“Consider_Socio-Cultural_Issues_in_a_Counselling_Case_Study.”

“Consider socio-cultural issues in a counselling case study.” Cultural sensitivity and the ability to recognise diversity and cultural differences is an important part of effective counselling. This becomes more obvious and necessary when there is indeed a cultural difference between the counsellor and the client. One, before attempting to help others, should assess his personal worldview, and his awareness of different cultures and social structures. An important role in developing this awareness is the in depth knowledge and education. One cannot develop awareness if he does not know the existence of different cultural beliefs to his own. In the following fictional case study I will try to incorporate socio-cultural issues. Case Study: Maria is working as a senior software engineer in a technical company in London. She comes from Northern Spain and she moved to London to look for work as technical jobs were difficult to find in the area she is coming from. She is a well educated and very good looking young woman who loves her job. However she has difficulty in developing a life outside work and as the years pass by she gets panicky and more often than not she does not sleep properly. She sought help but the counsellor- a middle aged former housewife- failed to alleviate her symptoms. Maria was grown up in a society quite different to London. Her family is working to middle class. Her parents have always been there for her and have encouraged her to study and make something out for herself. They never discriminated her for being female and they supported her in taking a technical direction. However once in the London company she found herself to be the only female engineer around and her colleagues to treat her more as a pretty face and less as a highly skilled engineer. She also found that most of her colleagues were married or in relationships and that the culture in the UK is to avoid socialising weekends with single colleagues, something quite different than Spain and other Mediterranean cultures where the opposite happens. As a result her social life transformed almost over night from being quite lively when she was in her home country to numerous evenings on her own. As the years passed by, the lack of close relationships and the gender racism she was facing at work, affected her well being. Despite the fact that London is considered a multi-cultural city the working situation can be completely different. Maria is working in a male dominated and highly competitive environment. Most of her colleagues were surprised to find out she was female in the first place. Although she did not suffer direct attacks she had to endure a more subtle discrimination because of her gender. She was often bypassed in meetings, and she had always to prove herself in a way that her male colleagues never faced. The fact that her parents never treated her differently because of her gender, made her unprepared for such a working environment. She tried to persevere and deal with the pressure and she has done relatively well but at a personal cost. She became isolated and eventually she ended panicking about her future more often than not. Gender discrimination at work is a common social and cultural issue especially when it goes to professions that are considered best suited for a specific gender. In the case of Maria it was a female in a “male” job but it can also happen to the opposite sex. As an example there exist cases of male nurses being looked upon from their female colleagues. Maria had also to endure the stereotype of a Spanish good looking girl. Traditionally Northern cultures are fascinated from Mediterranean women and in a technical environment full of men it is not difficult to imagine the stir her appearance caused. My counselling approach: As aforementioned, Maria sought therapy in order to treat her anxiety and panic-like worry about her life but without success. She thinks her therapist was not the right one because she did not have the cultural awareness that was required for her case. Her therapist, although trained as a counsellor, could not understand her working environment and how competitive and gender biased could be. Maria had also the feeling that for her therapist was a bit of an exotic foreigner that was missing her own country. Whilst the latter was true it was not the help she was after. It felt a bit stereo-typical, biased and superficial. I believe because Maria is above the average educated and intelligent and also aware of her problems she needed someone that had the education, training and awareness to create a deeper rapport with her and then proceed to explore ways to alleviate/treat the symptoms and eventually render her a happier person. If I was Maria’s counsellor I would first of all try to find more about her work and cultural background at my own time and then use this information to create a rapport with her. It is, in my view essential for the therapist to have the knowledge about the environment his client comes from and the work he is doing. This kind of knowledge is of course difficult to have always a priori, but it can be obtainable if the counsellor is prepared to do some homework. Once I would feel I had a basic understanding about Maria’s work and home country, I would interact with her to get more personal info about her, her work and culture. I am hoping that this would make her feel that I am genuinely interested to help her. I feel this part is very important for a positive prognosis. The client has to feel that you care and you have the understanding and