This month’s blog will focus on human diversity, a topic that is at the forefront of public discourse. Whether you are taking the California MFT Clinical or the National AMFTRB exam, you can definitely expect to see questions that test your understanding and ability to navigate issues related to human diversity. There are several ways this topic can appear on your exam and it’s important to be familiar with them.
Human diversity could present in questions related to:
- Clinical evaluation/assessment
- Development of a diagnostic impression
- Case conceptualization and treatment planning
- Treatment and interventions
What do you need to know about human diversity?
When it comes to human diversity questions, the most important thing to keep in mind is to seek answers that incorporate each client’s unique social/cultural experience. You want to avoid answers that might promote stereotypes, discount the person’s lived experience, or make assumptions. Instead, you want to prioritize answers that explore the client’s experience and understanding of their background on the presenting issue, current relationships and functioning.
Let’s see how you do on a human diversity question...
Practice Question on Human Diversity:
A therapist meets with a 23-year-old female client who shares that she is the daughter of immigrant parents. The client reports that her parents moved to the US shortly before she was born, but continue to hold onto the traditions and values of their country of origin. The client recently graduated from college and wants to travel the world, but her parents believe she is too old to be adventurous and should be focused on getting married and starting a family. How should the therapist incorporate human diversity in this assessment?
A. Identify the client’s country of origin and research common traditions.
B. Explore the client’s understanding of acculturation and explain the nature of the conflict she is presenting.
C. Explore the client’s cultural values and how they align with or conflict with those of her parents.
D. Gather information on the client’s goals for treatment.
(Scroll down for the answer and rationale….)
The correct answer in this case is answer C.
We can quickly eliminate answer D, because it does not touch on human diversity.
Answer A is incorrect because the client indicated in the vignette that she was born in the United States, but her parents immigrated here. Plus, we would prioritize answers that gather information from the client, rather than through personal research. B is also incorrect because it includes the therapist explaining the nature of the conflict to the client, rather than having the client share their personal experience in the context of their cultural background.
This leaves us with answer C, which allows the therapist to explore the role of culture through the lens of the client’s personal experience.
How did you do?
How did you do on this month's practice question? Are you ready to tackle human diversity questions on your exam? Regardless of your answer to this question, TDC’s MFT California Clinical Exam prep and AMFTRB program covers all you need to know and provides you with practice questions to help you prepare. TDC’s MFT California Clinical and AMFTRB exam prep programs give you everything you need to be successful on the exam. And we do not overwhelm you with content you don’t need. We’ve helped THOUSANDS of MFTs PASS their exams with confidence over the past decade. Our team looks forward to helping you PASS with confidence!