.

Friday, March 29, 2019

The Human Diversity In A Counselling Environment Sociology Essay

The Human Diversity In A counseling Environment Sociology EssayIn forthwiths society the fancy of both(prenominal) individualism and human diversity spend a penny live both an organic and important aspect of messs daily lives. In the case of a counselings consumption, where a mutu altogethery trusting therapeutic surround is conducive to the success of both matters of therapy, it has become paramount for todays professional guidance to acknowledge and steer these issues when accounting entry into either therapeutic relationship with lymph nodes.With global migration easily available to numerous souls, the World has become a profoundly multicultural, multi culturalal and multinational office staff, with some a(prenominal) millions of people moving to live at heart new cultures. As a prove it is estimated that one in every 35 people is much(prenominal) an international immigrant. (Lago, 2011) Such a change in the demographics of potential invitees for any counsellor/psychotherapist today has resulted in a high hazard that they will come in to contact with individuals of differing race, culture, ethnicity, sexual taste, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, spiritual beliefs,political beliefs or other ideologies.The issues regarding identity is invariably complex and feces be continu all toldy changing (Kettle, 2004) and deals to be successfully navigated by the counsellor to ensure a mutually respectful relationship is created among them and the client in order for any therapeutically beneficial outcome to be achieved. If these identity issues argon non addressed the fix could be very harmful and detrimental to any potential relationship collectible to the dynamics of power and control between the client and counsellor (McKenzie, 1986 Lago, 2011). This attempt will describe the key issues of what it is that gives us our identity and what it means to be diverse.A simple definition for diversity back end be dispose d as being very different (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2012). It can however, be argued that it is much to a greater extent than that. It is having an representing that each individual person is unique and recognising those individual differences. For a counsellor and their client it is the explorationof these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment.It is nigh understanding each other and moving beyondsimple margin to embracing and celebrating therich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual and discovering how they whitethorn affect both the counsellor and client in bugger offing a healthy operative relationship.The advent of Rogers third force of psychotherapy, the client centred snuggle in the 1960s, introduced the idea that the client should be both the focus and at the very centre of the therapeutic session (Rogers, 1957). This soon led to the concept that an word meaning of a clients identity and culture is paramount to these aims being met. The depot the culturally encapsulated counsellor was introduced by Wrenn (1962) to critique a universalistic feeler to counselor which soon came to be known as multicultural pleader, which today is regarded by many therapists as the fourth force in psychotherapy/ foc exploitation.Multicultural focus is what involves place when a counsellor and their client are from differing cultural conclaves. Cultural identity itself however is non simply outlined by the colour of a persons skin or the geographical billet or even their ethnicity, it can encompass a multitude of factors. Gender, spiritual beliefs, social economic status, sexual taste are all identity factors that a culturally encapsulated counsellor needs to be cognizant of, not only from the clients perspective but also to have a sincere self wittingness of their own cultural identity. (Middleton, et al., 2011)The issue of race and ethnic identity comprises of several factors which include an understanding of mor e than just what it is to cutting or white. A sense of identification with what whiteness means as compared to being part of a racial/ethnic minority host, including the wideness of the difference between race and culture itself is critical to be approach an effect multicultural counsellor. It is vital that counsellors do not assume, for suit, that all blacks or all Asians have similar cultural backgrounds. at that place are various ethnic identifications that exist within each of these racial groups such as language, religion, or sex roles and whilst it is true many of these ethnic groups share the physical characteristics of race, they may not necessarily share the same value and beliefstructures (Katz, 1985). around examples of these ethnic identifications can be seen in the cultural value agreement of many black Africans, where a great value is placed on the concept of family, especially theirchildren, who are seen as agift fromGod. There is a great emphasis on their sens e of community and their place in it. Personal wellbeing becomes secondary to that of social conflict resolution, which is seen as more important, to ensure peace and equilibrium within the community. Another example can be seen within the Chinese cultural environment, where passivity instead than assertiveness is revered. Quiescence rather than verbal articulation is seen as a sign of wisdom and there is the role of the all-knowing father that the Chinese respect for authority bestows on them (Ching and Prosen, 1980).The fact that conventional talk over therapies have been developed upon the research with predominantly middle classed white men indicates a propensity towards gender bias within the profession. It has even been reported that whatsoever professional counsellors have evaluated fe young-begetting(prenominal) clients as less competent than manly clients (Balkin, Schlosser and Levitt, 2009). Aspects of gender can be also affected by sacred attitudes from both the cou nsellor and client, either of which may have more traditional beliefs about specific gender roles and behaviour. There are also authoritative individuals or groups who adhere to religious fundamentalism which should be taken into consideration, which places women in the more traditional roles other than those chosen by more modern contemporary women. These fundamentalists have been seen to exhibit strong sexist behaviour in regards to issues of gender (Balkin, Schlosser and Levitt, 2009).It is clear that religious identity has been shown play a pivotal role for both the client and the counsellor within the therapeutic process. It is suggested that highly religious people have a tendency to believe they have stronger example attributes than those of non-religious people (Hunter, 2001 cited in Balkin, Schlosser and Levitt, 2009, p.420). In the case of a highly religious counsellor, such a bias could ca engross complications within the