Perspectives of Multicultural Values In a multicultural context, people should be able to recognise the complexity and distinction of cultures and value the diversity of beliefs and values. Diversity also includes individual differences such as age, gender, sexual orientation, religion and physical ability or disability. Multiculturalism refers to a term which indicates any relationship between and within two or more contrary groups whereas cultural diversity the term used to explains the spectrum of differences which presents among groups of people with definable and versatile cultural backgrounds. Through multicultural counselling one would be able to apply suitable approaches and defines goals consistent with the life experiences and cultural …show more content…
This helps in diversity-sensitive counselling which introduces the concept that includes age, culture, disability, education level, ethnicity, gender, language, physique, race, religion, residential location, sexual orientation, socioeconomic situation and trauma (Corey et al., 2010). From this perspective, practising counsellors should be able to be multiculturally competent professionals in order to recognise their practices as ethical. In order to provide proper aid American Psychological Association has established specific guidelines in 2003 Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists (APA, 2003). Besides from being an ethical reference, these guidelines are also published to aid psychologists to increase their knowledge and skills in multicultural education, training, research, practice and organisational …show more content…
There are guidelines of six core standards that are published by American Psychological Association (APA). These guidelines may create opportunities to demonstrate adherence to professional values that will help them optimize their contributions and work effectively even with those who do not share their heritage and traditions voluntarily. The six core guidelines of Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists (APA, 2003) can be implemented in the multicultural context of Malaysia through various practices. The following are the guidelines introduced by APA and the ways to apply in the multicultural context of Malaysia: (a) Commitment to Cultural Awareness and Knowledge of Self and Others Guideline 1: Psychologists are encouraged to recognise that, as cultural beings, they may hold attitudes and beliefs that can detrimentally influence their perceptions of and interactions with individuals who are ethnically and racially different from themselves. Guideline 2: Psychologists are encouraged to recognise the importance of multicultural sensitivity/responsiveness to, knowledge of, and understanding ethnically and racially different