Cultural Competence And Self-Awareness Analysis

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Culture is characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Self -awareness is defined as conscious knowledge of one's own character, feelings, motives, and desires and when you put these two together, it is being conscious of your own culture and how it has shape our beliefs and values. Becoming aware of our own beliefs and values can affect our views on the world and other cultures. It is very important to be culturally competence when you step into the counseling field.
Cultural competence is the ability of professionals to function successfully with people from different cultural backgrounds including race, ethnicity, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental ability, age and national origin (Mirsky, 2013). Counselors should be aware of their culture background and experiences that can lead to attitudes and bias that can occur. I believe that continuing education and training experiences can be effective when working with culturally different populations. …show more content…

This involves awareness of one’s own biases or prejudices and is rooted in respect, validation and openness toward differences among people. Cultural knowledge is the knowledge of the client’s culture, worldview and expectations. Cultural skills are the ability to intervene in a manner that is culturally sensitive and relevant (Mirsky,