ODL 363: Caring Across Cultures: Global Wisdom for Culturally Competent Practice

Please make sure to check with your own state board to ensure the transferability of CE credit for an asynchronous course. Some state boards may place restrictions regarding the modality of training required for ethics credits to be awarded. If this training indicates ethics credits are available, please verify that your state allows them to be earned through an on-demand course format.

 5 CREDIT HOURS APPROVED FOR:

Social Workers
ASWB ACE – 5 Cultural Competence CE Credits
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work – 5 Contact Hours
Psychologists
APA – 5 CE Credits
Counselors
NBCC ACEP – 5 Contact Hours
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners – 5 Contact Hours
Addiction Professionals
NAADAC – 5 Contact Hours
Nurses
California Board of Registered Nursing – 5 Contact Hours
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners – 5 Contact Hours
Case Managers
CCMC – 5 Contact Hours

Created On:  11/5/25                    

Target Audience:

This course is targeted for social workers, psychologists, counselors, nurses and case managers.

Counselor Skill Groups: 

4. Counseling Services
6. Case Management
8. Legal, Ethical and Professional Development

Overview:

This training session, led by Dr. Ashley Cureton, Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work and Marsal Family School of Education, will delve into her international work in countries like Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, South Africa, Jordan, Turkey, India, Ecuador, Peru, and the United States. As someone who has traveled, lived, and/or worked in over 100 countries and seven continents, Dr. Cureton will share her practice and research experiences on the educational and mental health needs of displaced youth and families, emphasizing the importance of cultural competence and responsiveness in clinical settings. Participants will explore strategies to enhance their practice when working with diverse populations locally and/or globally, ensuring ethical and effective service delivery.

Course Objectives:

By the end of the session, the participant will be able to:

• Analyze the impact of forced migration and displacement on the mental health and educational outcomes of refugee and migrant populations.
• Identify key cultural factors and social determinants that influence client experiences and treatment outcomes in diverse cultural contexts.
• Apply principles of cultural competence and responsiveness to develop ethical and effective intervention strategies for clients from varied cultural backgrounds.
• Evaluate the role of community-engaged research in informing culturally tailored clinical practices.
• Develop a personal action plan to integrate global perspectives and culturally responsive approaches into their professional practice.

Presenter:

Ashley Cureton, PhD, MSW, Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan

Dr. Ashley Cureton is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work and Marsal Family School of Education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is also a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Prior to her current role, she was a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow and lecturer in the School of Education and the Department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University. 

Dr. Cureton identifies as a forced migration and international social work scholar who seeks to identify culturally specific interventions, programs, and policies to improve the educational, socio-emotional, and environmental outcomes of refugee children, youth, and their families in the U.S and abroad. By engaging in community-based participatory research, she is further interested in the role of institutions, such as resettlement agencies, refugee-led organizations, and schools, in supporting the distinct needs of these vulnerable yet resilient groups. She has over a decade of research and practice experience collaborating with refugee and migrant populations in global contexts like Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Ghana, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, Ecuador, Peru, India, The Bahamas, and the United States. 

Prior to attending graduate school, Dr. Cureton worked as a research associate at Northwestern University’s Institute for Policy Research. She also served as a research fellow for the U.S. Department of State in Turkey, working with Syrian refugee youth in school and community settings. Dr. Cureton received a PhD and master’s degree from the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago. She also received graduate certificates in forced migration and refugee mental health from Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and Northwestern University. 

Dr. Cureton has published numerous articles in top peer-reviewed academic journals such as Youth & Society, Urban Education, International Social Work, Children & Schools, Journal of Adolescent Research and Journal of Career Assessment, to name a few. She has received funding support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Endowment of the Arts, Michigan Humanities Council, Fahs Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation, and the National Center for Institutional Diversity. Dr. Cureton has received several prestigious awards, such as being recognized by Diverse Issues of Higher Education as a 2025 Emerging Scholar due to her exceptional research, teaching, and service in the fields of social work and education as well as the Elizabeth Butler (Alumni) Award from the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, which celebrates a recent graduate who has shown remarkable potential and extraordinary career success in the field of social work. Dr. Cureton has also been recognized as an exceptional educator, winning the 2022 Teacher of the Year Award through the University of Michigan within her first year as a professor.