Different belief systems
A belief system is a way of perceive and interact in a society guided by a set of established moral rules. There is a wide array of belief systems. Belief systems allow individuals to make sense, cope, and give a sense of purpose and meaning to life. A belief system is a set of values that are accepted and followed. Even though there is a wide array of belief systems they can be classified as being at one extreme science and the other religion. Own personal experience suggests that most people’s belief systems are a mixture of the two, to varying degrees. ”It is quite interesting that there has been lively interest in the idea that all effective counsellors possess similar belief systems and ways of making sense of the world” (McLeod, 2003) As belief systems are so important it is necessary not only for the counsellor to have an understanding of his own belief systems but be able to respect the belief systems of others. For example a counsellor with very strong orthodox religious beliefs may find it difficult to offer the core conditions of build a therapeutic relationship to a practising homosexual client. Similarly it may be difficult for an atheist client to initially open up to a counsellor who displayed affiliations to a particular religion.
Family structures
Family structure is affected by the composition of its members i.e. the number of people, their ages and gender. Thinking about birth order is one way to get some good ideas about personality. “There is not one precise theory that accurately predicts how a person may turn out. We are all different, complex, and unique. Therefore, birth order is about tendencies and general characteristics that may often apply” (Leman, 1985). In some families an only child may be quite self-centred and unable to consider the needs of others unless reminded: middle children tend to feel squeezed out or sometimes held in, as they have neither the privileges of the eldest nor the rights of the youngest. And gender played a part in reinforcing different expectations of expected behaviour in boys and girls. Girls are encouraged to play with dolls, play nicely and to be clean and tidy. Whereas boys get dirty, go exploring, play a bit rough and do not to cry. However there are considerable types of family structures, besides the nuclear family. Ranging from single-parent families, same-sex couple families, divorced families, families containing stepsiblings, foster families, adoptive families, extended families to where there are no families and children are brought up in an institution. The type of family structure, size and the chronological position is going to have an influence on the development of the individual. By being aware of the relevance of the family structure in the counselling process may give the counsellor a greater awareness of the client self-concepts. Alfred Adler and Carl Jung well known theorist were both interested in the family constellation but from different perspectives. Jung showed that “children often tend to be identified with the family atmosphere created by their parents” (Stewart, 1977, p. 78). Adler focused on the child’s sibling position, to show characteristic differences in personality between children in the same family (Adler, 1956).
Family life experience
The great French sculptor Auguste Rodin once said, "Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely." And the experiences that an individual has gained will have an effect on their development, personality and character. For example: A family visit to a safari park. The parents may have really enjoy the drive taking in all the views from the surrounding countryside, as for the children they may have got bored with the length of time travelling and as a consequence had a negative view of experience. Some of the children may have enjoyed being in the car and getting closer to the animals, where another may have felt trapped and claustrophobic. Even though the family shared same holiday, the experience for each member of the family could possibly be very different. Another example would be moving house, for one individual it may be an exciting time, adventure and meeting new people. For another individual it may be a time of sadness, moving to an unfamiliar area, possibly losing old friends. Family life experiences influence the development of an individual which will influence their frame of reference in the future.
From this family life experiences and upbringing, valuable knowledge and skills are learnt. These can be reused at different stages throughout life. For example: If i could not get chore’s completed because of “surfing the internet” (Wilson Library Bulletin,1992.) or my physical, emotional or mental needs are being neglected through time misuse. Skills and knowledge acquired from my schooling days have made me experienced and aware of situations like this. I may consider setting up a positive constructive timetable to adhere too, to enable me to address time balance inadequacies, enabling me to manage my time more affectively and therefore as a result become more productive. Family life experiences will influence the counselling process. Counsellors bring with them their cultural manifestations as well as their unique personal, social and psychological background. These factors interact with the cultural and personal factors brought by the client.
