This week, you will practice listening to a story of another person’s experience or context (from a postmodern and cultural humility standpoint). Think of yourself as a curious and open vessel where you are taking in what the authors are telling you. After this, you will write a reflection related to the experience, your own thoughts, and the connections you are considering between postmodern models and cultural humility.
The first step in this process is to pick two of the readings that are listed that highlight different populations or experiences. Maybe read through the first paragraph of each to determine which two articles may feel most different from your own experiences. Once you pick the two articles to read, set aside a different kind of space to really “listen” to the authors. Maybe find a cozy couch or a quiet space outside to just take in the two readings completely. As you are reading, try to place yourself within the perspective of the author(s), try to understand and be curious about their perspective, their social constructions, and try to be aware of any social constructions (or biases or judgments) that you might bring to the understanding of their perspective, overall, just be “with” this reading.
After you are done with that part of the process, you will write a reflection . Your should address the following:
- Personal Reflection
- Discuss why you picked the two articles you did.
- Share your overall initial (personal) reactions to their experiences and perspectives.
- Describe anything you read that causes a specific emotional reaction in you. Explain where you think this reaction came from (concerning your own context).
- Share what you learned about another person’s context that you didn’t know before.
- Crossroads of postmodern models and cultural humility
- Discuss how you feel postmodern models and cultural humility fit or do not fit together.
- Describe any model connection that you considered. When you were going through your two reflective readings, could you see any postmodern model specifically nicely addressing the context of the person you were reading about?
- Present two to three postmodern techniques (e.g. from the narrative, solution-focused, or collaborative) that you think would fit well with the cultural humility lens.
- Consider the therapist’s context and the role this context plays in viewing clients through a cultural humility lens. Postmodernism and social construction indicate that there is a melding of perspectives in an interaction. Discuss how you are mindful of this with clients. (Note: Consider your own understandings or misunderstandings of the articles that you read and provide an example of how this reactivity/misunderstanding may influence the therapeutic environment.)
Length: 5p