Multicultural counseling
Part one: Racial, Ethnic, Immigration, or National Identity.
The panelist identifies as a black, heterosexual woman who is a United States citizen, born and raised there. Her parents have a US background as well and therefore have no indigenous background. She identifies herself as a Christian, has no history of mental illness, and considers to be in the middle-class group. She identifies as black as opposed to African Americans because she feels no connection to Africa as it is said that black people have their origins from Africa.
The panelist has been a victim of microaggressions and did not have a good experience with school counselors hence her reason to become a counselor. She has faced discrimination and oppression from school counselors in the past. Microaggressions are prejudices against excluded groups that expose themselves in a manner that makes the victim feel uncomfortable or offended (Sue et al. 2007). These biases could be verbal, behavioral, and environmental mortifications that are hostile towards a racial group and could either be intentional or unintentional.
According to Day-Vines et al. (2007) studies show that there is a concern about the client’s mistrust of the mental health structure and evidence showing that counselors are involved in racial and ethnic bias. People of color will normally seek mental health services in large numbers as they make every effort to get through school, family, and career issues that may have been made difficult by the outcomes of racial discrimination. This calls for immense concern among counselors because they have an ethical role to provide racially suitable counseling interventions as it is required by the ACA Code of Ethics.
Research shows that being aware of the cultural aspects during a counseling process increases the credibility of the counselor, and results in client satisfaction. The client can feel free to disclose information and makes them willing to follow up on their sessions. Therefore introducing the subjects of race, ethnicity, and culture which is also referred to as broaching during the counseling procedure is significant and positively impacts both the counselor and the client (Day-Vines et al. 2007). Failing to consider racial issues and representation might hinder a counselor from identifying the unavoidable encounters with racism that the minority group members go through. Broaching allows the remedying of this silence and shame issue by providing an environment of emotional safety for the client.
The panelist experienced discrimination from the school counselors due to her race and studies show that race is the most contentious issue in US society. It is an issue up to date and therefore important for counselors to be racial alert to curb this issue. Research shows that culturally responsive counselors are perceived by clients of color to have more credibility and are competent compared to those that are not. My experience is different from that of the panelist because I have not been discriminated against or oppressed because of my color, maybe because am white. However, I do not think any person despite their race should be oppressed or discriminated based on their color or any other aspect. Racial microaggressions can cause more mental torture and more so coming from a counselor who is supposed to be supportive. It is just heartbreaking that the panelist had to go through such an experience. I can identify with the panelist’s experience because from time immemorial racial microaggressions exist in everyday life.
Part two: Religion, Social Class and Classism
Spiritually and religiously, the panelist who is Dalad identifies as a catholic. Since she was young her parents were strict Catholics and had to attend church and this meant attending bible studies and other church activities. However, originally her mum believed in Islam and therefore was confusing for her because her mum had not informed her parents who were Muslims that she had changed her religion to Catholic. After her first communion, she told her grandparents about her Catholic religion and she now identifies herself as Catholic.
Dianne’s experience about social class includes her living a suburban middle-class life where she was not exposed much to economic classes. Her father had a good job and being the only child, her mum didn’t have to work. Living a suburban life did not allow her to get diverse exposure to social-economic groups. During her internship is when she encountered people struggling with social-economic status. People experience food security issues, lack of proper healthcare and most of the client's mental health needs then are dealing with the issue of frustrations, and not able to cope due to their economic class. This experience made her understand that people who don’t have basic needs cannot be able to express themselves and just want to have healthcare, eat, and sleep.
A privilege is a special advantage, right, or benefit that is given to or enjoyed by a person or a particular social class. According to Crozier (2015), privilege gives individuals the advantage of attending good schools and getting a good education. While for some of the underprivileged people find it hard to get job opportunities, or even get a good education, it is different for the privileged ones. When you are not privileged, you use the resources that are available and therefore could be limited to a certain social class (Shepard & Gibson 2020). On the other hand, the privileged are capable of exploring all options to find out what works for them.