Cultural divisions and heritage
Cultures divisions can be described “as the shared history, practices beliefs and values of a racial, regional or religious group of people.” (D'Ardenne & Mahtani, 1989). These influences touch on all aspects of individual’s life such as language, thinking, beliefs, and modes of behaviour and relationships and are dictated by: race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, class and accent. We have all inherited from our parents, siblings and peers, bigotries and prejudices, some of which are deeply imbedded in our subconscious and are therefore not easily identified. It is suggested in the Western world we believe that we are liberally minded and therefore relatively free of prejudice, but in reality this is not so. Consequently cultural divisions and heritage can have a negative effect on the counselling process. Cultural heritage is unique and irreplaceable. The deliberate act of keeping cultural heritage from the present for the future is known as preservation.
How cultural heritage of clients might influence one to one counselling interaction.
I will use a friend as an example, whose background is Asian, male, working-class. He was feeling anxious and depressed, and knowing that I was doing a counselling course wanted to discuss the situation with me. He described his feelings as a result off living in a society which is not adhering to a way of life as defined by God through the holy Quran. He was quite dismayed by the declining moral standards of Western culture; he cited examples of the level of drinking, disrespect of elders, levels of sexual promiscuity, and the acceptance of homosexuality. He felt as a result of his religious beliefs and his ethnic background that he was not a full member of society. He was concerned about the negative effects of the wider culture on the cultural heritage of his children. He was also beginning to question the value of his cultural heritage, which made him feel uneasy. He also described feeling guilty about discussing these concerns with a non-Muslim. He thought that as I am white and a non-Muslim that I would not be able to understand the difficulties that he was facing. He was also concerned that counselling and psychotherapy may be designed to undervalue his belief in a god and thus make him into an atheist. His initial view was that religion can provide all the answers thus making counselling redundant, as counselling could confuse an individual's beliefs.
How my cultural heritage may impact on counselling interaction with clients.
I would describe my cultural heritage as white, English, working-class. Both my parents are still married and I have one brother. I attended a local comprehensive school where i had few Asian and black friends. My parents were Roman Catholic, but I did not have a particularly strong religious upbringing. I do not consider myself to be very religious and sometimes find it difficult to understand people that have very strong religious views, especially if they try to impose them on others. Therefore my cultural heritage could have an impact on the counselling process.
In the above example with my Asian Muslim friend, I did not allow my cultural heritage to prevent me from seeing things from his frame of reference. However I am not too sure how my preconceptions and prejudices may affect the counselling process if the client happens to have an issue that I may not be comfortable with dealing with. There are personal ethics which would make it difficult for me to deal with certain types of clients and therefore in those situations I would have to refer them to another councilor.
The role differences between counsellor and client.
The client and the counsellor are two halves of a therapeutic relationship. The client comes to a counsellor, in general when he/she is dissatisfied with their present situation i.e. when he/she acknowledges dissatisfaction and wants to look at a problem; this is at stage 3 of Roger’s 7 stage process. The role of the counsellor in the Person Centred Approach (PCA) is to create an environment, in which a therapeutic relationship can develop in order for the client to explore solutions to their problems. For example a client may seek counselling due to acknowledging they are feeling depressed.
The inherent power differences and perceptions of power based on these role differences.
Power is a fundamental concept. Power struggles exist between those that feel very powerful and those that feel that they have little to no power. Different power perceptions can affect communication. There are three types of power: distributive, designated, and integrated (Wilmot and Hocker, 2007) Designated power is given to someone. Distributive power comes from the ability to reach objectives over the resistance of another. Integrated power highlights power with another to achieve frequent in the therapeutic relationship in counseling. Moreover we tend to conceal the fact that no other profession involves a greater inequality of power than the psychotherapist in which one of the two is always, by definition, psychologically weaker than the other. When a person is overwhelmed by suffering or convinced that his/her rational dimensions, which up to that moment had qualified them as a human being, has failed, asks someone stronger than them to save them, then he/she places that person in a position of power and superiority. This counselling profession is probably the only profession that allows us to deal with weaker individuals in partial identification with the omnipotent figure of a saviour offering a hand to the suffering. (Carotnuto, 1992)
This power difference is not as great in a PCA as the counsellor is not there to give advice or guidance. However there are inherent power differences as the counsellor negotiates the contract, and controls the boundaries including time, and if in private practice setting the fees and adhering to an ethical framework
How can these perceived power differences be reduced?
