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Importance of professional counselor
The importance of counseling as a profession
The importance of counseling as a profession
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In order for productive counseling sessions to take place, there must be clear communication and the client must be able to trust the professional. It is commonly believed that a societal diagnosis of flaw in mental health is caused or contained by the individual, rather than as a byproduct of societal systems. This type of individualism is a microaggression because not only does it victim shame, but these clients are also often encouraged to self-explore, so they themselves can “fix” their “own” problems. If a professional assumes a colorblind approach they may not be trying to completely understand the client’s identity and experiences, and may even minimizes these experiences because of unconscious racism (257). Black clients especially …show more content…
They are also able to decipher nonverbal meanings, such as tone of voice, body language, and gestures, in which they can sense a professional’s discomfort or biases (272). An effective client and professional relationship relies on two components including expertness and trustworthiness. “Expertness is an ability dimension while trustworthiness is a motivational component.” Expertness is expressed in how knowledgeable and trained a professional is in adequately dealing with certain clients’ issues, and is most respected when the professional displays this when addressing and recognizing diversity as an influential dynamic (273). Trustworthiness is when a professional is honest, motivated, and sincere in their interactions with the client. While ideally, it would be more beneficial for both parties, if the professional contained each vital set of therapeutic traits, this is not always the case. Sometimes, a client will excuse a therapist for lacking one of the two, and sometimes, a lack of either of these will contribute to the underutilization and not returning to these sessions
Mills (2017) outlines the difficulty that some multiracial people have with others categorizing their identity for them and the resulting feeling of being forced to identify with one group over another, while not making room for the experience of multiracial identity in of itself. Moreover, this can be a marker of oppression and discrimination, which can then impact a person’s identity as their turmoil is internalized. Mock’s (2014) experience as a biracial Black and Native Hawaiian parallels this. During her time in California and Texas, Mock grew up in a community of black people of colour and was perceived as a black person, so her identity as a Native Hawaiian was erased and not externally visible. In contrast, when living in Hawaii, Mock was treated as an outsider and nonlocal because she presented as a black woman of colour. This goes to show that intersectional identity is more than what is presented on the outside and that all racial identities need to be recognized and affirmed. Moreover, social workers can utilize the art of meeting clients where they are by letting the client tell their story, learning about their experiences, and empowering, recognizing, and validating their multiracial identities (Harkey, Sortedahl, Crook, & Sminkey, 2017). Every client will construct and experience their racial identity in a
Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., & Holder, A. (2008). Racial microaggressions in the life experience of Black Americans. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(3), 329.
The African American community is suffering with the issue of inadequate mental health care for many decades. There is a deep lack of understanding about what mental illness is and there are many barriers that hinder African Americans from receiving the care that they need. People are unaware of the effects of mental illness, and what mental illness can encompass. “Most importantly, mental health includes people’s feelings of worth in the context of the total cultural and societal system as well as within the identifiable groups to which they belong.” (Snowden, 165) The experience you receive as a race and how you perceive your race is apart of mental illness. Many African American people look down upon their race due to socioeconomic hierarchy that society has given people. African American’s are at high risk to developing mental illness. Healthcare providers have misdiagnosed many African Americans due to lack of knowledge. “African Americans in ...
When advocating for the success of a client when utilizing this theory, a counselor must be prepared to identify and eliminate barriers, prejudices, oppression, and discrimination that may create a psychological obstruction in the client. Learning culturally-competent counseling practices and current theoretical approaches while practicing self-reflection will help the counselor acquire the skills necessary to engage with a diverse clientele. Strategies such as; identifying cultural differences, understanding and addressing issues in the counseling process, the counselor’s ability to understand self, and ongoing education are all important strategies in combating oppression and eliminating barriers.
Many people believe that racism is no longer present; however, racism is subtly interconnected with many aspects of ever person’s life, including school, upper mobility, access to services and their race many times determine the proper care given by a health care professional. Based on research, racism is interconnected with mental health care. This essay will offer a theoretical explanation that allows social workers a better understanding to clinician’s misdiagnosis of ethnic minorities. Critical Race Theory permits clinicians to purposely or unintentionally misdiagnoses ethnic minorities and will be used in understanding how racism ingrained in the mental health care system.
Unlike cultural competence, Anti- racism and the Anti-oppression framework has a clear focus, to directly address oppressive practices, and privilege in large institutions. In the “ More than being against it: Anti– racism and Anti –oppression in mental health services “ the authors Simon Corneau and Vicky Stergiopouls, identify seven strategies of the anti-racism and anti-oppression that should be employed when practicing direct service with clients. These seven strategies are "empowerment, education, alliance building, language, alternative, healing strategies, advocacy, social justice/activism, and fostering reflexivity” (Corneau & Stergiopoulos, 2012). The goal of using these seven strategies with clients is to engage the client in the process of care by recognizing the strengths and knowledge that the client brings to the relationship and honoring the idea that there is a racial feature of oppression that is inherent in the dynamics of the client clinician relationships. For example, the use of this practice in my current job with the Family Drug Courts could have a profound effect on the outcomes for both parents and children involved in the program. One example is the case of a 28-year-old mother of three that was separated from her children because of her drug addiction. This parent had an extensive history of trauma,
... properly interact and communicate well with their clients, they need to be emotionally intelligent, self aware, create a therapeutic relationship and develop reflective practices. All of the above contributes to an individual’s health and so it’s very important that we are able to control our emotions, correct and learn from our mistakes, examine and balance our life and create a therapeutic environment so that our clients feel comfortable, safe and trust us enough to live their life in our hands.
