Issues of Advocacy and Social Justice

Prior to beginning work on this discussion read Hill (2013) “Partnering with a Purpose: Psychologists as Advocates in Organizations,” Cohen, Lee, & McIlwraith (2012) “The Psychology of Advocacy and the Advocacy of Psychology,” Heinowitz, et al. (2012) “Identifying Perceived Personal Barriers to Public Policy Advocacy within Psychology,” Lewis, Ratts, Paladino, & Toporek (2011) “Social Justice Counseling and Advocacy: Developing New Leadership Roles and Competencies,” and Fox (2008) “Advocacy: The Key to the Survival and Growth of Professional Psychology” articles.

For this discussion, you will compare the various professional activities common to clinical and counseling psychologists and assume the role of an advocate for a client in one of the case studies from Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology (Gorenstein & Comer, 2015). Select a case study that has not been covered in this course or in the PSY645 course, and identify systemic barriers, sociopolitical factors, and multicultural issues impacting the client at the micro, meso, exo, and/or macro levels. Develop an action plan that outlines how you might advocate for the client at each appropriate level of the ecological model. Identify two potential partnerships that you would establish in order to support your client and those like him or her outside of the therapeutic environment.