Cultural Competency In Therapy

Cultural competency in therapy is an expansion of the therapist’s knowledge and ability to adapt interventions to meet each client’s individuality (Sue et al., 2009). Cultural awareness is an ethical commitment made by therapists to be sensitive to a client’s unique set of values (Cultural Factors and Therapy | Introduction to Psychology, n.d.). Having knowledge of a client’s culture, worldview and expectations serves to inform and support the counseling relationship and alliance (Sue et al., 2009).

Studies have shown that therapy in your first language can often be very helpful when accessing painful memories due to a client’s cultural cues being understood and integrated into the treatment (Schwensen, 2019). Nuances might not be fully expressed in a client’s second language and may even become lost in translation (Schwensen, 2019). Bilingual counsellors can minimize the loss of these missing nuances and the possible emotional implications for the client (Schwensen, 2019). A bilingual therapist will be uniquely able to move between cultural perspectives with clients from diverse cultural backgrounds (Sue et al., 2009).

Vaughan Counselling & Psychotherapy is a multilingual psychotherapy and counselling clinic offering therapy in Bengali, Hindi, Russian, Spanish, Hungarian, German, Korean, French and many more languages, to bridge in therapy what might be lost in translation and support you better with your emotional journey (Sue et al., 2009).

Studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can successfully incorporate cultural adaptations into the modality (Cultural Factors and Therapy | Introduction to Psychology, n.d.). Adaptations can include changes such as, the language used to describe techniques, or with an inclusion of culturally specific content (Cultural Factors and Therapy | Introduction to Psychology, n.d.). Culturally adapted and tailored interventions have been found to provide significant benefits to clients, leading to more positive outcomes (Cultural Factors and Therapy | Introduction to Psychology, n.d.). Multicultural counseling and therapy aim to use modalities and define goals consistent with the life experiences of every client (Cultural Factors and Therapy | Introduction to Psychology, n.d.)

Some of our multi-lingual registered psychotherapists at Vaughan Counselling & Psychotherapy that offer CBT include Lolita who is fluent in Russian and Samuele who is fluent in Italian. When choosing a therapist our intake staff can help you consider the right choice of therapist for you. Our team will help you in a free phone consultation to find the right counsellor for you, who speaks your language.

Call our team on Tel: 647-267-9853.

References

Cultural Factors and Therapy | Introduction to Psychology. (n.d.). Courses.lumenlearning.com. Retrieved May 7, 2024. https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/language

Schwensen, J. K. (2019, March 21). Why should I do therapy in my native language? It’s Complicated. https://complicated.life/blog/language-and-therapy/

Sue, S., Zane, N., Nagayama Hall, G. C., & Berger, L. K. (2009). The case for cultural competency in psychotherapeutic interventions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60(1), 525–548. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163651