Discussion Questions

Chapter 9-14

For each of the five Discussion Questions: answer with a minimum of two paragraphs and one reference from the textbook.

Baruth, L.G. & Manning, M.L. (2016). Multicultural Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Lifespan
Perspective. (6th Ed.). NewYork, NY: Routledge Publishing. ISBN 9781138953543

1. Tom is a 47-year-old male. His real name is Jinhai but he goes by Tom because people cannot pronounce his name. Tom attended college in the US and obtained political asylum when he graduated with his Ph.D. His parents had been killed for crimes against the government and he was fearful of returning to China. He met his wife, Zoe in college. Her family immigrated to the United States from China when she was two years old. They have two daughters who are currently in college. They are enjoying the American dream most of the time. However, Tom often feels frustrated with his job.
Tom makes a good living working as an engineer for a major US company. He is able to troubleshoot issues at various plants throughout the company. However, he is highly frustrated with his company at times and feels devalued. Tom has worked in the same position for 15 years. There have been three times during that time frame in which the manager of the research team position became vacant. He applied all three times and was rejected. The last occurrence was three years ago and the Vice President hired Daryl for the position. Daryl was working as a technical manager but lacks degrees in a science field. He has a MBA and tends to only look at the budget. Since Daryl has been hired the research and prevention team has focused mostly on helping plants prevent issues and devoted little time or resources to new research endeavors. Tom’s colleagues often perceive him as distant and even though he has been in the United States for his entire adult life, he still is difficult to understand at times. Tom is very competent in his job skills but resents Daryl’s micromanagement style. Despite Tom’s intrapersonal resilience and strength, he comes into your office stating he is having a hard time finding focus in all areas of his life. He also tells you that he is unsure about how to deal with some of the discriminatory people in his current place of employment. Tom states “they joke and say, oh, there’s our terrorist co-worker.” This hurts Tom and he tells you that he does not want this pain to trickle onto his wife or daughters. He also does not want to go to talk to anyone in Human Resources about these issues.
1. How might cultural factors be impacting the way Tom is perceived by co-workers?
2. What feelings may he be experiencing and how can these be processed?
3. How can you advocate for Tom?

2. Discuss the language problems that affect Asian Americans and how these problems affect educational attainment, employment, and the seeking of health care services. How do these language problems affect Asian American children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly? Also, what are some of the potential barriers to counseling beside language problems that this population may face and how can counselors help to overcome these barriers?

3. Discuss the status and gender roles that European Americans children learn in their families. How might these roles impact their ability to deal with other cultures?

4. Discuss and explain how Hispanic American nonverbal communication values may affect counseling intervention. Discuss how the family roles in Hispanic families may impact how they relate to others.

5. Juan is a 27-year-old male, who currently works as the assistant manager at a busy gas station. He grew up in the south side of town, which was a poor area with a high crime rate. Although Juan was a strong student in high school and his grades were high, he never pursued higher education and started using drugs. His family also did not encourage him to do any more than simply graduate high school. He worked part-time in high school to help support his family. His family is very close. However, Juan went to prison on drug charges for using methamphetamine. He was recently released from prison and expressed continuous pride in having secured a job at the gas station. He is grateful that the owner was willing to give him a second chance. While in prison, he earned a degree in business. He is seeking counseling services due to feeling a bit depressed. Currently he is living with his older sister and her family.
Juan expressed that he is struggling with juggling the new stress of his current work and living with his family and trying to intentionally maintain sobriety. He tells you that his family tends to drink quite a bit. He also tells you that he is eager to help the gas station in a variety of ways such as increasing marketing by new logos and advertisements. Juan told you there has been controversy in him having a management position to some people in his place of employment. In fact, he also remarked that he desires to someday be the district manager for the gas station. However, he is unsure if he will be able to pursue the gas station’s district management position due to how he is perceived by others because of his criminal record.
1. When working with Juan, what initial aspects do you believe will be important to consider as he tries to maintain sobriety?
2. How might his family help or hurt him when it comes to continuing to make progress in his life?
3. How might cultural factors impact Juan’s decisions?