Bridging the Divide: Using Culture-Infused Counseling to Enhance Therapeutic Work with Digital Youth

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of using a culture-infused counseling approach when working with adolescents who use social media. The majority of contemporary youth are frequent users of web-based communication modalities such as social networking sites, and smartphones, and they are navigating the developmental tasks of adolescence in this digital environment. Digital youth are growing up in a significantly different environment than previous generations and as such, they should be considered as a distinct cultural group. Those counselors who work with digital youth may benefit by taking a culture-infused approach to therapy as they would have a better understanding of the systemic and contextual factors that influence their clients and their presenting concerns. Such an approach would include three cultural competencies: awareness, knowledge, and skill.