Explain the importance of multicultural awareness and cultural competency to the practice of clinical mental health counseling.

·         Assignment
·         Review Chapter 8 in the course text, Orientation to the Counseling Profession: Advocacy, Ethics, and Essential Professional Foundations, and focus on the importance of multicultural awareness.
·         Review Chapter 7 in the course text, Orientation to the Counseling Profession: Advocacy, Ethics, and Essential Professional Foundations, and select two different stages of human development that resonate with you the most. Think about how an understanding of each is vital to the practice of clinical mental health counseling.
·         Review the media. Think about the first time you realized you were “other.” Reflect on how this self-awareness impacted your cultural beliefs.
·         Take the multicultural self-assessment in the book excerpt, “Supporting Diversity With Faculty Learning Communities: Teaching and Learning Across Boundaries.”
·         Reflect on your cultural beliefs and your level of self-awareness. Think about any changes you plan to implement as a result of the self-assessment.
·         Review the “Examples: Statement of Counseling Identity” document provided in the Learning Resources.
·         Reflect on your own personal experiences, professional training and development, self-awareness, and your future as a clinical mental health counselor in preparation for writing your Statement of Counseling Identity.
·         Think about the importance of cultural awareness to the practice of clinical mental health counseling.
The journal entry (2-4 pages)
·         Briefly summarize the results of your multicultural self-assessment.
·         Briefly tell the story of the first time you realized you were “other.”
·         Explain your reaction(s) to both the self-assessment and your realization of being “other.”
·         Discuss how your developmental stage impacted your experience of “otherness”.
·         Explain what actions you plan to take as a result of the self-assessment.
·         Develop your own Statement of Counseling Identity.
·         Explain the importance of multicultural awareness and cultural competency to the practice of clinical mental health counseling.