counselling environment in regards to issues su ch as homophobia, gender bias and racism. It could be argued that when confront with issues such as homosexuality, which is regarded as a sin in many conservative religions, it could give rise to problems with dealing with clients who fall into the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender group for the highly religious counsellor (Balkin, Schlosser and Levitt, 2009).A persons gender/sexual orientation could be argued as being one of the more complex identity issues, with its anonymity and invisibility being a large factor that can create problems for both counsellor and client. Despite a growing human race awareness of gender identity with the acceptance of trans-identified celebrities on popular boob tube such as Graham Norton and Gok Wan, there can be a certain amount of confusion for the counsellor when working with transgender clients as the trait between gender and sexuality is prone to being misunderstood. (Hawley, 2011)Sexual orientation generally refers to a persons sexual object choice, as in whether we study to have sex with male or with females. As a result the options are to be straight (heterosexual), gay (homosexual) or bisexual. For most people the determination of sexuality is dependent on the gender of the individuals, i.e. male/female, male/male, and female/female. However for some this is more complex for what if your gender was unfathomed to you? For some, this issue goes beyond the physical sexuality of their bodies it is subject to behaviours, social acceptance and/or belonging to specific groups to which their allocated sex consigns them. (Hawley, 2011)For the counsellor, it is important to be aware of the multiple possibilities that fall within gender/sexuality identification. Pre-judgement and bias is an all too easy mistake for the inexperienced counsellor to make about sexuality, with the arrival of a cross dressing client. Similarly the client themselves may be feeling terrified and in a state of puzzlement as to their own feeli ngs, in such instances a open tending(p) and understanding therapist would be considered a lifeline. (Hawley, 2011)In an effort to address the diversity of clients in the counselling environment, a number of models have been introduced to the counselling professional in an effort to provide adequate training in the areas of race, culture, ethnicity and other areas of diversity as key variables in understanding the representations of psychological distress in clients (Moodley, 2005). litigate, Arredondo and McDavis (1992) states that counsellors who practice without adequate training or competency when working with clients from diverse cultural backgrounds are prone to practicing unethically and with potentially harmful actions, which borders on a violation of human rights.Sue and Sue (1990) identified three areas in which a culturally skilled counsellor could become proficient in multiculturalism. The first is the process of becoming aware of their own assumptions about human beha viour, values, biases, preconceived notions and personal limitations. Secondly, is the attempt to understand and share the worldview of their culturally different client with respect and appreciation and without wondrous any negative judgments. Thirdly and finally, a culturally skilled counsellor is someone who actively develops and puts into practice appropriate, relevant and sensitive intervention strategies utilising skills when working with their diverse clients. However, since the publication and formal adoption by the American Counselling Association of the Sue, et al. (1982) multicultural counselling competencies (MCC) model, some researchers have noted that shortsighted empirical research has been carried out to evaluate the model itself (Chao, 2012).Patterson (1996) states that multicultural counselling is generic in nature and as such all counselling is multicultural. It is not hard to accept the uniqueness of each individual client when you consider the infinite number of combinations and permutations of identify. As such to try and develop a different counselling technique for each one would be an insurmountable task. There appears to be an emphasis on the difference in values between diverse cultures, but it should be acknowledge that so many of these different values are actually customs, lifestyles, habits, social norms and as such common to many different groups and even considered to be universally accepted values (Patterson, 1996).The success of the exsisiting models within counselling/psychotherapy should not be so easily abandoned in an attempt to become more culturally diverse. Any compromise of the westernised therapeutic psychological models should be limited as has been suggested through the intervention of a more multicultural approach when working with ethincally diverse clients, for diluting the process would surely lead to a less effectual service being provided (Patterson, 1996)Sue Sue (1990) acknowledged that the core conditi ons such as unconditional positive regard, respect and accpetance of the individual, an sympathetic relationship of understanding the clients problem from their own perspective and allowing the client to look for their own core values and reach their own solutions are counselling qualities that may trancend culture.Rogers (1957) claimed that there are five basic qualities that all counsellors need to become an effective counsellor and as such create an effective therapeutic relationship. The nature of this relationship has been well established within the counselling environment and is the same, regardless of whatever cultural, ethnic, gender or social group a client belongs to.Having respect for clients, trusting them to make the right decisions, take responsibility for themselves. Genuiness, where the counsellor acts like a real person, not coming across as the all knowing expert or using a battery of techniques on the client. Empathic understanding for a client is more than sim ply having the knowledge of the group to which they belong. It is being able to use this knowledge to enter the clients world by invitation through self revelation by the client, which is related to the degree of respect and genuiness displayed towards the client. (Rogers, 1957 Patterson, 1996)It is essential that communication of these qualities is perceived and felt by the client during the threapeutic process in order for them to be effective. The understanding of cultural differences in both verbal and non-verbal behaviours can cudgel some of the difficulties encountered when dealing with culturally diverse clients. It can also be said that these qualities are not only essential for an effective counselling environment but also facilitate all interpersonal relationships. existence neither time-bound or culture-bound thay can encompass all issues of identity within the counselling environment. (Patterson, 1996)

No comments:

Post a Comment