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The importance of cultural context in counselling
The importance of cultural context in counselling
The importance of congruence in counselling
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1. The person-centred approach to counselling is based on Rogers’s belief that every human strives for and can fulfill their own potential. Person-centred counsellors provide clients with three core conditions, congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard, to facilitate client change. Although this approach is widely used and influences other therapeutic approaches, limitations have been raised about the suitability of the person-centred approach in cross-cultural counselling. Person-centred therapy assumes a universal “one size fits all” approach to the extent that all individuals are unique (Raskin, Rogers & Witty, 2014, p.136). However, it is based on values and language of white, middle-class males and consequently …show more content…
However, certain cultures value collectivism over individualism. Within such cultures, clients are likely to be more influenced by societal expectations rather than their own personal well-being. Moreover, the client may be looking for a more direct approach to counselling and could find the lack of structure off-putting. A culturally competent person-centred counsellor strives to work with the client’s external and internal world while developing an “appreciation and openness to all kinds of differences” (Raskin, Rogers & Witty, 2014, …show more content…
Dereflection is the first step. Dereflection is a method of distancing the client from their immediate symptoms and problems and redirecting them toward more positive aspects of their lives resulting in symptom reduction. Frankl (1986) developed dereflection to counteract hyperintention (trying to hard) and hyper-reflection (thinking too hard). The second step is attitude modulation, which involves clients seeing their problem from different perspectives, for example reframing their problems from a negative to positive (Das, 1998). The third is an exploratory step that involves allowing the client to come to a place where they are receptive to creating new meaning, and start to connect meaning in different areas of their life. The fourth and final step is assisting the client to build upon the first three steps to create new commitments and
Counselors today face the task of how to appropriately counsel multicultural clients. Being sensitive to cultural variables can be conceptualized as holding a cultural lens to human behavior and making allowances for the possibility of cultural influence. However, to avoid stereotyping, it is important that the clinician recognize the existence of within-group differences as well as the influence of the client’s own personal culture and values (Furman, Negi, Iwamoto, Shukraft, & Gragg, 2009). One’s background is not always black or white and a counselor needs to be able to discern and adjust one’s treatment plan according to their client.
A therapist will face problems, issues and client troubles everyday. The professional must understand how their client relates to the world around them. These feelings and ideas affect how the client sees the problem and how they respond to their situation. Their actions, in turn, have bearing on individual thoughts, needs, and emotions. The therapist must be aware of the client's history, values, and culture in order to provide effective therapy. This paper will outline and provide information as to the importance of cultural competence and diversity in family therapy.
Person centred care is defined as health care professionals work together for people who use the health care services. Person centred care also helps to support the patient’s knowledge and also helps the patient to develop an understanding of their health condition and also gives them the confidence to effectively manage and make educated decisions about their own health and also the health care in which they receive. (Health Foundation 2014). This suggests that each individual needs to be treated with the same amount of respect and they also need to be treat equally. Furthermore, the RCN (2015) argue that important principles of Person Centred Care are respect, dignity and compassion. As professional it is important that
Next, I am going to discuss the person-centred interventions I exercised through the therapeutic process with my client in session four. Within this I am going to explore how these interventions impacted my client’s responses and how I could improve my skills in future sessions.
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.
In some countries, seeking medical help for mental health issues is the reasonable thing to do, where other cultures may view it as taboo and believe those matters should be left to religion or the family. Another vital aspect of multicultural counseling is the relationship between the therapist and counselee. It is essential that both parties are aware of the existing cultural differences. As a professional counselor, I will continue to educate myself properly, so as to give the best counsel by building trust and rapport. A few other aspects to keep in mind is learning to become culturally sensitive to communication and steering clear of trigger words or speech that the client may find offensive. Also, being aware of spatial distance is necessary. Some cultures prefer close contact and others may find too close of a distance
Person-Centred Counselling established its origins in the late 1940 during a conference when Carl Rogers gave a talk entitled ‘New Concepts in Psychotherapy’. The summarisation of the talk resulted in the theory that the client in a counselling relationship should be at the center of the relationship and lead the counselling process. The Client, in effect became the expert on their life and/or problems. The fundamental belief is that an individual is capable of change, growth and fulfillment (self-concept). Person-Centred counselling looks at ‘the here and now’ and how to make changes that affect the future. Person-Centred Counselling generated a system known as the ‘Core Conditions Model’ which emphasized three key components: Empathy, Congruence and Acceptance.
Patterson clearly displays a level of awareness with in the therapeutic environment consistent with the aims of Multicultural Counseling. As Hays (2008) notes, that Multicultural Counseling is unlike the major counseling theories in that instead of describing how therapy is done, it stems from the question “With whom is it done?” (p. 177). Focusing on the person is a practice that encourages respect and rapport vital for maintaining a healthy counselor-client relationship.
“Modest goals are seen as the beginning of change”. Clients talking about the exceptions to the problems. No problem is constant and change is inevitable. When clients begin to truly change their views and become more positive about their situation they have engaged in change. Positivity concerning their strengths leads to the more desireable outcome which is a brief series of sessions. Small changes make way for larger changes.
The assumption is however, that the client was never able to have their feelings heard by the people surrounding them. Person Centered Therapy would allow the client to then be able to express their feelings openly. According to Strupp (1971), “psychotherapeutic relationship is in principle indistinguishable from any good human relationship in which a person feels fully accepted, respected, and prized” (p. 39). Thus, there must be a therapeutic alliance between therapist and client. This therapeutic alliance should creative an environment for the client in which the client feels the therapist is judgment-free.
4. Pedersen B. et al. (1996) ( ed.) Counselling Across Cultures, Sage Publications Inc.: USA
This semester in procedures of counseling class we discussed a lot of different types of counseling theories. We also did a lot of practicing with each theory with our partners. I found that person-centered therapy best fits my personal attitudes and style of counseling. I think this would be a good style of counseling for me because I can see myself better helping people as a whole than trying to fix an actual problem. I don’t think I could just focus on a client’s problem and problematic behavior, and not try to help better them as a person. This is the type of therapy that is the warm and fuzzy type. I like to think as myself as very empathic person, and always try to put myself in other people’s shoes. I try
Counselors need to be aware that they are able to work with particular issues and certain cultural groups. This is because conscious and unconscious meanings and assumptions, such as strongly held religious or political beliefs, will be communicated to the client. “It is desirable up to a point to know about a particulars clients background and therefore not to ask questions about it” due to the clients may be frustrated and impatient with this use of their time. (Bayne, Jinks, Collard, Horton, 2008). This is where cross-cultural training, supervision and personal development are
When working with culturally different clients it is important to remember that their culture shapes their identity, and their cultural reality could be very different from the clinicians (Garthwait, 2016). Their culture may have taught them to think differently, socialize differently, and both unconsciously and consciously view the world differently (Garthwait, 2016). The clinician should be aware of this, and be careful to show understanding, not judgment, during the session (Garthwait, 2016). It is also helpful if the clinician develops a dual perspective with the client; to focus on both the client’s attitudes, values, etc. while also focusing on society’s values and attitudes (Garthwait, 2016).
Reflecting on the Person-Centered Therapy, it is similar to the Existential Therapy because it focuses on the client/therapist relationship, where the therapist needs to be totally genuine, empathetic and non-judgmental toward their clients in order to gain the client’s trust. I like the fact that the Person-Centered Therapy views the client as their best authority on their own experience, and being fully capable of fulfilling their own potential for growth. I also like the fact that the therapist is non-directive, does not give advice and there is no specific technique involved. Person Centered Therapy can basically develop their own technique as their relationship develop with the client.