Intro to Counseling Exam 2

Microaggressions

Small slights and offenses against minorities that may be unintentional/unconscious and don’t cause major harm, but build up.

Intersectionality

• Overlapping social identities and related systems of oppression and discrimination

• A person’s multiple identities can’t be separated from each other and affect their life together

Privilege

Unfair advantage based on group membership

Discrimination

• Treating someone differently/unfairly because of group membership

• Act/practice of according negative differential treatment towards the objects of prejudice

Prejudice

Preconceived feeling or attitude based on personal characteristics; positve/negative

Race

Social construct based on physical features and characteristics

Ethnicity

People identify with groups based on commonalities (language, culture, region, etc.)

Sex

Concept based on biological features and physiological characteristics

Gender

Social construct based on societal views and roles, behaviors, and attributes

Equality

Everyone is equal and treated the same

Equity

• People are afforded chance based on historical injustices and disadvantages a way to catch up.

• Acknowledges that not everyone starts in the same place.

• Fairness/justice in the way people are treated.

Adverse Impacts of Microaggressions

Depression, anxiety, heart problems, chronic stress, self worth and self-efficacy problems, problems with class, trouble focusing, lower problem solving abilities, low SE, and lower work productivity

Microassault

Blatant/intentional attack that’s discriminatory or biased

Microinsult

Unintentional behavior/verbal comment conveying rudeness/insensitivity

Microinvalidation

Action that excludes, negates, or dismisses the perceptions of the target person

Microagression Interventions

Confrontation, ask if they know it’s wrong, support target, ask others to help, explain why it’s wrong, talk to a superior

White Fragility Factors

• Emotional Defensiveness

• Accommodation of Comfort

• Exceptionism

• (Avoidance, Emotionality, Victimization, Accommodation of Psychological Safety, Denial + Dismissal)

Emotional Defensiveness

White people are always blamed, it’s exhausting, POC are unreasonable, etc.

Accommodation of Comfort

Only talking about race/racism with white people and not POC, white privilege isn’t real, POC always talk about race, white people should be comfortable and have perspectives in conversations about racism and privilege, etc.

Exceptionism

I’m not that white/that kind of white, I’m not racist, I don’t like being referred to as white, not an individual, listing nationality/ethnicity instead of white

Cultural Competence

• Goal to be achieved

• Culture is a group of traits and decontextualized

• Results in the promotion of stereotyping

• Endpoint is competence/expertise

Cultural Humility

• Ongoing and continuous learning process

• Culture is unique to individuals and can be fluid/change with context

• Results in the promotion of respect

• Makes bias explicit

• Endpoint is flexibility/humility

Developing Cultural Competence

• Awareness/Attitude

• Knowledge

• Skills

• Actions

Principles of Cultural Humility

• Lifelong learning and critical self-reflection

• Recognizing and challenging power imbalances

• Insitutional accountability

Strength-Based Interventions

• Pointing out strengths

• Positive reframing

• Attending to strengths embedded in defenses

• Interpreting strengths in a cultural context

Trauma-Informed Care

• Framework of engaging with individuals with past trauma

• Acknowledges impact of trauma on mental, physical, and social wellbeing

• Focuses on safety, trust, collaboration, empowerment, and choice

Potential Consequences of Not Understanding Trauma

Misdiagnosis, ineffective treatment, retraumatization, dropout, inaccurate conceptualization of the problem

Principles of Trauma-Informed Care

• Safety: Creating secure environment

• Trustworthiness: Consistency and honesty (predictable, reliable, clear boundaries)

• Choice: Allowing autonomy in decisions

• Collaboration: Working together with clients

• Empowerment: Supporting self-efficacy

3-part Brain

• Neocortex

• Reptilian Brain

• Limbic Brain