Developing Cultural Humility Through Immersion Experiences
Increasing cultural humility is valuable for everyone working in the helping professions.
The ability to embrace the beauty of collective and individual cultures can allow for personal and professional growth. Every culture has its challenges and strengths; the key is to find the ability to embrace both and recognize the importance of connection.
As a 2015 NBCC Foundation Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) Fellow, Julie Smith was able to collaborate with NBCC International (NBCC-I) to host the first domestic Institute, which was held on her home Native American reservation in rural northern Minnesota. She then traveled to Malawi, Africa, to participate in an institute. Learn how she was able to feel the connections of bridging cultures to develop a deeper meaning of cultural humility.
Participants will be able to:
- Identify and discuss cultural humility;
- Recognize how strong cultural traditions have influenced and helped indigenous people deal with and heal from genocide tactics, intergenerational trauma and historical trauma;
- Identify and discuss spirituality and how it influences the culture of counseling; and
- List and describe three ways to participate in cultural immersion.
Julie Smith,
M.S., NCC, LPCC
Julie Smith is Anishinaabe and comes from the White Earth Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota. Ms. Smith is a National Certified Counselor and a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. She also holds a license through the Minnesota Board of Education as a health educator and school counselor. Ms. Smith is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. counseling education and supervision program and recently graduated from the American Indian Public Health program at North Dakota State University. She graduated with a Master of Science in counseling from Minnesota State University Moorhead, where she also received her bachelor's degree in health education.
Ms. Smith has worked in the education and mental health fields for over 15 years, concentrating in the last few years on implementing cultural adaptations to evidence-based trauma therapy models and cultural immersion programs. She is a 2015 NBCC MFP Fellow and has worked with NBCC-I to implement a cultural immersion educational institute on the White Earth Indian Reservation.
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