PSY8123 - Cultural Diversity Training

(1 unit)

Students participate in monthly learning exercises designed to increase skill, knowledge and awareness in multicultural competency and in the application of diversity to clinical work. The course requires exploration of intersecting identities and individual diversity for those who define themselves as part of singular or multiple cultural groups (e.g., an older adult heterosexual woman of Chinese American heritage; a transgender Latino who defines himself as a gay male). The learning exercises offer varying perspectives about cultural identity, normative expectations of cultural engagement (from dominant and minority identified groups), visible and invisible identities, privilege and cultural oppression. Students will strengthen multiculturally-competent clinical skills related to interviewing, assessment, case conceptualization, and treatment planning. These skills will allow students to “bring culture into the room,” to recognize their own biases and assumptions when working with diverse groups, to talk about themselves as cultural beings with their clients, and to address cultural dynamics as they occur.
Prerequisites: PSY6123; PSY6124; PSY7123