Counseling the Culturally Diverse. Laura Smith L.
is compounded by the knowledge that continued inaction on one's part allows for the perpetuation of racism in oneself and others. Thus, taking action is a means to alleviate feelings of guilt. The emotions of helplessness and hopelessness make themselves felt in two different arenas: one is internal (personal change) and the other is external (system change). In becoming aware of their racial/cultural identity, for example, White students at this juncture of development may begin to ask two primary questions.
First, “How does one change?” What needs to be changed? How does one become a nonracist or an unbiased person? How does one break the shackles of social conditioning that have taught one that some groups are more worthy than others, and that other groups are less worthy? Many trainees often make these comments: “I don't know where to begin.” “If I am not aware of my racism, how do I become aware of it?” “Tell me what I must do to rid myself of these prejudices.” “Should I attend more workshops?” “I feel so confused, helpless, impotent, and paralyzed.”
Second, “What must I do to eradicate racism in the broader society?” While self‐change requires becoming a nonracist person, societal change requires becoming an antiracist one. Affecting an ethnocentric mental health delivery system falls into this category. This role means becoming an advocate and actively intervening when injustice makes its presence felt at the individual level (for example, objecting to a racist joke or confronting friends, neighbors, or colleagues about their prejudices) and at the institutional level (for example, opposing biased mental health practices, supporting civil rights issues, making sure a multicultural curriculum is being taught in schools, or openly supporting social justice groups).
The helplessness that is felt by White students in diversity studies, unless adequately deconstructed, can easily provide an excuse or rationalization for inaction. “What good would it do?” “I'm only one person, how can I make any difference?” “The problem is so big, whatever I do will only be a drop in the bucket.” Feeling helpless and hopeless is legitimate unless it is used as an excuse to escape responsibility for taking any form of action. Helplessness is modifiable when students are provided options and strategies that can be used to increase their awareness and personal growth, and when they are provided with the tools to dismantle racism in our society. Hopefully, this course and the readings will provide you with suggestions of where to begin, especially in mental health practice.
Hopelessness is a feeling of despair and of giving up, a self‐belief that no action will matter and no solution will work. Helplessness and hopelessness associated with the need for change and action can be paralytic. The excuse for inaction, and thus the avoidance of racial exploration, resides not simply in not knowing what to do, but in some very basic fears eloquently expressed by Tatum (2002).
Fear is a powerful emotion, one that immobilizes, traps words in our throats, and stills our tongues. Like a deer on the highway, frozen in the panic induced by the lights of an oncoming car, when we are afraid it seems that we cannot think, we cannot speak, we cannot move … What do we fear? Isolation from friends and family, ostracism for speaking of things that generate discomfort, rejection by those who may be offended by what we have to say, the loss of privilege or status for speaking in support of those who have been marginalized by society, physical harm caused by the irrational wrath of those who disagree with your stance? (pp. 115–116)
In other words, helplessness and hopelessness are emotions that can provide cover for not taking action. They allow many of us to not change for fear that our actions will result in the negative consequences previously outlined. Becoming a multiculturally competent counselor or therapist requires change.
CULTURAL COMPETENCE AND EMOTIONS
There are many other powerful emotions often experienced by students during the journey to developing cultural competence. They include sadness, disappointment, humiliation, blame, invalidation, and so on. These feelings, along with those already discussed, can make their appearance in dialogues on multiculturalism or diversity.
The unpleasantness of some emotions and their potentially disturbing meanings makes for avoidance of honest multicultural dialogues and hence a blockage of the learning process. Rather than seeing emotions as a hindrance and barrier to mutual understanding, and rather than shutting them down, allowing them to bubble to the surface actually frees the mind and body to achieve understanding and insight. The cathartic relationship between memories, fears, stereotypic images, and the emotional release of feelings is captured in the following passage, which describes the racial awakening of Reese, a White male social justice advocate.
I remember when I was first introduced to [intergroup dialogue] … I thought it was the most bullshit pedagogy … And, I fought it so hard … I don't know why I would ever sign up for another course … I really thought it was stupid … [L]ike the taking in a circle with the whole dialogue pedagogy was a huge hang‐up … [Later, reading about Friere] was a really important moment in my life when I think about development. (Ford, 2017, p. 124)
Years after his work as an intergroup dialogue facilitator, Reese reflected that the experience had a “big impact” on his development and influenced his “perspectives.” He also recognized that his journey was influenced by his varying levels of racial awareness as a White male along the way.
We are aware that the content of this chapter has probably already pushed hot emotional buttons in many of you. For trainees in the dominant group, we ask the following questions: Are you willing to look at yourself, to examine your assumptions, your attitudes, your conscious and unconscious behaviors, the privileges you enjoy as a dominant group member, and how you may have unintentionally treated others in less than a respectful manner? For socially marginalized group members, we ask whether you are willing to confront your own biases and prejudices toward dominant group members, be honest in acknowledging your own biases toward other socially devalued group members, and work to build bridges of mutual understanding and respect for all groups.
Trainees who bravely undertake the journey to developing cultural competence and cultural humility eventually realize that change is a lifelong process, and that it does not simply occur in a workshop, classroom, or singular event. It is a monumental task, but the rewards are many when we are successful. A whole body of literature supports the belief that encountering diverse points of view, being able to engage in honest diversity conversations, and successfully acknowledging and integrating differing perspectives lead to an expansion of critical consciousness (Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002; Jayakumar, 2008). On a cognitive level, many have observed that cross‐racial interactions and dialogues, for example, are necessary to increase racial literacy, expand the ability to critically analyze racial ideologies, and dispel stereotypes and misinformation about other groups (Bolgatz, 2005; Ford, 2012; Pollock, 2004; Stevens, Plaut, & Sanchez‐Burks, 2008). On an emotional level, trainees of successful diversity training report less intimidation and fear of differences, an increased compassion for others, a broadening of their horizons, appreciation of people of all colors and cultures, and a greater sense of belonging and connectedness with all groups (American Psychological Association, 2017; APA Presidential Task Force, 2012; Bell, 2002; President's Initiative on Race, 1999; Sue, 2003).
In closing, we implore you not to allow your initial negative feelings to interfere with your ultimate aim of learning from this text as you journey toward cultural competence. Sad to say, this empathic ability is blocked when readers react with defensiveness and anger upon hearing the life stories of those most disempowered in our society. We have always believed that our worth as human beings is derived from the collective relationships we hold with all people; that we are people of emotions, intuitions, and spirituality; and that the lifeblood of people can be understood only through lived realities. Although we believe strongly in the value of science and the importance psychology places on empiricism, CCD is based on the premise that a profession that fails to recognize the heart and soul of the human condition is a discipline that is spiritually and emotionally