Part 1: read the information below and answer the questions before answering the Part 2 questions:

Heather is a 32-year-old single mom, with no extended family. She receives limited financial support from the government. She has problems finding daycare and works at two part-time jobs to support her children. Heather's seven-year-old is showing behavioural and learning problems in Grade 1. Heather is having difficulty sleeping and has experienced weight loss, anxiety, and exhaustion. She is attending college on a part-time basis, but she is considering dropping out.

Questions:

• What cultural identity factors might you take into account in working with Heather?
• What cultural identity factors might be most salient to her current situation and presenting concerns?
• What other information would you want to gather as part of your intake assessment to ensure you fully understand Heather's situation?
• What initial hypotheses do you hold about Heather's presenting concerns?
• What aspects of your own cultural identities potentially facilitate your understanding of Heather's challenges?
• What aspects of your cultural identities might lead to differences in values, worldview, life experiences, and privilege

Part 2:Imagine now that the following additional information emerges in your conversation with Heather:

• She has Asperger's syndrome.
• She had very supportive parents but they both died in a car accident when she was 18.
• Although she is fairly high functioning, she has trouble navigating and sustaining adult relationships.
• Her ex-husband had multiple affairs over the course of their marriage and never developed a relationship with the children. He is refusing to pay child support.
• She feels isolated and disconnected from her college peers.
• She fears she won't succeed in the early childhood education program or future employment.

Questions:

• What is your immediate, uncensored emotional reaction to this new information?
• How does this information about Heather alter your responses to the questions above?

Part 3:Now the scenario changes, and Heather is really Hamine. You learn the following information about Hamine.

• Her husband was kidnapped and killed because of his political beliefs.
• She lived in a refugee camp for a year with her children, ages 4, 5, and 7.
• She came to Canada two years ago as a refugee to escape continued political instability and fear of violence.
• She arrived with one bag of clothing for the children and no other personal effects.
• She received refugee funding for the first year, but was barely able to sustain life for herself and her children.

Questions:

Take a moment to think about the three versions of Heatherand respond to some or all of the prompts below.

• To which version did you feel the most immediate connection?
• Which one did you shy away from, emotionally?
• What do these initial reactions tell you?
• Which character did you feel the most, and the least, competent to work with?
• How did the complexity of her cultural identities factor into your reactions?
• How might you increase your competency for working with clients with multiple nondominant identities?