Summary: <p>Improving Cultural Competence<br> Working with Asian People<br> Instructor: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes, PhD<br> Executive Director: AllCEUs.com, Counselor Education and Training<br> Podcast Host: Counselor Toolbox & Happiness Isn’t Brain Surgery</p> <p>Objectives<br> ~ Learn about Asian cultures, traditions and values as they relate to mental health<br> ~ Learn about communication styles to help the counselor more effectively communicate with culturally different clients<br> ~ Explore health disparities<br> ~ Explore appropriate approaches to counseling<br> General Information<br> ~ Asian Americans have a 17.30 percent overall lifetime rate of any psychiatric disorder and a 9.19 percent 12-month rate, yet Asian Americans are three times less likely to seek mental health services than Whites<br> ~ Cultural factors, such as language, age, gender, and others, can influence the mental health of Asians, particularly immigrants<br> ~ Asians place great value on the family as a unit. Each individual has a clearly defined role and position in the family hierarchy and is expected to function within that role, submitting to the larger needs of the family.<br> ~ Social stigma, shame, and saving face often prevent Asians from seeking behavioral health care<br> ~ Asian patients are likely to express psychological distress as physical complaints</p> <p>General cont…<br> ~ Language Knowledge of English is one of the most important factors influencing access to care.<br> ~ Level of acculturation Typically, it takes three generations for immigrants to fully adopt the lifestyle of the dominant culture.<br> ~ Age In general, the younger people are when they migrate, the more readily they adapt<br> ~ Gender Historically, men have acculturated more rapidly than women<br> ~ Occupational Issues: Sometimes, women earn more than men, thereby disrupting family expectations and traditional values</p> <p>Religion and Spirituality<br> ~ Christianity<br> ~ Muslim<br> ~ Buddhism which promotes spiritual understanding of disease causation<br> ~ Confucianism, an ethical belief system that stresses respect for authority, filial piety, justice, benevolence, fidelity, scholarship, and self-development<br> ~ Taoism, which is the basis for yin and yang theory<br> ~ Animism, which is the belief that human beings, animals, and inanimate objects possess souls and spirits.<br> Beliefs About Mental Health<br> ~ Traditional beliefs about mental health:<br> ~ Mental illnesses are caused by a lack of harmony of emotions or by evil spirits.<br> ~ Mental wellness occurs when psychological and physiologic functions are integrated.<br> ~ Buddhist belief that problems in this life are most likely related to transgressions committed in a past life.<br> ~ In addition, our previous life and our future life are as much a part of the life cycle as our present life.<br> Traditional Beliefs<br> Beliefs About Health<br> ~ Health is seen as a state of balance between the physical, social, and super-natural environment<br> ~ The Eastern approach assumes that the body is whole, and each part of it is intimately connected. Each organ has a mental as well as a physical function.<br> ~ Heart, lungs, spleen, liver, kidney are Yin organs<br> ~ Large intestine, gall bladder, bladder and stomach are Yang organs<br> ~ Think about how the symptoms of the Western diagnoses of depression and anxiety are physiologically manifested<br> ~ TKM emphasizes specific characteristics of the individual who suffered from the disease, rather than single symptom as is common in TCM Historical difference between traditional Korean medicine and traditional Chinese medicine</p> <p>Traditional Asian Health Beliefs and Healing Practices</p> <p>Beliefs cont…<br> ~ Uncertainty is inherent in life and each day is taken as it comes.<br> ~ A fatalistic attitude about sickness (belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable</p>
