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The Spanish speaking population in the United States is growing. As the population grows, need for competent mental health services may also expand. Counselors are currently underprepared to provide these services. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of counselors who work with Spanish speaking clients, focusing on their motivations, preparation and work experiences, and recommendations for counselor education. Two groups were selected for this phenomenological study: Counselors who use interpreters (CWUI) and counselors who do not use interpreters (CWDNUI). Themes that emerged related to motivation included helping others, inspirational and affirmative experiences, vocational calling, and career advancement. Themes that related to counselor preparation included cultural immersion experiences, education related experiences, high cultural identification, and low cultural identification. Themes that related to counseling Spanish speaking clients included high cultural understanding; anxiety, uncertainty, and skepticism; and low cultural understanding. Finally, themes that related to recommendations included knowledge of the growing demand for counselors to work with Spanish speaking clients, meaningful immersion experiences, and humility. While none of the participants set out to work with Spanish speaking clients, all described finding themselves working with this population. Graduate training experiences were seldom mentioned as sufficiently preparing participants for their work. Although the purpose of this study was not to compare and contrast CWUI with CWDNUI, descriptions of their preparation and work experiences were different. CWDNUI reported high identification and understanding with their clients, while CWUI described low identification and lack of understanding. For CWUI, low understanding was not always overtly attributed to the use of an interpreter but instead was described as a barrier to making therapeutic contact. This finding suggests that while CWUI value the role that interpreters play, use of interpreters may also inhibit counselors ability to establish therapeutic rapport with clients. Preparation for work with Spanish speaking clients is a multifaceted and complex process. Participants indicated that their training programs, while important to their multicultural preparation, did not sufficiently prepare them for work with this population. Based on a synthesis of their experiences and recommendations, implications for the counseling profession and future research are discussed.
Designed specifically with mental health professionals in mind, The Bilingual Counselor’s Guide to Spanish is perfect for counselors interested in expanding their client base and language skill set. Featuring terminology and cultural phrases specific to the mental health profession, this text offers an easy introduction to both the Spanish language and interfacing with Spanish-speaking clients in a counseling setting. Sections of useful and practical vocabulary are followed by ¡Practique! sections, which enable to reader to put his or her developing skills to use. These sections are augmented by case studies in English and Spanish, as well as brief overviews of Latino history, customs, and social manners that will greatly enhance any counselor’s depth of interaction with Spanish-speaking clients. For counselors who want to communicate with the large and rapidly expanding population of Spanish speakers in the United States, or for those who are simply interested in developing or improving their Spanish-language skills, The Bilingual Counselor’s Guide to Spanish is the place to start.
This volume advocates for justice in language rights through its explorations of bilingualism in family therapy, from the perspectives of eighteen languages identified by the authors: Black Talk/Ebonics/Slang, Farsi, Fenglish, Arabic, Italian, Cantonese Chinese, South Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Chilean Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Colombian Spanglish, Madrileño Spanish, Spanglish, Pocho Spanish, Colloquial Spanish, and English. It identifies standard English as the current language most often used across family therapy programs and services in the United States. The book discusses efforts to respond to the rapidly changing linguistic landscape and the increasingly high demand for appropriate therapy services that respond effectively to diverse families in America. It discusses recruitment and training of linguistically diverse family therapists and strategies to promote linguistic equality to support the rights of family therapists, their practices, and the communities they serve. Chapters explore ways to integrate languages in professional and personal lives, including the improvisational, self-taught translanguaging skills and practices that go beyond the lexical and grammatical rules of a language. The book describes the creative use of native or heritage languages to ensure that the juxtaposition of English therapeutic and daily-life landscapes is integrated into family therapy settings. It discusses contextual, relational, therapeutic, and training potential offered by bilingualism as well as the necessary transmutations in theory and practice. This volume is an essential resource for clinicians, therapists, and practitioners as well as researchers, professors, and graduate students in family studies, clinical psychology, and public health as well as all interrelated disciplines.
This qualitative study explored the perception of three bilingual art therapists who used their second language, Spanish, while treating Native Spanish-speaking people whose English proficiency was limited. Literature indicated disparity of competent mental health professionals to meet demand for Spanish language services in the United States. This research presented the perspective of art therapists that practice in this strained environment. Extensive interviews over video-calling applications provided the raw data for a phenomenological analysis. Results from a thematic content analysis included themes of working in isolation, lack of precise training, the impact of art in mitigating language and cultural disparities, perception of client needs, and professional satisfaction using Spanish at work. Participants also offered their insight into the problem of limited availability of bilingual therapists; the factors that contribute to the scarcity as well as its impact. Suggestions for improving art therapy services to Spanish-speaking clients included wider cultural exposure for trainees, specific language training related to art therapy practice, more equitable recruitment of Spanish speaking Latino therapists, and increased advocacy and awareness within the field of art therapy.
This timely practical reference addresses the lack of Spanish-language resources for mental health professionals to use with their Latino clients. Geared toward both English- and Spanish-speaking practitioners in a variety of settings, this volume is designed to minimize misunderstandings between the clinician and client, and with that the possibility of inaccurate diagnosis and/or ineffective treatment. Coverage for each topic features a discussion of cultural considerations, guidelines for evidence-based best practices, a review of available findings, a treatment plan, plus clinical tools and client handouts, homework sheets, worksheets, and other materials. Chapters span a wide range of disorders and problems over the life-course, and include reproducible resources for: Assessing for race-based trauma. Using behavioral activation and cognitive interventions to treat depression among Latinos. Treating aggression, substance use, abuse, and dependence among Latino Adults. Treating behavioral problems among Latino adolescents. Treating anxiety among Latino children. Working with Latino couples. Restoring legal competency with Latinos. The Toolkit for Counseling Spanish-Speaking Clients fills a glaring need in behavioral service delivery, offering health psychologists, social workers, clinical psychologists, neuropsychologists, and other helping professionals culturally-relevant support for working with this under served population. The materials included here are an important step toward dismantling barriers to mental health care.
Experiences of the bilingual client in therapy have received attention in the literature but accounts of the experience of the bilingual therapist are strikingly sparse. The purpose of this study was to focus on the bilingual therapist[alpha]s perception of the impact of language on the therapeutic process. To achieve this goal, the researcher interviewed therapists who speak Spanish as a second language and work with native Spanish-speaking clients. Data analysis was completed using ethnographic research methods, which resulted in the emergence of three themes. The first theme included therapists[alpha] perceived obstacles to second-language therapy. Each of the participants in the study discussed things that made therapy in a second language more difficult for them than in their native English. The second theme that emerged included the compensatory coping strategies. Many of the therapists interviewed discussed certain strategies they employed to prepare themselves to offer competent services to the Spanish-speaking community. These coping skills compensated for the obstacles that were unavoidable in their second-language work. The third and final theme included the facilitative beliefs about Spanish-language work experience. Each of the therapists interviewed for this study expressed certain beliefs that enabled them to continue offering services in Spanish in the face of some intense difficulties. These beliefs gave therapists a positive spin on their experiences, and enhanced their beliefs that doing therapy in Spanish was worth the added effort it took to do therapy in a second language. Implications for clinicians as well as future research are presented.