Why_Is_It_Important_to_Value_Individuality_

3.2 Why Is It Important To Value Individuality' It is very important to value individuality because everybody has the right to be valued as a human being no matter what their values are and even if you disagree with them. Once you start questioning their individuality you begin to devalue them as a person. As a counsellor we have to take everything the client tells us on a basis of trust and truth and not make judgements against them as a person or let our own prejudices get in the way. We have to offer the same amount of help to everyone no matter of individuality. It comes back to the concept of treating everyone as equal. Individuality can mean many different things to a person; * Being unique * Being yourself * Own way of life – behaviours/appearance * Mental/physical * Knowing yourself * Being happy with yourself. The last two on the list above are one of the most important points about individuality. To recognise yourself as an individual you have to know yourself and be happy with your individuality. Or you will be seeking identity to belong continuously, you may find it but it may not make you happy. For example a typical statement about Goths “Goths are all individuals but they all wear black.” However with that statement we are stereotyping and labelling a culture. But even though they may all “wear black” (which they don’t) they are still individuals within their own culture as each person has their own personal identity. To be all the same would be boring. If we encourage individualism it will help develop the personality, this is essential when working with clients in a counselling session, to help them work through their issues. As making them feel like a person and that you are there to listen to them. To get equal treatment, you have to treat people differently if you don’t see things differently, there would be no individuality, and we would be automaton Everybody is slightly different in their ways even if they belong to a certain group; we all have different ways of doing things, thinking and personal opinions. However people can be brainwashed into thinking and being only one way, generally that comes from other people noticing that a person is vulnerable and targeting them with their opinions and way of life. However you could then argue that it still does not devalue them as an individual person. A person’s individuality is more likely to show when they have been removed from their comfort zone and made to experience new things, because then they are not able to succumb to peer pressure from their usual norm. Is individuality a characteristic that comes naturally or a box that people want to put themselves in, like those who want to belong to a group ie football fan'. Individuality could cause loneliness and this may be a reason why we may have to counsel someone' For instance those who don’t look what is deemed by society to be 'normal'.