Help Needed

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words each question, post must be substantive responses: 

1. How might the etic and emic perspectives affect a counselor’s views on mental health treatment? In what circumstances would one or the other perspective be more effective?

2. How does your family history reflect the similarities and differences of the dominant culture? What do these similarities and differences mean to you as a counselor in training? 

Respond to classmates in a minimum of 175 words each post, post must be substantive responses: 

(1) According to Sue & Sue (2013), the etic perspective refers to a counselor/ therapist counseling from a culturally universal viewpoint, while the emic perspective refers to a therapist counseling from a culturally specific viewpoint. The etic perspective has the potential to cause counselors to view what is normal or abnormal in their culture as applicable to other cultures (Sue & Sue, 2013). The etic perspective may affect a counselor’s view on mental health treatment by causing the counselor to generalize or make inaccurate assumptions about a client, their experiences, symptoms, and potential mental health issue(s). This may further affect the type of treatment and effectiveness of treatment for a client due to the generalizations and assumptions. A counselor may find it appropriate to use a culturally universal, or etic, perspective when building a therapeutic relationship and counseling a client that is dealing with grief from the loss of a loved one. While each person may express their grief differently, similar emotions are experienced when dealing with grief amongst all cultures and people across the globe - pain, sadness, anger, sorrow, loneliness, and/ or regret.

References

Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2013). Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781119084334/cfi/6/20!/4/2/2/2@0:0

(2) Based on our text, the counselor can miss many different clues if he or she is not culturally competent. It is imperative that the counselor understand the client's culture and/or ethnicity. For a counselor to not know the client's culture as Dr. D, there can be issues of misdiagnosis due to the lack of knowledge. There is also problems of the counselor not hearing what should be heard or hearing what he or she wants to hear. The problem with this would be hat the counselor is missing what the issue is or how it became an issue. I think that emic is based on one's beliefs whereas etic may be based on others beliefs. Counselor's may feel that the 'old way' is the best way and that everyone is the same. The problem with this thinking is that everyone is different and although it may be genetic, it is still shown a different way in everyone. Failure to consider the cultural context and manifestation of disorders often result in inaccurate diagnosis and inappropriate treatment (D. Sue, Sue, Sue, & Sue, 2016). Therefore, what may work for one may not work for another. However, in order to know what to do, the counselor must be culturally diversified.

Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2016). Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice, 7th Edition (7th ed.).

John Wiley & Sons.

(3) I would have to say that I was raised by my grandparents who set a great example for us. Coming from a poor family that struggled all of my life, I have seen many similar things from my culture through my grandparents as well as my parents. My grandparents were hard working people and raised 3 of us. We never saw them fight or argue and they always tried to give us the things we wanted and needed. However, when I was 7, my grandfather passed away which made my grandmother a single parent. Although she struggled raising us, she still kept us in the best schools (I went to catholic schools), we had food on the table and lived in a comfortable home. For some, they may think that we had money but we knew differently. There was always a perception that black people were poor and dirty. The way some people treated us was different then how others treated us. We also were a part of the masonic order to keep us busy. I use to hear people talk about how my mom thought she was better than everybody else which was because of the way she spoke. Growing up, I had many friends from school and during high school I dated a boy that was white. We had so many people talking about us both and the things that I would hear was very mean. Clearly it did not bother me because we dated for most of our high school time until he left the school.

I think that one of the problems of today's society is the fact that many people teach their children how to stereotype, categorize, and/or treat others different. When children are growing up, they see no color until someone teaches this to them. They are also like a sponge therefore, what ever they see, they imitate. If the child hears the parent talk down to another person, the child may mirror what was heard. I think that in this era, children are not learning the proper things that we were taught when we were growing up and one reason for this is because the kids are having kids.

I have had so many different experiences with cultures and races that I have learned how to adapt to many of them. I am currently trying to learn the Muslim culture since my daughter has married into their culture. I have worked at the Jewish Community center which helped me learn more about their culture since my mom had taught me some things already. I think that with my experiences and what I will learn, I will be able to put what I have learned to the test. I think that I will be able to help the client's through his or her issues by having an understanding diversity.

(4) I come from a background that was never wealthy. I grew up in a household that had little money but my dad always worked, my mom worked for a time and also stayed home for a bit as well. They worked opposite shifts sometimes in order to get by as there were five kids to care for and daycare costs were expensive for them. The similarities I can see is that both parents did work at one time, and would work separate shifts, which seemed to be a thing for a lot of people in our social class. Those who had more money also worked a lot and were not always around for their kids, while my parents always made time for us regardless of work. My family was never money focused, even in struggling, we managed to get by. I am finding myself in the same situation as them as a single mom now. I only have my kids every other week which is a blessing as I cannot afford to have them full time. Seeing these situations and experiencing them for myself allows me to really understand the struggles someone may go through when dealing with stressors in life such as financial, child rearing, working, etc. These are all things we experience in any social class and could use help with.