Cultural Roadmap : Developing Cultural Learning Strategies During Internship

Canady, B.E. and Rivera, M. and Gerdes, J. and Ford, A. and Johnson, K. and Nayak, N. (2011) Cultural Roadmap : Developing Cultural Learning Strategies During Internship. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 5 (1). pp. 30-37. ISSN 1931-3918

Abstract

Cultural training can be a difficult topic to address during the internship year and can be defined or approached in many different ways. This article describes a program designed to provide cultural training focused on increasing cultural awareness for psychology interns. The training program outlined is based in part on anthropological research methods and teaches interns a method for learning about different cultures. Interns focus on one cultural group, and go through a flexible sequence of several steps from gathering general information, meeting with community representatives, meeting specific groups of community members, to finally developing a project using the information learned to serve the group studied. An overview of the program is provided, with a recent project example to highlight the process. Reactions from interns have generally been positive. Examples are discussed of how the project has evolved to reflect intern and staff experiences.