Counselors and Cultural isssues

Are culturally sensitive treatment plans possible? Why or Why not? 

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Before I get into this I want to say that I think all of us attempting to be effective counselors should take a second and third language. This will aid in knowing diverse cultures that America is vastly becoming. I for one am in a Spanish 1 class and have signed up for a Jappanese class. I speak both at a limited level but think it will aid in my career to becoming culturally diverse on a limited level. 

That being said, yes I think sensitive treatment plans for different cultures are possible. You just have to work at it. “Therapists should consider the cultural background of clients), with less attention given to how cultural competence can be measured, conceptualized in terms of skills, implemented in practice, and trained in others,” (Sue, (2006), p.238). As we continue in our labors we have certain questions that will arise in the true meaning of cultural competency. Many counselors think if they are just not bias and do not put their true inner thinking on the client that they can be efficient. I tend to disagree with this type of thinking. 

Some questions being asked are as follows:

• What characteristics constitute cultural competency? 
• Is it even possible to know all cultures that may pass through you therapy door?
• When a counselor thinks he or she is culturally competent, is it toward one specific group, i.e., Hispanic, Black, White, and none else? 

These are things to consider. 

Our first level is the provider level, e.g., the counselor role, then we the next which emposses the place we work for, e.g., the agency, are they culturally competent? Then finally we have third level is molar and deals with systems of care within a community. What is offered in the community as far as churches, programs, schools, law enforcement, organizations and the geographics that are served in said community, ( Sue, (2006). Differences are often barriers to effective therapy. 

How does the developmental stage of the client influence the treatment plan? 

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In this field we will document our clients development in the process we have on-going. We will listen and less talking. This will aid in seeing the clients true needs which can only be seen and conceptualized through multiple sessions and rapport building, e.g., trust and a client/therapist relationship. “When the therapist perceives the relationship to be appropriate for the client's continuing development, he or she may accept the role provided by the client,” (Gross, (1981), para 7). 

So as we analyze our client the treatment plan will grow in directions that affect our client in a positive tone. We are bound to never do any harm to our client and always strive for them to better their current situation and life. 

References

Gross, T. P., (1981). "Developmental Counseling and Psychotherapy: Applying the Theories of Piaget, Perry, Kohlberg and Erikson" Dissertations. 2586.

https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/2586

Sue, S. (2006). Cultural competency: From philosophy to research and practice. Journal of Community Psychology, 34(2), 237–245. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/jcop.20095

Pain in life-My blood is my sister

I have to deal with family members hurting me all my life with this perverse conception of me that no matter what I did in life I was seen as "garbage", e.g., a person that is ok to just throw-away. My father died August 16th at 4:02 PM, and I was tasked with signing all documents based on Oregon law. My grandmother, aunts, and cousins all treated me like shit. I even asked that they extend a courtesy of allowing me to video chat to see my my dad's burial. They all agreed and then refused. They all are nothing to me anymore. They did this for a family member that was in jail, yet not I!

My sister was here for me as well as my husband as I went through a dark time, I am still in it. My only child my son called to gloat that somehow he felt as if I deserved the pain they dished. Even though, I was the one that kept the peace when his dad died and made sure he got something left from his father. I befriended a woman who cheated with my ex-husband to do this in a feeble attempt to make sure he was ok.

Today I speak to no one but my sister. I think other's can learn from this. Life sucks. But we can build our own paradise.

My mother's contibution to my pain is coming. #TwilaEOdom

https://www.facebook.com/Crissy.harris68

How My thinks on Psychology, Mental Illness, & DNA

Once the clinician has collected as much information as possible, his or her second step in the case conceptualization process is to begin organizing the various client data. By studying the clients past, relatives, patterns, and incidents from youth to adulthood we can get enough information to put together a profile of the client's behavior and abnormal actions. According to Schwitzer & Rubin, (2014), “conceptual skills to weave together the different pieces of information about the client’s adjustment, development, distress, or dysfunction into logical groupings that elucidate the person’s larger clinical concerns, the problematic themes underlying the person’s difficulties with life situations or life roles, or critical problems found in the person’s intrapsychic or interpersonal approach to his or her world,” (p. 31).

For example, a woman brings in a son (Alex) who has a psychotic break, upon maing a genogram of their family we find out that her brother, sister, dad, and grandmother have all had depression, suicide, and schizophenria diagnoses in the past, It turns out Ms. Costello was familiar with the painful and tragic consequences of mental illness long before Alex’s troubles began.(Mackinnon, (2012). Her son is DNA connected to this illness and now we have information to apply to the treatment plan.

One method to help us new counselors is known as Inverted Pyramid Method of Case Conceptualization

• Taken together, a start-to-finish case conceptualization begins with learning about the client’s concerns
• moves on to meaningfully organizing this information into patterns and themes
• and finishes by explaining the patterns and themes using our choice of theory or theories, (Schwitzer & Rubin, (2014).

References

Mackinnon D. F. (2012). A family tree filled with mental illness: review: a lethal inheritance: a mother uncovers the science behind three generations of mental illness by victoria costello. Cerebrum : the Dana forum on brain science, 2012, 5.

Schwitzer, A. M., & Rubin, L. C. (2014). Diagnosis and treatment planning skills: A popular culture approach (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN-13: 9781483349763 Retrieved from https://in.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/44297_3.pdf

Reply from Classmate:

Re: Topic 3 DQ 1 (Obj. 3.1 and 3.2)

Hi Crystal,

You made some interesting points in your post. I appreciate the example you gave about Alex and exploring his mother's family history. The genetic component of mental illness cannot be ignored during the diagnostic phase of treatment. Sometimes that genetic component makes treatment planning a little easier. The clinician has some foundation, to begin with. It can be very challenging when a client comes to treatment and reports having no family with a history of mental illness. Whether or not this is true, it still leaves the clinician needing to figure out appropriate treatment planning.

Thank you,

Reply back to Classmate: 

I truly think that DNA patterns will show us in the future much more on how we are wired. For example "Diseases like the Black Death have the ability to powerfully shape human demography and human biology," (Pappas, (2014). This is exciting to me because the people that are descendants today still have a DNA change that makes their immune system resistant to certain diseases. My theory is if this can happen to the body, then how much can happen through the brain in a DNA pattern that can cause mental illness. 

The article can be found here if your interested. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/black-death-survivors-and-their-descendants-went-on-to-live-longer/

I thank you for your reply. 

Reference

Pappas, S. (2014). Live Science. Black Death Survivors and Their Descendants Went On to Live Longer. 

Reply from Professor:

Crystal, thanks for sharing the article with us. It is interesting and your theory is as well! I do believe in the biopsychosocial diathesis stress model in that we are all predisposed to something and the stressors in the environment, including prenatal teratogens, bring out physical and mental disorders in us. Thanks again for your take on this!