Essay On Career Counseling

Appleby, G A., & Anastas, J.W. (1998). Not just a passing phase: Social work with gay, lesbian and bisexual people (pp. 3–43, 44-75). New York: Columbia University Press.

This paper focuses on counseling clients a part of the “sexual minority” (Yarhouse, Kays, and Jones, 2013). The information regarding sexual minorities and the techniques to counsel these clients are summarized from Yarhouse et al.’s “The Sexual Minority Client” (2013). The basis for counseling the sexual minority is competence. This shift to competence is primarily from the “multicultural movement” (Yarhouse, et. al., 2013). Two supporting therapies of this movement are and “affirmative approach” and “sexual identity therapy” (Yarhouse, et. al., 2013). Counselors’ beliefs and values are inevitable in therapy. Practicing in an area with similar beliefs and values minimizes ethical issues. Personal reflection shows acceptance of information provided in the chapter except statements from the ACA and APA in which Christian counselors seem discouraged to provide therapy for the sexual minority. Interest exists in the areas of percentages concerning sexual minority, as well as, these individuals claiming an identity. The primary form of therapy to be administered for a sexual minority client is sexual identity therapy. This therapy provides the least risk in regards to ethics. The client chooses the goal and the counselor acts as a support for the client to obtain the goal. Though beliefs differ, the client will be supported even if the homosexual

Relocating into a senior care facilities can be a frightening experience for the aging population. Getting familiar with new surroundings, new organization structure, and new people that can cause anxiety to rise. For a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer individual, this experience can be traumatic. The fear of harassment, hostility, and neglect by healthcare providers and caretakers can keep LGBTQ people from seeking care until their health begins to critically decline. LGBTQ cultural competency training is highly recommended for healthcare professionals and social service organizations. The greatest barrier that prevents quality health care for LGBTQ people is the lack of competence among the healthcare professionals.

“Advocacy with LGTB people involves acceptance, support, and inclusiveness... Support includes such behaviors as championing the hiring of LGTB staff; providing an atmosphere in which LGTB issues can be discussed in training or programming; or attending events sponsored by LGTB student organizations. Inclusiveness involves activities such as the use of non exclusionary language; publications, fliers, and handbooks that take into account secual and gender identity differences; and sensitivity to the possibility that not everyone in a student organization or work setting is heterosexual.” In a social work practice it would be beneficial to provide mental health trainings to employees that support LGTBQ clientele while also focusing on early intervention, comprehensive treatment and family support to ensure guidance towards the recovering from any mental health condition, such as anxiety and depression, the client may be facing. There are organizations that have been created to support and advocate for the LGTBQ community outside of social work practices, such as the Trevor Project.

In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people

Individuals who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender experience obstacles within the healthcare system. LGBT individuals who encountered negative experiences in the past such as homophobia and stigmatization from others result decrease access to care and unwillingness to disclose their sexual or gender identity. Khalili, Leung, and Diamant (2015) stated in 2007, physicians’ survey results indicated that they were often and sometimes uncomfortable in providing services to LGBT patients. The presence of discrimination behavior means that there is a lack of LGBT-competency within the healthcare system. To decrease discrimination within the healthcare system, it is important for physicians to be competent in order to provide high quality care for LGBT individuals. LGBT-competency training will increase awareness, healthcare knowledge, and will improve communication skills. In addition, LGBT- competency training will also improve physician-patient interactions and will improve patients’ outcome and

For my SOWK 488 Field placement I have been assigned to complete my BSW internship at Colorado State University’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer/Questioning Two-Spirited, and Ally Resource Center (GLBTQ2ARC or Resource Center). I selected this particular agency for my internship so that I could learn how to apply my social work skills to working with clients who identify as GLBTQA. This paper will discuss the following topics in relation to my work at CSU’s GLBTQ2A Resource Center:

The strategies emphasize building a culture of inclusiveness and affirmed that the inclusion of GL employees is important within the organization. In this culture, the GL worker will be comfortable with being open about their sexual orientation which promotes positive worker attitudes, less fear of discrimination, and, potentially, productivity and organizational

Sexual Minorities who have took part in reorientation therapy, have had varying results, based on case studies. Reorientation therapeutic practices have raised the question of competency in professional counselors, when dealing with sexual minorities. Sexual minorities, in this case, is a person who identifies as being bisexual, homosexual, lesbian, gay, and or having the same sex attractions and behaviors. Being competent in the role of a professional counselor, is vital, when interacting with sexual minorities, because the client’s overall well-being is what matters most. For the client, this will not only form a trust relationship with the counselor but will cause the client to open and share more relevant information. Some of the factors

Tilcsik (2011) effectively implies sexual orientation on job applications without bringing in confounding variables by using a pair of resumes. Both fictitious resumes were graduating seniors in college, seeking entry-level positions. The “experimental group,” refers to the resume of a hypothesized homosexual male. The resume signaled sexual orientation by showing experience in a “gay community organization,” specifically by stating the subject served several semesters as a treasurer. This applies relevancy to a job application because it highlights organizational and financial skills. The “control group,” refers to a similar resume of a hypothesized heterosexual male that did not disclose group membership in a gay community organization. This resume also demonstrates intensive participation as a treasurer

Behavioral healthcare practitioners should get better acquainted in the attitudes and skills that better serve the unique, yet diverse LGBT community. We must offer lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people an equally positive human experience during treatment by recognizing the environment, influential persons, social settings, and degree in which they wish to disclose their identities. A proactive practitioner knows how to use the strengths of these individuals and their unique situations to support their decisions regarding how the wish to self-identify. I also learned that the LGBT community requires an understanding of their struggles and uniqueness, set on their individual values and beliefs as a group. Many LGBT people experience isolation, humiliation, peer rejection, victimization, and abandonment by family members and friends. They have limit access to people who will listen to their concerns and positively guide and support them. As future behavioral healthcare providers, it is particularly important to work in a culturally competent manner to avoid re-victimization and avoid reinforcing the stigma associated with their

In Chapter 10 of Rudolph K. Sanders’ book, Christian Counseling Ethics: A Handbook for Psychologists, Therapists and Pastors, Mark Yarhouse, Jill Kays and Stanton Jones discuss the “sexual minority” as it pertains to the field of professional counseling. This group is defined as “individuals with same sex attractions or behavior, regardless of self-identification” (Sanders, et. al., 2013, p. 252). By looking at counseling the homosexual community through its etiology, standards by which a counselor should proceed with treatment, and the options a client has on deciding treatment options, we can be better prepared as Christian counselors to be better prepared in serving the needs of others.

Alan Downs opens his book with five coming out stories from his patients that explain the difficulties that gay men face when trying to obtain a happy and fulfilled life. Throughout this section of the novel, Downs introduces the reader to how unique the situations of the beginning stages of life can be for each gay man. Downs

Even with these pervasive homophobic weights, a gay individual encounters a split between his or her normal sexual inclination and what is socially satisfactory. And all to frequently gay people themselves, adapted to consider themselves second rate, have disguised this homophobia to the point where even self-acknowledgment is troublesome. They acknowledge the shame appended by others to them without acknowledging

Within this paper, the umbrella term “queer” will be used to encompass many different sexual identities mentioned. While once used as a derogatory term, it has been rebranded and revitalized as a term of unification for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. In order to prevent erasure of the narrative of subsets of members within the larger queer community, their identities will be included. When discussing the larger implications of the development of sexual minority identification, queer will be employed.