Cultural Bias in Assessment and Counseling Essay Example

Cultural Bias in Assessment and Counseling
Psychological assessments and testing tools are an important asset to counselors in order to help counselors have a deeper understanding of client issues. However, there are many issues that come about with certain tests and minorities like African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, etc. Some of the issues with testing and assessment techniques today are cognitive, educational, cultural, and social biases. I believe what needs to be addressed in regards to psychological testing is the reason why the tests are biased, and finding out what is being done to improve or eliminate the biases. This paper will focus on the different types of biases that are seen in multiple studies and tests, what is being done for minorities and for counselors.
Some of the major issues with clients from different cultural backgrounds include expectations and beliefs. Many counselors go through training programs that are traditionally based and conservative. Many times, there is insufficient training for cultural sensitivity which is ironic for counselors that may have very culturally diverse clients. Numerous programs are based on values and practices that are not geared to treat a person of a different ethnicity appropriately. This can be detrimental for clients from a culturally diverse background because they may be misdiagnosed or inappropriately counseled, and they may not complete their sessions and not return for more help based off the one session. Typically, clients are guarded when they are visiting a counselor for the first time, so it is important to fully comprehend what it means to be culturally sensitive. In addition, it is important for counselors and practitioners to understand the problem that exist with assessment tools that are not designed to be sensitive to minority populations.
Some issues with psychological tests and assessments are inappropriate research methodologies, inadequate treatment protocols, and