For clients who express their experiences for the first time in counseling, it can be a powerful force to help them heal. It is important for the counselor to pay close attention to the person’s body language, affect and tone. The counselor must consider the possible scenarios that may occur in the first session. Cultural aspects of the client must be considered. From the client’s perspective, the first session is an important session, even if the first session is mostly an information gathering session. The client may have experiences much trauma in their life, never being able to trust a person with their closest feelings. This is why it is very important to establish rapport and trust in...
¬When considering what my own personal philosophy of counseling would be, it was eye opening to consider who I was a person and how much I have grown. The self analysis was new to me because I never thought about how I do that on a day to day basis. Reviewing the questions I found that a lot of my focus surrounded family, my significant other, and close friends. Constantly living in a diverse population and having that as my surrounding also made its mark in my answers. I also noted that both past and present influences, but primarily the present, play a large role in my own perspective. By following the prompt, I was made to understand that my thought process makes me think of what is occurring in the present and how I can alter these happenings to help shape the future that I want.
They should be sensitive towards the client’s emotions and not be judgemental. Approach should also be developmentally and culturally appropriate and interaction void of any prejudice and discrimination (see ACA E.5.b. Cultural Sensitivity (in Diagnosis of Mental Disorders) & E.6.c. Culturally Diverse Populations (in Instrument Selection)). For example, while counselling a child, counsellor must be able to understand the perception of the child which may involve elements of immaturity and fantasy and not seek to correct the child’s worldview to match that of an adult. Such behaviour will diminish the child’s self-esteem and stress the child, causing harm instead of
Three interrelated attitude of the therapist are central to the success of person-centered therapy, this include: congruence; unconditional positive regard; and empathy (Corey, 2010). Congruence represents the openness and geniuses of the therapists. Therapists who function this way does not hind behind a professional façade, and are willing to share significant emotional reactions with their clients. Unconditional positive regards refers to the therapist accepting the client totally as she or he is without disapproving particular behaviors, believes, feelings or characteristics. Therapists convey this message by their wiliness to listen without being judging, or directive. The therapist who creates a nonthreatening context allows the clients to explore and share their true feelings without fear of being judged. Empathy is the third necessary component of a therapist’s attitude. The therapist should try to see through client’s point to view, and show understanding and sensitivity to client’s feeling throughout the therapy session. When these three attitudes are conveyed by a therapist, according the Rogers, the client can freely express themselves without afraid of being
My mother was never inclined to use therapy as an intervention and whenever it was mentioned she became very defensive. My brother followed suit by laughing it off. Many non-medical beliefs endorsed by racial/ethnic minority groups assign personal responsibility to the development of illness and may explain increased negative views held by racial/ethnic minority groups (Alvidrez, Snowden, & Kaiser 2008). The result of personal responsibility is an outside perception of weak and disabled.
Reflective listening gives the client a sense of importance due to them currently having the floor and a moment to express themselves. Reflective listening is orchestrated through acts of showing empathy towards understanding the perspective of one’s feelings. Through this method, the listener does not offer their opinion or perspective while the client speaks. Adding eye contact can also be beneficial or uncomfortable due to client’s background. For example, one’s culture can believe that is it disrespectful not to make eye contact while another may not participate in that activity. During completing the initial assessment with Gwinda, the social work intern participated by allowing her to discuss the need for services. Gwinda further discussed how she is unsure of how the treatments will go and expressed how fearful she was to undergo these different changes. With uncertainty lingering, the social work intern sat next to Gwinda’s bedside ensuring during that moment the client had a listening
In order to be an effective counselor, one must remember to keep the client(s) in mind. The goal is to assist the client(s) in living the best life possible for that particular person or persons. With that being said, one cannot forget that they have their own set of morals, values, ideas, and the like. Social workers have to keep in mind that there will be cases that are complex and a favorable outcome may not be possible. In the instance that I am confronted with an issue that conflicts with my religious beliefs, I plan on assisting the client as much as possible by adhering the National Association of Social Work Code of Ethics, NASW standards for the Practice of Clinical Social Work, and discussing my concerns with my supervisor while
The capability of an individual to understand and relate to the client is called empathy. When an individual is effective in empathizing with the client, it can be argued that a patient is likely to feel validated (Davies, 2014, p.198). This validation creates a sense of acceptance and closeness in the relationship between the nurse and client. The client will then comfortably have the ability to express any underlying feelings or problems to the nurse. The comfortability experienced by the client in the relationship will then slowly develop into trust. Davies (2014) states that when the patient trusts the practice nurse, the health professional is provided with a more complete and accurate understanding of the patient’s condition. In this way, empathetic nursing ultimately improves the quality of care that the practice nurse can provide (p.200). An empathetic attitude towards a client helps him/her to realize that the nurses are relatable and that they are human too. This provides the nurse and client relationship with a strong foundation that can further develop into an accepting and open relationship where both parties can benefit. The nurse will be able to provide the client with specific care and be able to feel a sense of accomplishment by caring for the client. The establishment of trust in a nurse and client relationship generates