Cultural Sensitivity and Awareness

When treating a child or adolescent, one should be keenly aware of his or her cultural
background, as this is a critical factor in truly understanding the child or adolescent. Cultural
understanding is important for a multitude of reasons. Culture assists in shaping one’s
personal, familial, and social views and perception of the world and how it works.
Understanding various cultures helps a professional clearly understand how people might
interpret their own environments. This understanding of other cultures generates a better
clinical picture of children and adolescents, and it ultimately enables a professional to
develop a more involved relationship with the child or adolescent.

While it is important for a professional to be aware of the cultural background of the child or
adolescent, a vital piece is cultural competence with one’s own cultural beliefs. It is
imperative for one to be aware of one’s own culture in order to recognize that people from
other cultures may not share the same beliefs.

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The professional will work on developing a sense of acceptance, removing any
prejudgments or biases the child or adolescent may have about a certain culture. The
professional will also work to educate the client’s family members through providing
educational resources, ensuring any prejudgments they might have toward a specific culture
are debunked.

When professionals provide therapeutic services in a culturally competent way, therapeutic
interventions that serve diverse clients can be appropriately developed and utilized in a
multitude of environments. As a professional working with children and adolescents, the core
fundamentals of empathy, warmth, and acceptance of other cultures should be genuine. To
achieve cultural competence, a professional must have a sense of compassion and
respect for people who are culturally different. A professional must be aware of cultural
behaviors that are congruent with cultural competence. This person must present with an
attitudinal set of behavioral and moral responsibilities to practice cultural competence and
instill cultural understanding and respect in the child or adolescent. If a person can present
in a manner that is warm, empathetic, and genuine, this will yield a culturally competent
attitude. The professional can educate and instill these values, which would, in turn, allow
the child or adolescent to display culturally congruent behaviors.