BMC Staff Trainings and Seminars
Upcoming Events:
The Importance of Intercultural Sensitivity for Increased Effectiveness
Cheryl Forster, PsyD
Friday, May 2nd, 2025 from 9:00am-1:30pm
(there will be a 30 minute break for lunch)
Birmingham Maple Clinic – Virtual, 4 CEUs in implicit bias
Workshop Description:
The intercultural approach to diversity work is not generally taught in psychology, social work, or counseling graduate programs. Intercultural communication can serve as an important complement to traditional multicultural counseling and social justice approaches.
The field of intercultural communication provides various frameworks for strengthening our ability to engage with differences and diversity across situations. The developmental model used in intercultural communication can help pinpoint where we may be getting stuck or observing others getting stuck. Moreover, intercultural sensitivity is a precursor condition for intercultural effectiveness. The developmental model is a non-shaming approach that also provides participants a common language for growth in this area that can be applied to both individuals (therapist and client) and organizations. The presentation will end with a couple of key cultural concepts to further increase effectiveness.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the first five positions of the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS)
- Discuss the likely flaw related to universalism when it comes to cultur
- Relate the DMIS to two forms of racism
- Apply two of the positions of the DMIS to organizational development
- Apply the DMIS to more effective clinical work with clients (e.g., intercultural empathy)
- Identify one difference between a dynamic versus static view of culture
- Describe one example of a cultural dimension