Multicultural and Diversity, Essay Example

How might societal views on homosexual individuals affect treatment and counseling?   

Societal views on homosexual individuals affect treatment and counseling because counselors may approach homosexual clients with a biased view. Often, it is difficult for inexperienced counselors to view their clients’ experiences objectively if they have little familiarity with clients of this background. Therefore, it is possible for counselors to approach the treatment of homosexual clients based on societal views rather from a more understanding and experienced point of view. As a consequence, it is likely that some homosexual clients will receive a lower quality of care compared to their heterosexual peers.

What steps will you as a human service professional take to assure your personal biases do not affect treatment and counseling of these individuals?

As a human service professional, it is important to ensure that personal biases will not affect treatment and counseling of these individuals. In order to ensure that I am adequately prepared to treat homosexual clients, it will be important to read and review the relevant literature to determine the problems this group typically encounters in addition to effective methods that have been used to resolve these problems in the past. Furthermore, inexperienced human service professionals would benefit by discussing this client population with their more experienced peers to gain an understanding of the local homosexual population with regards to their needs.

How do class, oppression and privilege effect the relationship between client and counselor?

Class, oppression, and privilege effect the relationship between client and counselor relationships because this defines what makes the experiences of each individual different. As a consequence of these differences, it is necessary for the counselor to gain an understanding of these factors on the client/counselor relationship because it is likely that the experiences of the client will differ from the counselor’s and it is necessary for the counselor to be familiar with these problems despite lack of firsthand experience. Individuals from difference classes experience different problems and it is important for the counselor to understand which groups are at   greater risks for different problems so that there is an inherent connection between the client and counselor when the problem is initially discussed. While each case is different, it is valuable for the counselor to understand a variety of solutions that can be proposed for each problem as a starting point to discuss the treatment proccess.

Discuss the power differential in human service settings for

• therapist/case manager
• client
• receptionist
• client’s family

As a therapist, how would you empower your client?

There is a significant power differential in human service settings for various individuals. The therapist or case manager has the most direct power over the client and the client’s family. The client’s family typically has power over the client, and the receptionist exerts a degree of control over the therapist. As a therapist, it is therefore essential to empower the client by demonstrating that he or she can gain control over the various aspects of their lives. For example, a client that is controlled by his or her family could be made to understand that this relationship should work in both directions and that any other patterns of behavior may not be normal. It is also important for the therapist to empower the client by encouraging him or her to fully trust that the therapist has the client’s best interest in mind. This will ultimately allow the client to gain the power that he or she needs in life.