Human Services Professionals must engage with persons from all backgrounds through the initial development of a rapport. Some persons who are identified as being a part of a vulnerable population may appear to be distrustful when working with a Human Services Professional. Understanding that some clients may be more challenging to work with than others, we must understand that one’s cultural identification, language, and gender differences may potentially impact how well a Human Services Professional interacts with a client. Imagine you are meeting a client of the opposite sex for the first time and this client is intimidated by you. The client struggles to speak English well and has expressed experiencing long-term stressors relative to unemployment and feelings of being discriminated against because of language and other cultural barriers.
Address the following two bullets with your initial posting:
- How would you empathize with this client as a Human Services Professional so that you exhibit an understanding of the language barriers and respectfully address the client so that s/he can begin to feel more comfortable engaging with you?
- In culture acquisition, the foundational theme is sharing experiences. How can shared experiences between the Human Services Professional and the client bridge the communication gap so that assisting the client can occur?
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