cf_personal_cultural_analysis Chloe Smith (1)

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Southern New Hampshire University *

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5002

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Communications

Date

Feb 20, 2024

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docx

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Uploaded by FlowerPower702

Personal Cultural Analysis In our profession, we understand that purposeful and reflective writing promotes personal and professional development. In this assignment, you will tell the story of how you see yourself in the world. Share your truth and explore the impact your experiences have had on your life. INSTRUCTIONS  Respond to all the following prompts to conduct an analysis exploring the dimensions of your cultural heritage and experiences with discrimination and biases.  Remember to document your references at the end of this document. 1. Your Cultural Heritage  Identify at least three dimensions of identity (for example, age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or spiritual practice, class, ability and disability, and others).  Explain personal significance of each dimension. Identity Dimension 1: woman Personal Significance: For me being feminine is very empowering. For years I struggled with infertility and child loss. I struggled to find value in being a woman without being able to carry and birth a healthy child. I found joy in identifying with the feminine aspects of my gender. On my 11 th pregnancy I was finally able to carry a viable baby. I was in labor with her for 2 days before she got stuck in the birth canal. There was a moment where the doctor thought she could die and told me I had 3 last pushes before we did emergency surgery. That scared me so bad that every ounce of motherly rage I had in my body made me push her right out. When I finally was able to hold the child, I made and carried I felt complete. I had been an adoptive mother for 12 years and felt fulfilled as a mother, but being able to complete the biological urge to have a baby and provide a child for my husband made me feel more like a woman than I ever had felt before. I do not believe that being a woman is only about biological reproduction, this was just my personal experience. Identity Dimension 2: recovering addict Personal Significance: It’s not the best part of my identity, but being an addict in active recovery is a big part of who I am. I was raised in an environment where drinking and taking drugs wasn’t a problem, and even encouraged. When I was 20 my boyfriend and his infant son moved in. He was a single father, and the mother of his child was someone I knew through shared dealers. I had discussed how I thought it was important that if the baby was at my house, I was sober and that I expected the same for her. She told me she had no reason to be sober. She said that being a mother wasn’t something she was interested in. I ended up choosing to become sober that night and spent days going through withdrawals at home. I ended up adopting that little boy and have been his mother since that day in 2013. I have worked hard to find better coping mechanisms as well as working through my trauma. I have relapsed once since then, after losing a baby and having to have him removed because I couldn’t deliver him on my own. 1

Realizing how easy it was to fall back on my addictive habits, I worked even harder to build a healthier version of myself. I often find myself advocating and speaking up for those who are still struggling with their addictions. So many people think people struggling with substance use disorder are scum and don’t deserve any good things, and I feel the urge to speak out and show we can be more. Identity Dimension 3: Bisexual Personal Significance: For as long as I could remember I have always been attracted to men and women. When I was growing up, I went through phases of thinking I was only wanting to be with a woman. Even though I have been married to a man for the last decade, my attraction to women never stopped. I still openly date women occasionally. My husband and I have worked to have a very secure relationship and we found a way that I could still feel like I can enjoy part of who I am. 2. Your Response to Discrimination  Describe your early recollections of discrimination, microaggressions, or prejudice.  Describe the personal emotional impact and implications on counseling practices. Early Experience: I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah which is a very conservative area. In high school I was dating a girl. We had been keeping it private because so many people were homophobic. One day someone we thought was a friend took a picture kissing and began sharing it with other people. When I went to one of my last classes there were two boys in the class that started screaming at me “you stupid fucking lesbian! You dumb fucking dyke!” They cornered me on one side of the classroom, and one began repeatedly slamming a desk into me pinning me against a wall while continuing to scream slurs. It finally stopped when the teacher came in and broke it up. The boys didn’t so much as receive detention for this incident. Emotional Impact: This experience terrified me. I never wanted to be seen with a girl again. I was afraid of being hurt again if someone knew me. I even started trying to push away any homosexual thoughts or urges. It took me years to finally be willing to explore that part of myself again. Implications for Counseling: I know how traumatic that experience was for me. I feel like going through that will help me take my clients through the healing process with empathy and compassion. Even if it is not the same time of discrimination, because I know what that pain is like to be rejected, shunned, or hurt because of who you are I feel like I am eager to help others feel like their life and experiences are valid. They deserve to voice their trauma and discomfort and have someone support them while they find a way to heal from it. 3. Your Code of Ethics 2

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