These differences can be reduced by using a PCA i.e. the core conditions:-
Empathy, Congruence and Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR), hence establishing a genuine therapeutic relationship. As the therapeutic relationship develops over time the perceived power differences should reduce. The counsellor being able to say if he/she is not sure if what the client has said has not been fully understood, to ask for clarification. Using a vocabulary which the client understands and feels comfortable with. Other steps that can be taken to reduce the power difference include: allowing the client to address the counsellor by their first name, dressing in a smart casual way, not in a suit and creating a comfortable environment, including provision of tissues and water. It is important to address differences on the onset of the therapeutic relationship, by asking the client if they are comfortable with the situation, if not, how can the measureable imbalance be alleviated. Wilmot and Hocker state that “Collaboration and constructive realignment of power is best for all concerned when the higher power person is not abusing their position”.
Advantages and disadvantages gained from retaining some power differences.
Advantages in retaining a power in a therapeutic relationship is that the counsellor can set up the boundaries of the sessions: time, duration and issues he is prepared to work with. This is useful because it allows the client to be informed of what is on offer, what’s expected of them in terms of the conditions of cancelations, time constraints and the ethical boundaries in line with the professional code.
Disadvantage is that it, initially, could slow down the rate at which the therapeutic relationship develops, the ethical principles related to councillors would not reflect Autonomy “respect for the client’s right to be self-governing” (BACP) if the client feels powerless. This may result in the client not being able to find their own solutions or answers to their situation. Moreover a power imbalance may stop the client from disclosing or even turning up to the sessions. As a counsellor I must also be aware of potentially mirroring any inequalities which I have acquired.
In my catholic up-bringing it is instilled onto us that homosexuality in wrong and therefore I am aware when in a counselling setting I do not judge them according to the scriptures set down by the Holy Bible, society, family values, life experiences and the media. I must offer Unconditional Positive Regard at all times and also be aware of transference and counter-transference.
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Transference: “In psychoanalysis, the process by which emotions and desires originally associated with one person, such as a parent or sibling, are unconsciously shifted to another person, especially to the analyst”
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“Countertransference: A psychotherapist's own repressed feelings in reaction to the emotions, experiences, or problems of a person undergoing treatment”
Transference can occur quite easily. Clients sometimes look up to the counsellor as a person of power, someone in charge whom they can associate with other people who have been instrumental to them in their lives. If transference was to occur in the session, it would become difficult for me to develop a therapeutic relationship which would not be beneficial to the client. Ethically I should speak to my supervisor, seek professional help form another counsellor to enable me to deal with this situation or consider referring the client on.
References
Carotnuto, (1992). The difficult art: A critical discourse pn psychotherapy (p. 51). Wilmetter Il: Chiron.
D'Ardenne, P. & Mahtani, A. (1989). Transcultural Counselling in Action (p. 4). London : Sage.
Gladding, S. T. (2006). The Counselling Dictionary (p. 135). New Jersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Lago, C. (2003). Race, Culture and Counselling (p. 54). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
J. McLeod, (2003). An Introduction To Counselling (p. 484). Buckingham: Open University Press.
Stewart, L. (1977) Birth order and political leadership (p. 78). Free Press.
http://artistquoteoftheday.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/nothing-is-a-waste-of-time-if-you-use-the-experience-wisely/
Wilmot, W., & Hocker, J. (2007). Interpersonal conflict seventh edition. New York City:
McGraw Hill Publications.
HYPERLINK "http://www.answers.com/topic/countertransference" \l "ixzz1qGdmuqP5" http://www.answers.com/topic/countertransference#ixzz1qGdmuqP5
Bibliography
Fernando, S. (1991). Mental health, race and culture. Hampshire, Macmillian Press Limited
Merry, T. (2002). Learning and being in person-centred counselling 2nd edition. Herefordshire, PCCS books
Natellio. (2004). The person-centred approach: A passionate presence. Herefordshire, PCCS books
Palmer,S.; McMahon, G. (1997). Handbook of counselling 2nd edition. London, Routledge.
Word count is approximately 2800 words excluding Headings, Bibliography and Quotes.
