Course Description
The content explores the concept of culture (individual variations and multicultural influences), trends in the demographics of various cultural populations in California, and the principles of cultural competence and cultural humility. The key topics include California demographic trends; principles for recognizing cultural influences on clients’ ways of defining, perceiving, and understanding the nature of psychosocial problems; and ways that cultural identity and cultural community engagement can serve as strengths in response to psychosocial problems.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) publication titled “Improving Cultural Competence: Quick Guide for Clinicians” is the foundation of this course. To complete the course, participants read online content, view several web-based video clips, and access the web-based SAMHSA publication before taking the online posttest.
Target Audience
This course is designed to provide a deeper understanding of the multiple cultural influences on individuals, along with the cultural influences on practitioners’ clinical encounters with clients. The course is applicable to all social workers and behavioral health practitioners.
This course can be used toward the requirement of 15 hours of “California Cultures” coursework for out-of-state applicants for licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), and licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) licenses. View requirement details.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, readers will be able to do the following:
- Identify demographic trends in California.
- Identify principles for recognizing cultural influences on clients’ ways of defining, perceiving, and understanding the nature of psychosocial problems.
- Identify ways that cultural identity and cultural community engagement can serve as strengths in response to psychosocial problems.