Title: 10 Diversity Questions Counselors Ask | Wake Forest University
Headings: 10 Questions Counselors Could Ask about Culture
10 Questions Counselors Could Ask about Culture
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Statistical Overview
10 Questions to Ask a Client with a Diverse Cultural Background
How Culture Can Affect Counseling
Challenges and Resources for Counselors

Content: How Culture Can Affect Counseling
The counselor’s method of communicating is impacted by the varied ways that cultures communicate. Counselors should determine triggering terms as well as appropriate eye contact and gestures. Experienced counselors can identify whether depression comes from the difficulties of adjusting to a new culture or from another source. Counselors can then make suggestions to help the client acclimate and foresee other issues that may arise. For example, if a client was raised in a small tribal society, they may need advice for becoming accustomed to large crowds. Challenges and Resources for Counselors
When counselors work with clients from diverse backgrounds, they must navigate an array of challenges. Whether they’re overcoming personal prejudices or dealing with linguistic barriers, counselors must take any steps necessary to offer clients competent counseling services. Unfortunately, counselors must often handle challenges associated with understaffing and underfunding when counseling culturally diverse individuals. Counselors should also be aware of their own limitations and be able to work with culture brokers and consultants to avert incorrect assessments, diagnoses and treatments. Counselors can use the APA’s “Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations” to find advice for providing culturally sensitive counseling services.