My experience in terms of spirituality and religion is a different one because I am an atheist living in a town that the majority of the people are religious. For social class, I identify as a middle class which is different from the panelist because she is a suburban middle class. For the spiritual and religion panelist Dalad, I feel that everyone should have freedom of worship which she found confusing when still young. The Muslim and Catholic religions were confusing for her and besides, she was a child. I am happy that she later stood her ground and decided what she wanted. For Dianne, I feel that she was privileged enough to live in the suburbs and not worry about social-economic status. Coming from such a background and being able to work with clients from a very low social-economic class shows a lot of professionalism and care. I can identify with Dalad’s experience because I come from a town where the majority of the people are religious. With Dianne, I can identify to the level of professionalism and care for her clients because, despite the economic social class you come from, serving your clients with no bias and not overlooking them but understanding their needs is the ultimate goal.
Part four: Affectional Orientation and gender identity
Hus identifies herself as gay and a supporter of LGBT. She loves to express who she is in and out and doesn’t shy away from who she is. She has pictures of her and her wife on her webpage which made a client discriminate against her based on what she saw on her website. Because of having LGBT stuff on her profile, the client thought that she was not fit enough and dismissed her. Hus dresses in a masculine way but will not change that for anything. She works with members of the LGBT community as well. According to Harper et al. (2013), the LGBTQIQA community is believed to be strong and resilient and the role of working with people from this community is important. This is because the relationships that are made through this serve as affirmations and honor the lived experiences of individuals from this community. The LGBTQIQA community faces a lot of struggle to the hostile environment which makes it hard for them to thrive. It is therefore important to advocate with and for LGBTQIQA individuals, and groups to keep promoting their empowerment and just society that does not discriminate or oppress them.
Intersectionality is the exponentially challenging relations between genders, a race among other categories such as sexual orientation and social class (LaMantia, Wagner & Bohecker 2015). It is a consciousness of difference, oppression, and the outcomes of these relations in terms of power. Intersectionality is a difficult theory where people are faced with various magnitudes and cultural forms of discrimination and oppression. For one to understand the way identities are endorsed for constant control, it is important to first understand the social approach towards each of the self- endorsed identities. Having the knowledge and enough awareness, an individual is capable of understanding another person’s stand with the culture as a whole. For Hus, intersectionality applies in the sense that she is gay, and supports LGBT, and is a counselor. She is discriminated against because she supports the LGBT community and through this, some people think that she does not make a good counselor or decline her service because of her sexual orientation. Because of her stand to express herself for who she is, she is thought to be incompetent or unprofessional. Despite being a person who is well able to handle a situation, she is judged and discriminated against because of her code of dressing, and her style rather than be judged by her achievements and what she can offer.
Being an ally for the LGBTQ+ community entails being aware of who I am and my similarity or difference with the LGBTQ+ people. This includes having conversations with them, reading about their history and their lives, being a part of their workshops, seminars, and meetings (Harper et al. 2013). Being an ally also includes acquiring information on the issues that affect these individuals and getting to understand how sociocultural, political, and economic policies impact them. Being an ally entails supporting the individual's decision about coming out by listening to them and giving reflective responses because this too is a process. An ally needs to expedite an environment that is supportive by encouraging and promoting a space of respect through one’s actions. Using respectful language, having honest discussions about the community, and advocating for professional development activities that concern LGBTQ+ topics is also a significant aspect to consider as an ally.
References
Crozier, G. (2015). Middle-class privilege and education. British Journal of Sociology of
Education, 36(7), 1115-1123.
Day‐Vines, N. L., Wood, S. M., Grothaus, T., Craigen, L., Holman, A., Dotson‐Blake, K., &
Douglass, M. J. (2007). Broaching the subjects of race, ethnicity, and culture during the counseling process. Journal of Counseling & Development, 85(4), 401-409.
LaMantia, K., Wagner, H., & Bohecker, L. (2015). Ally development through feminist
pedagogy: A systemic focus on intersectionality. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 9(2), 136-153.
Shepard D. L & Gibson E.M (2020). Cultivating social class awareness in the counseling profession. Counseling Today. Retrieved from https://ct.counseling.org/2020/01/cultivating-social-class-awareness-in-the-counseling-profession/Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A., Nadal, K. L., &
Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: implications for clinical practice. American psychologist, 62(4), 271.
Taskforce, A. L. C., Harper, A., Finnerty, P., Martinez, M., Brace, A., Crethar, H. C., ... &
Kocet, M. (2013). Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling Competencies for counseling with lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, questioning, intersex, and ally individuals: Approved by the ALGBTIC board on June 22, 2012. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 7(1), 2-43.
