Improving Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals
Learn about your cultural identity and the cultural identities of your clients to improve how you engage, assess, and treat clients from diverse backgrounds.
Overview
Welcome to Improving Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals!
How do you use this website?
Take a look at the blue bars at the top of this page.
- On the first bar, clicking your username gives you a menu for viewing your Course completion progress, updating your profile, and logging out.
- On the second bar, clicking Program gives you a link for each of the Courses. Clicking Resources gives you links for the Glossary, References, and Resource Library.
Within a Course, go to the next page by clicking the Next button at the bottom right of each page. You'll also see a menu on the left for navigating to different parts of that Course.
You are required to complete Course 1 in full before going to Courses 2, 3, or 4.
Credit Information
This program is approved for 4 – 5.5 contact hours for counselors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers. Other professionals may earn a Statement of Participation.
Click on each box below for more information.
Learning Objectives
After completing this continuing education activity, participants will be able to:
- Describe how culture, cultural identity, and intersectionality are related to behavioral health and behavioral health care.
- Describe the principles of cultural competency and cultural humility.
- Discuss how our bias, power, and privilege can affect the therapeutic relationship.
- Discuss ways to learn more about a client's cultural identity.
- Describe how stereotypes and microaggressions can affect the therapeutic relationship.
- Explain how culture and stigma can influence help-seeking behaviors.
- Describe how communication styles can differ across cultures.
- Identify strategies to reduce bias during assessment and diagnosis.
- Explain how to elicit a client's explanatory model.
Goal/Statement of Need
Cultural and linguistic competency is recognized as an important strategy for improving the quality of care provided to clients from diverse backgrounds. This e-learning program is designed to equip behavioral health professionals with the cultural and linguistic competencies to better respect and respond to each client's unique needs.
Target Audience
- Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselors to NAADAC Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselors
- NBCC Counselors and Therapists
- Nurses
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Social workers
- Other direct service providers for behavioral health
How to Obtain Credit
For successful completion of this activity and to obtain Contact hours, the learner must register on this site, review the individual modules/content, obtain a minimum post-test score of 80%, and complete the course evaluation. Certificates and statements of credit are immediately available on the My Progress page.
Original Release Date: May 1, 2019
Last Date of Review: May 1, 2019
Estimated Time to Complete this Activity: 4 – 5.5 hours
Issues
To discuss issues with this program, please contact the ACEP Administrator:
		 Amanda Gashel
amanda.gashel@gdit.com
		Help Desk number is (833) 485-1664 
CAPT Tarsha Cavanaugh, PhD, MSW, LGSW
			ACEP Program Administrator
				
			Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
			
C. Godfrey Jacobs, BA
			Senior Program Manager
			Health Determinants & Disparities Practice
			General Dynamics Information Technology
			
Jennifer Kenyon, BA
			Research Analyst
			Health Determinants & Disparities Practice
			General Dynamics Information Technology
			
Karolina Schantz, MPH
			Research Analyst 
			Health Determinants & Disparities Practice
			General Dynamics Information Technology
			
Amanda Gashel, BSN, RN
			
			ACEP Program Administrator
	
			Technical Project Manager
			Health Determinants & Disparities Practice
			General Dynamics Information Technology
			
Kameisha L. Bennett, MA
			HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
			
Tenly Pau Biggs, MSW, LGSW
			HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
			
Joyce P. Chu, PhD
			Palo Alto University
			
Lillian Comas-Diaz, PhD
			Transcultural Mental Health Institute
			
Holly Echo-Hawk
			Echo Hawk & Associates
			
Joseph P. Gone, PhD
			University of Michigan
			
Gordon Nagayama Hall, PhD
			University of Oregon
			
Lisa M. Hooper, PhD
			University of Northern Iowa
			
Mario Hernandez, PhD
			University of South Florida
			
Rachel Kaul, LCSW, CTS
			HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
			
Frederick Leong, PhD
			Michigan State University
			
Francis Lu, MD, DLFAPA
			Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry, Emeritus, UC Davis
			
Francis Lu, MD, DLFAPA
			Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry, Emeritus, UC Davis 
			
Jeanne Miranda, PhD
			University of California – Los Angeles
			
Roslyn Holliday Moore, MS
			HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
			
Patti Rose, EdD
			University of Miami
			
Tonia Schaffer, MPH
			HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
			
Erlanger “Earl” Turner, PhD
			University of Houston
			
COURSES
- An introduction to cultural and linguistic competency
- Know thyself – Increasing self-awareness
- Knowing others – Increasing awareness of your client’s cultural identity
- Culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions and services