perseverance required to help. I would then ask about her previous attempts to therapy making clear that my aim is to understand her needs rather than criticising a colleague. I feel this part is also important because it can give insight about the reasons for failure. Was it only the aforementioned “flaws” of the specific therapist or Maria has a share in the negative outcome' Sometimes people go to counselling not to get help, but to feel they are doing something for their problems and without a solid intention to fix them. There are other times that they expect miracles and a life that took them years to grow off balance, to be fixed over-night. This is why it is essential to get a clear view of the client’s approach and expectation from you. If this stage is successful and both the rapport and expectations are established, I would advice Maria to continue on face to face counselling. My first goal would be to establish the source of her panic moments and try to alleviate them. When a person has panic incidents that are of general nature, that is, without an obvious trigger the therapist needs to be thorough about the underlying causes. Although in Maria’s case on first view it seems the trigger might be the personal isolation in a vibrant city this can be only the tip of the iceberg. For this reason I would ask her to keep some form of diary about her thoughts when she gets this panic feeling. I suspect it is a combination of a real problem, that is, she is indeed on her own, and without a support circle, but it can also be other deeper things, like for instance she “chose” this route because of an inner fear. Perhaps she feels insecure in London despite the brave face she puts on. Something like this wouldn’t surprise me because of where she comes from. She has grown in a society that people use to trust their neighbours and they do not live in constant fear of being mugged. If the stage of alleviating her panic moments was successful then I would try to steer her to adjust in the life she chose. In a way to merge with the country and work she is in, as opposed to “reject” it totally. I would also try to build her confidence at work which is clearly wounded from the way her colleagues deal with her and if needed encourage her to change company. Although the above case study is not a loud one, that is an African or Asian female in London forced from her family/religion to cover her head etc… I think it is more challenging because the cultural issues are more subtle, but they can be equally devastated for someone’s life. I feel also because of the easiness of travel within the EU the socio-cultural differences are overlooked between England and the rest of Europe. English go to France for holidays and they feel they know French people for instance. There is a lack of in depth cultural understanding that is required for counselling clients from other countries or backgrounds. Another point is that in my view -and this comes from personal experience -although I feel could also be relevant in Maria’s case- is that in the UK the percentage of women that go to the university is relatively small compared to Europe. This makes it difficult for degree educated women who come from another country to find female friends to go out with. There is also the difference in the concept of going out between countries like Spain or Italy and the UK. In the UK mostly people get extremely drunk and the there is a culture similar to the “only way is Essex” which to most European feels strange. When a counsellor decides to accept clients that come from a different culture, social background, race and sometimes even gender to his own, it is important to abstract themselves from their own ideas and world theory. Traditionally this applies to white therapists who also tend to adhere to white cultural values and subsequently naïve criteria of normality. However the need for a socio-cultural perspective in counselling applies to all that are in the profession and with the globalisation they are not necessarily middle class white females. The discrimination and failure can sometimes be of mutual fault especially in cases like Maria’s and her first counsellor. I suspect she might have felt superior to her therapist because she had better education. In a way whilst the therapist being a former housewife, as it is quite common in the UK, could not fully associate with Maria’s issues, Maria from her side might have been negative to the therapist’s background. This example also touches the “loose” in my view standards that exist in the UK for counselling. Almost anybody can become some sort of counsellor. I feel the standards should be stricter and more focused on proper and extensive education and training. Conclusion: Multicultural counseling, seeks to rectify the imbalance between the white counseling “authority” and the world as a globe, by acknowledging cultural diversity, appreciating the value of the culture and using it to aid the client. It is however important that the counselor avoids to over simplify or over generalize socio-cultural issues. In other words there is the danger of over simplification and categorizing clients according to common stereotypes. A common knowledge about the client’s culture is not always beneficial. Ancient Greeks used to say that half knowledge is worse evil than no knowledge. Self Reflection: It was an interesting assignment. However I feel as it was a case study as a potential counsellor the references are not necessary. I wrote it with the self guidelines I have developed by studying on the subject over the years and therefore referencing was impossible.