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Personal Essay - Counselling

My interest in the counselling profession is based on a desire to help people with diverse

mental and behavioural health issues, cope with their health challenges in a more positive and

systematic manner. During my past interactions I have learnt that mental and behavioural

illnesses are never treated as urgent health needs since the sufferers do not display life-

threatening symptoms unless in cases of drug abuse; thus interventions are delayed or

overlooked which could be detrimental to the victims future wellbeing (Savickas, 2019).

Currently am working at a group home with individuals with developmental disabilities. I

help people with behavioural disabilities cope with their situation. During my experience I

have learnt that negative behaviour can be unlearned as held under the behaviourist

counselling theory. My vision is to gain more understanding on ways of improving the

quality of life of people suffering from mental and behavioural illnesses through research to

develop evidence-based interventions. Am fascinated by the behavioural approach to

counselling that holds that a person responds to certain situation based on past

experiences/learning. Thus, the theory is based on a belief that behaviour can be unlearned

just the same way it is learned. Having applied the theory during my practice at the group

home and observed positive result, I would want to conduct further research as to its potential

as an evidence based intervention for people suffering from mental and behavioural illnesses.

This program will therefore provide a platform and guidance towards my further research.
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The program will also help me to keep focussed on the theory as well as explore the

applicability of other counselling theories.

My perspective on the role of multiculturalism and social justice in counselling. In the wake

of increased globalisation, most societies today are characterised by co-existence of multi-

ethnic groups who have different historic, social and cultural background. The perceived

multicultural differences may give social inequalities that affect clients’ well-being. As such,

multiculturalism and social justice play a related role in counselling in that multiculturalism

leads to social justice. Where a counsellor diagnosis a client’s difficulty is caused by a

difference in the client’s worldview or background, the counsellor may advocate for change

in social justice to alleviate the suffering of their client. For example, where a client’s stress is

caused by employment discrimination due to a developmental disability such as autism, the

counsellor may undertake social work seeking to change the labour policies of the nation to

abolish discrimination against autistic job seekers. Such a move would require employing

tough interventions such as lobbying with donors, the community and the government. Most

of the problems presented by clients in the recent times require synchronisation of own

cultural beliefs, values and biases with those of the clients to achieve a unified state. Where

the client’s and the counsellor’s cultural beliefs, values, and biases are not synchronised

counsellors risk misdiagnosis of root causes of a problem leading to administration of

erroneous interventions. For example, where a client presents problems caused by a cultural

issue such as non-recognition of transgender the counsellor may interpret the problem to be a

mental challenge. Thus, instead of applying social-based interventions such as pushing for

policy change, they apply psychologically-based interventions such as interventions to

alleviate the clients’ self-esteem. However, the client would be frustrated in a short while

since the root cause problem was not addressed. Later, the client would led to seeking

counselling interventions from other counsellors which could lead to further frustrations. In
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my view, counsellors need to undertake regular self-evaluation checks of their own cultural

beliefs, values and biases and also seek to understand specific cultural beliefs, values and

biases of their clients. In so doing, the counsellor would tailor relevant and effective

interventions for each client based on the client’s cultural background and world view. Such

practice would lead to quality and ethical interventions. In case of social justice interventions

the counsellor should always determine whether a client’s problem require socially-based or

individualistic interventions. Where the clients problems result from a biological source,

medical individual-based interventions should be given. On the other hand, where a problem

result from a socially-based problem, social-based interventions such as seeking alteration in

social systems should be applied. In case of social-based interventions, counsellors have to

work outdoor to advocate for systemic changes in the community or government systems.

Traditionally counselling practice was office-based with social work being referred to social

workers. However, to be more effective current counsellors need to integrate social work in

their practice in order to fully provide solutions to their clients. Assisting a client to identify

cultural differences that could be affecting their well-being only provides diagnostic

interventions. Notably, incorporating social justice in counselling practise in interventions

requiring social-based system alterations provide not only diagnostic but also treatment

interventions to the client. Such practice provided ethical interventions as the client’s root

caused problem is identified and addressed. Thus, multiculturalism advocates for social

justice in counselling practice today.

Work Cited

Savickas, Mark. Career counseling. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association,

2019.