Counseling Diverse Populations, Essay Example

Social Justice in Counseling

The field of mental health counseling does not occur in a vacuum; it must be recognized that counseling takes place in the context of significant sociopolitical and historical forces. Counseling sessions, and the entire concept of counseling, function as a microcosm of this larger context. The entire model of therapy is rooted in a distinctly Euro-American worldview; as such, the framework of therapy may not suit everyone. Counselors must understand the potential limitations and biases inherent in such a system, and take care to utilize a social justice framework that shapes counseling according to the specific needs and background of all clients.

There are a number of biases built into the historical framework of counseling. Fudning for research is often doled out based on preconceived notions of what is socially or culturally acceptable. Scientific racism has promoted similar biases; example such as the Tuskegee Experiment and the Bell Curve book demonstrate how a Euro-American framework can strongly influence the treatment of racial or cultural minorities in the context of research or therapy. Contemporary counselors have embraced qualitative and context-based research and strength-based training as a means of countering these biases. At the same time, counselors must work to ensure that efforts to acknowledge such biases do not inadvertently hurt clients. Understanding the potential harmful effects of stereotypes does not mean that counselors should automatically assume such stereotypes are entirely true or entirely false.

The Social justice framework seeks to ensure that all clients are treated fairly and that counselors adjust their approach to the specific needs of the individual. The violation of social norms is not always indicative of a problem, and counselors must examine the behavior in the context of the client’s social and cultural background.

Systemic Oppression

While counselors may strive to acknowledge the diversity of their clients, it is still possible for ethnocentric multiculturalism to shape their views. This framework places different cultures and backgrounds in the context of superiority and inferiority. Persons of color and members of diverse population groups often experience institutional racism, a framework that keeps them “in their place” within the larger culture and society. It is necessary to recognize this potential and to ensure that different world views are not seen as inherently good or bad, or right or wrong. Persons of color may, for example, demonstrate suspicion or distrust of counseling. Or exhibit behaviors indicative of different value systems. Social Influence Theory holds that counselors build credibility and trust based on clients’ perceptions, and understanding the clients’ points of view can help counselors understand how to build credibility and gain trust.

Microaggressions

Microaggressions are understood to be the “brief and commonplace” behaviors and interactions that reinforce negative feelings in the larger cultural and social frameworks. These are the minor but routine indignities suffered by those who are not at the top of the social and cultural heap, and they reinforce stereotypes and the effects of racism, often in unseen but significant ways. The larger concept of microaggressions can be further broken down into microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations. These are the small but significant verbal and nonverbal behaviors that accrue to cause larger potential problems. Such micoraggressions may be dismissed as being minor, but minimizing them does not address the underlying problems they can cause for those who experience them. Counselors must be careful not to minimize these microaggressions, while also discerning how to help clients deal with them and not let them be “crazy-making.”

Barriers to MCT

Counseling is, broadly speaking, a process wherein the therapist and the client send and receive verbal and nonverbal cues and messages as they engage in interpersonal interaction. In general, this process requires that clients be open and willing to share intimate details about their lives. Counseling often encourages clients to focus on and work towards long-range goals. Counselors have acknowledged the potential pitfalls of YAVIS syndrome, meaning that therapists may show a bias in favor of clients who are young, attractive, verbal, intelligent, and successful. Such biases may be easy to understand, as it is human nature to find some people more attractive than others. Counselors must guard against YAVIS syndrome, however, and recognize that skills such as verbal intimacy may come more easily for some than for others.

There are other potential barriers and hurdles that counselors must sometimes overcome. The limitations on communication imposed by cultural differences can reinforce stereotypes and biases, and counselors have an obligation to work to overcome such barriers. Clients who struggle with personal intimacy, for example, may do so because of their specific background or because of larger cultural and social barriers. The general framework of counseling draws distinctions between mental and physical function, but this is at least in part predicated on the Euro-American nature of counseling. Clients of different background may not make such distinctions, and counselors have an obligation to recognize this and adjust their approaches accordingly. Other potential barriers may be found in class distinctions, economic differences, and individual differences and limitations. By adopting and applying a social justice framework to the process of therapy, counselors will be better able to serve the needs of all their clients.