Multicultural Portfolio

Monique Jones

The purpose of this portfolio is to

demonstrate the students
awareness and knowledge of the
eight Multicultural Counseling
assessment areas.

1.

Shows self-awareness of own cultural worldviews

African Americans shy away from opening up in the

workplace
I worked in an office with only white co-workers. I had been at the job for about 4 months and I started to
notice that my co-workers hung out outside of work and were involved in each others personal lives, yet I
was very much secluded at work, even being surrounded by 3 girls at work. I immersed myself into my work
purposely, so that I could avoid any social interactions with my peers. I assumed that I wouldnt be able to
relate to my co-workers because they were white. In being a hard worker, I felt that I was a valuable
member of the society, but not as a human being. I didnt even give myself the chance to be disappointed
or shut out. I had went to a university lecture and they had a guest speaker that stated, African Americans
shy away from opening up in the workplace. and he further suggested that we did the exact opposite
because it would hurt us in the long run. I realized that I had preconceived biases on white people and from
then on I wanted to make a change, I just wasnt sure how to.

2. Can define multicultural counseling operationally

How can I get a diverse internship experience, Im a

black girl from the inner city
Going into my internship I was curious as to how I would experience a diverse internship, which was required
of me when I felt as though I had grown up in a diverse community. My professors placed me at an
elementary school that was 95% white and I quickly realized that I needed the experience to dispel my
biases on rural, farm families.

3. Recognizes culture-specific elements of various sociocultural groups

We hang out as a family

I have an African American male friend that dates a Cuban woman. I one day asked him why he did not go
out and hang out with his group of guy friends like he used to frequently do. He simply told me, She doesnt
like it. A couple weeks later I was privileged to meet his girlfriend for the first time and I asked her why she
didnt like him hanging out with friends. She explained to me, In my family, we hang out as a family.
THeres no hanging out out with the guys. The whole family hangs out at the house. I, of course, didnt
understand it because it was different than my own culture but I learned to respect it. Reading the text, and
the mention of familismo cemented the idea of close-knit family relationships, and I was able to further
understand.

4. Recognizes worldview of clients

Those animals deserve what they get

I follow a local news station on Facebook and like most public pages, it allows for people to leave comments.
The news posted a story about an African-American woman named Sandra Bland, that was arrested and
later killed in prison for failing to use a turning signal. Someone white commented, Well if these people
would just comply, they wouldnt get killed. And another comment read, Those animals deserve what they
get. The instance along with plethora of cases of black men and women being killed by the police shown
me that still a lot of white people a difficult time believing that someone of the law could be exuding racism.
They want to find any type of excuse that the minority citizens are in the wrong, and that these senseless
shootings are just.

5. Recognizes privilege

Can you push the door open for me?

I always knew that every single person on this earth had privilege, and I was even aware of some of the
ways that I had privilege; however, it wasnt until I had to roll my handicapped friend to the university caf
that I had felt guilty about my own. My dance teammates, a mutual friend, would usually help her but she
had to do something for class, so I volunteered. I wheeled her from her bedroom to this discreet
passageway. I had never seen it before because it was for handicapped students only. I realized how hard
my friend had it. The caf had two entrances and they were both led into by long stairways. If not for the
passageway, she would have to have someone carry her into the caf.

6. Show multicultural competencies in school and work settings

In my experience
In entering the school counseling program at K-State I really felt that it was necessary that I expressed my
experiences as a black, female, city-girl with my classmates. I had assumed that most had not had many
personal experiences with someone of my same cultural background; therefore I always made it a point to
speak up, although Im not someone that would usually volunteer to speak in class.

7. Can apply multicultural helping skills and ethics appropriately

What do you think I should do?

In practicum I had a client that was in the military and he had a big decision on whether to renew his
contract or to enter the civilian workforce. Before working with him my knowledge of military life was limited
and I had a strong bias against those enlisted. He often asked, What do you think I should do? But I knew
that was ethically wrong for me to give him my personal opinion of such a matter. Therefore I dug more into
what the military lifestyle was like and what it meant to him and had him hypothesize what he wanted his
life to resemble in the next 5 years. Although his view on the military was very different than mine, I opened
up myself to learning more about it because I knew in result it would help the client.

8. Can apply multicultural theory to learn within counseling

Your hair is different

I had to learn that to work with clients that had complete different cultures
than my own. I couldnt take things personal and had to treat my
experiences with clients of different cultures as learning opportunities. I sat
a lunch table with 1st graders at the rural, 95% white internship site and
watched to students whisper to one another with giant grins. I asked,
What? What are you two whispering about? One of the 1st grades was
reluctant to answer and the other finally replied, Your hair is different. I
understood that the towns population of minorities were extremely low so
I added, Yes it is. Its called dreads. Do you want to touch it? And from
there we had a conversation about different types of hair and it was
something small, but valuable that the student needed to experience and I
did as well. Most people get mad and cant fathom someone else not
understanding, but the multicultural theory is all about exchanging ideas
and exploring cultures; others as well as our own.

Plan for Continued Growth

1. Challenge myself by seeking out situations and/or experiences where I am
the minority
2. Read more research based texts on how to use my own experiences to lay as
groundwork for multicultural counseling
3. Seek out culturally diverse experiences and compare and contrast to those I
experienced on my own
4. Actively listen to the clients experience before jumping in with assumptions
5. Listening and seeking further understanding from those with different
experiences than myself
6. Refer back to research-based text, professors, ASCA standards when
questioning my own skill and ethics
7. Practice counseling on a diverse range of people, rather than staying in a

Content Areas
Shows
selfawareness
of own
cultural
worldviews
.
(Awareness
)
Can define
multicultur
al
counseling
operational
ly.
(Awareness
)

Recognizes
Culturespecific
elements of
various
sociocult.
grps.
(Awareness
)
Recognizes
worldviews
of clients
(Knowledg
e)

Recognizes
Privilege
(Awareness
)

Strong evidence
5

Self -Rating of Diversity Performance

Some Evidence
Minimal evidence
Very little evidence
4
3
2

No Evidence
1

References
Sue, D.W. & Sue, D. (2013) Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice. Sixth Edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
All images were used from Google Images.