Coun5366-Immersive Experience

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Southern New Hampshire University *

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5336

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Arts Humanities

Date

Jan 9, 2024

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docx

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5

Uploaded by kbreseman09

Immersive Experience Before you complete this assignment, you must participate in or attend an activity or event of a marginalized population different from your own, including but not limited to a religious service; workshop, seminar, or lecture; meeting or event for a multicultural organization; museum or exhibit; podcast or documentary; or some other experience approved by your instructor. The activity or event you select may be in person or virtual, but you must spend at least two hours engaged in the experience. Past experiences are not to be used for this assignment. This immersive experience should be engaged with a marginalized group or population with which you have limited knowledge or the most preconceived ideas. This activity will provide you with the opportunity to learn about this marginalized population. Use past assignments and readings to carefully select the marginalized group or population and experience for this activity. Once you have finished the experience, complete the following worksheet and submit in the assignment area. INSTRUCTIONS Respond to all the following prompts to better understand the marginalized population reflected in the experience you selected. Remember to document your references at the end of this document. 1. The Selected Population The marginalized population I chose was the LGBTQ community and how some people still believe in or practice what is known as conversion therapy. Most parents never think that when they have their children that they will ever be anything other than the biological sex they were born into. Society regarding the LGBTQ has changed substantially over the years. Issues that were once never discussed is now openly discussed, there are events specifically for the LGBTQ, and some children can choose what sex they want to identify with, whether that is male/female or nonbinary. Individuals within the LGBTQ community may feel a clear discrepancy between the sex they identify with and the one that was assigned to them at birth based on traits connected with that gender. In September 2022 our city held its first ever pride parade. While I am not personally apart of the LGBTQ community, I do have friends that are. This was the first time that I had seen up close and personal how people living in the bible belt felt about the LGBTQ community as well as how many still believe in conversion therapy. Living in a community that is deemed part of the bible belt this specific issue never came into light until just recently when there were more and more groups of young people wanting to make the dangers and tactics many face daily in an attempt to “fix them” or “save them” known. Conversion or reparative therapy is not a new concept, this is a form of practice that has been around for years and unfortunately in some states still does. Certain right-wing religious organizations embrace the idea that a person can alter their gender identity or sexual orientation 1
by means of "reparative" or "conversion" therapy, other religious practices, or prayer. Studies on these endeavors have not only demonstrated their ineffectiveness but also suggested that they are positively detrimental. A task force of the American Psychological Association reviewed the body of research on the effectiveness of conversion treatment in great detail in 2007. In the event that state officials do nothing, an estimated 20,000 LGBTQ adolescents in states without safeguards will be forced to undergo conversion therapy by a certified healthcare provider, according to recent research from the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute. ( The Lies and Dangers of “Conversion Therapy,” n.d.). Many individuals report feeling “different” even from an early age (Sue, 2022). 2. The Cultural Experience The cultural experience I chose was watching two documentaries in which people from the LGBTQ openly spoke about conversion therapy and some of the consequences of this therapy have resulted in. Watching these documentaries and what some of these people have gone through was amazing. There was an individual “Christian” that is trying to leave the gay life behind and believes that if he loves God enough that he will no longer be gay. It goes through and shows a retreat that individuals go to “Exodus” to leave the gay lifestyle, and this is led full force behind the Christian faith. One of the founders of Exodus told of a story where prior to an organization such as this helping people to not be gay through faith and praying, the individual was so lost that he attempted to cut his own genitalia off. I struggled to understand how anyone that was pushing faith on someone in the LGBTQ community and that they were not a good Christian by living a gay lifestyle felt that this was helpful to this person. The bible takes on many interpretations so for someone to site bible versus as a reason someone is living in sin if they are gay is reckless. Depending on those interpretations they themselves could some day come under fire. In an interview with Lisa Lang, she spoke with many individuals, and they shared their stories in what they have been exposed to when it comes to living the gay lifestyle. Many of those interviewed there was a theme that held true. That theme was that if they were involved in a homosexual lifestyle that they were living in sin and that being gay is a choice. If they pray hard enough, they will no longer have these tendencies. “27% of LGBTQ youth who have attempted suicide did so after receiving conversion therapy.9 o This is something that should disturb us all. It is unfortunate that faith-based methods are lumped in with all conversion therapy, but the fact remains that in 2020, the youth were killing themselves at an alarming rate”. ( LGBTQ Youth With a Suicide Attempt in the Past 12 Months by Experience With Conversion Therapy U.S. 2022 | Statista , 2023) 3. Your Personal Reactions It was very disheartening to see that he was being led to believe that if he just had enough faith, he shouldn’t have any problem with leaving the gay lifestyle. Homosexuality and transgenderism have been misunderstood over the years, believing that it was a psychological problem, a physiological problem and some going all the way to demon possession. There has 2
been no shortage of ideas on how to “cure” those who are infected with this disease. I found it difficult to not want to jump up and yell at the t.v. about how ludicrous this notion was that if you simply prayed enough or was a good Christian you wouldn’t feel this way. I have gay family members and friends and it has been a thought to me that they need to go through a form of conversion therapy or that they aren’t a good Christian if they live a gay lifestyle in any form. Watching the interview with one of the young men it showed a small portion of how him being gay effects his life. He had been a counselor at a local summer camp, and he was let go because parents were complaining that he was too flamboyant. I couldn’t believe in this day and age that people believed that just because someone may exhibit a more feminine or masculine tendency that this would automatically lead to their child becoming gay. 4. Your Personal Reflections: The cultural experience caused me to take a much harder look at myself and realize that just because I’m not gay this type of unrealistic rhetoric still effects all of on some level. When I think about things such as you’re a bad Christian if you live a gay lifestyle; well my first thought was look at how many people don’t attend church but once or twice a year (Easter and Christmas), does that make them more of a Christian than those that don’t attend? Living in the bible belt and a city that has multiple Christian colleges gay pride or celebrations associated with LGBTQ individuals was just not heard of. I was personally appalled when I read the article from our local paper in which a protestor was quoted as saying “It’s not going to stop with some mild festival or parade, it’s going to get worse and worse and worse”. This event made me think back to when I was 15 and pregnant. This was scorned and looked down on back then. I was left feeling like I was all alone; I could hear some of the names I was being called and I lost friends due to their parents being afraid that this would rub off on their child. Until I watched the video it never really struck me how history has a way of repeating itself. I was lucky that there was a special program in my high school specifically for teen moms so I at least had a little bit of a support group, but I can’t even imagine being told I was a bad Christian for getting pregnant so young. Watching these documentaries made me take a hard look at myself and any biases I might have toward the LGBTQ community as well as relive a time in my life that was made or difficult due to lack of support by family, friends and community. While my upbringing did not encompass the LGBTQ lifestyle, I was only exposed to what was on t.v. or what I read/heard in other media forums. It has made me see how changes within our communities and some of the misinformation associated with some of the biases people hold against the LGBTQ community that I would need to educate myself further so that I would be able to help those within my community or practice. I wouldn’t want my personal bias or misinformation to spill over to the person I’m supposed to be helping as this may cause additional harm. 5. Your Professional Practice If you expect to be a good counselor one of the main facets of this profession is that things change at a rapid pace and it will be necessary for you to keep up to date and educate yourself. There are a multitude of different organizations that help people of the LGBQT community, 3
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