Counselor’s Cultural Self-Assessment

(adapted from Hays, 2001, p. 37)

1) Consider the following aspects of your identity and background.

• Cultural Influences
• Your Background
• Age and generational differences (not dominant: children, adolescents, elders)
• Developmental or acquired disabilities (not dominant: people with disabilities)
• Religion and spiritual orientation (not dominant: religious minority cultures)
• Ethnicity (not dominant: ethnic minority cultures)
• Socioeconomic status (not dominant: poor or low status by social class, education, occupation, income, rural or urban)
• Sexual Orientation (not dominant: gay, lesbian, bisexual)
• Indigenous heritage (Indigenous people)
• National Origin (refugees, immigrants, international students)
• Gender (women, transgender people)

Hays, P. A. (2001). Addressing cultural complexities in practice: A framework for clinicians and counselors. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

2) Building on the ADDRESSING Framework

For the above categories, consider how, and in what circumstances, each may reflect experiences of privilege or oppression. Begin by placing an asterisk beside each aspect in which you are part of the dominant group or majority group (the group with institutional privilege).