Authentic Cultural
Competence
CONSULTATION AND TRAINING
443-499-3693
PROFESSIONAL CONSULTATION
Dr. Rivera cofounded Authentic Cultural Competence Consultation and Training in 2013 after facilitating diversity awareness and diversity training seminars for over 10 years. Trainings and consultations are focused on teaching others to demonstrate the nuances of genuine cultural sensitivity and respect for clients and co-workers. Developing Authentic Cultural Competence can enhance your effectiveness as a practitioner, as a department, or an agency. Dr. Rivera's experience includes presentations at academic and professional conferences, including, the American Psychological Association, the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture and the Maryland Student Affairs Conference.
DR. BRIDGET RIVERA
is a licensed psychologist with over 15 years of clinical experience, which includes private practice, University Counseling Center and consulting work. Her academic experience includes teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses, including Diversity Training Seminars for doctoral students and courses with a required diversity component for undergraduate students. She was called upon by the American Psychological Association to serve as a consultant to the Task Force on Re-envisioning the Multicultural Guidelines for the 21st Century. Her research interests involve personality assessment of children and adults, and how issues of diversity arise in the clinical and supervisory relationship. She was awarded the Martin Mayman award from the Society of Personality Assessment, for distinguished contribution to the literature in 2010.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF AUTHENTIC CULTURAL COMPETENCE CONSULTATION AND TRAINING
Every encounter we have is a culturally-influenced encounter, no matter who it is with - because we all have cultural identities that shape who we are, how we relate, and how we are treated in this society.
We have found that many professionals put a lot of time and energy into learning about the cultural identity of their clients in order to work bettwer with them. The aspect of the work we often skip, is understanding the meaning of our own cultural realities.
Many experts have written about the importance of knowing the values and worldview shaped by your cultural self, rather than assuming you bring an objective, value-free perspective. We believe that being a culturally competent helping professional requires continual examination of who we are and what we are bringing, and how this relates to that person we are working with, often before we even enter the room.
Authentic Cultural Competence uniquely focuses on the professional and personal values and experiences that directly impact what we see, what we don’t see, and how we make sense of the person sitting across from us. Our consultation services, training seminars, and professional development workshops are all built on this philosophy.
Consultation services help agencies pinpoint what it will take for your staff to better demonstrate your goal of culturally competent practice, from the inside out. We work will with you to set, and then communicate these goals to your staff, then assess what changes are required for your staff to actualize those goals.
Training seminars can be tailored to your agency’s specific working needs, so your staff can develop a more self-sustaining practice of culturally competent work.
Professional development workshops reveal the cultural lenses, values, biases, and worldviews, and show how these perspectives impact the work.
THE GOAL
Through each of our services, professionals will be able to determine why some connections are easier to make than others, what part they are playing in unsuccessful connections, and what they can do to deepen existing relationships and broaden the populations they can effectively work with.