Discussion Questions (Critical Incident p. 90)

1. How did Steve’s initial assumptions and personal beliefs affect his work with this client? What do you think about his decision to dwell on his own personal experiences and how they may have influenced his relationship with Riza?
2. What specific strategies could Steve use to understand Riza better from her own perspective during subsequent sessions?
3. What might be some effective strategies that Steve could use to address Riza’s social withdrawal, which seems to be associated with judgmental/prejudicial social encounters she has experienced?
4. What specific multicultural counseling competencies will facilitate additional trust between Riza and Steve?
5. Ethnic and racial identity and acculturative status are often noted as major factors in a client’s response to counseling, but research indicates wide variability in how those variables relate with well-being and experiences in counseling. Discuss how those two constructs may affect a counselor’s work with Riza in light of the meta-analytic findings presented in this chapter.
6. After becoming more familiar with Catholicism and Filipino culture, list a series of culturally sensitive adaptations to counseling that might enable Steve to work effectively with Riza.