. A bit vague, I must admit. Essentially, it’s about seeing how our ‘normal’ is not everyone’s normal. I recall a particularly embarrassing moment when I first came to England at a young age and met my new neighbour. As it is the custom greeting in Portugal, my instinct was to give two big kisses to the old woman, one on each cheek. The poor dear was absolutely bewildered and lost for words. I had to be told by mother “we don’t do that here.” Even after being in England for so many years, I am still sometimes surprised to learn things about the British ‘normal’, and I am sure I will continue to be.
Speaking of not making assumptions, let’s not assume that cultural awareness refers only to individuals from other countries. Culture is a very flexible term. Differences in daily living can vary across several traits and identifications of the individual:
· Culture
· Ethnicity
· Religion
· Gender
· Race
· Sexual orientation
· Gender reassignment
· Social class
Among many more! We are not expected to possess knowledge of all possible differences, but to be open about what experiences may have come from these differences.
I have sometimes talked with people who say: What does it matter recognising these differences? Why not just focus on how we’re similar rather than bring attention to what makes us different? These are fair questions to make. I would say that what often makes us feel the different, also makes us feel the loneliest.
I did my bachelor’s dissertation on the experiences of adapting to a new culture. My participants were international students and reported they struggled to adapt. They tended to look for people of similar cultures so that they felt at home. Some hadn’t met people of the same country and spent their time with other international students who were also lost due to being in a new country. It was not about talking with people of the same country; it was about talking with people who could understand your experience. Culture competence is a way of developing knowledge and empathy.
There is currently still some debate in whether practitioners should integrate culture in their practice, with some studies finding improvements, while others do not (read more on here: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/03/cultural-competence). Olive Tree Therapy Solutions puts a lot of focus and effort in understanding and promoting an empathetic understanding to these differences when helping individuals and groups. Cultural awareness, along with other elements of cultural competence, are essential when satisfying the needs of people and developing positive relationships.
If you would like to learn more about cultural awareness, I would recommend a great blog post by Alex Dobell at https://www.nurses.co.uk/blog/cultural-awareness-within-nursing/ There’s lots of information and a very engaging video alongside it. Cultural awareness is one of the many paths to develop healthy relationships.