The Importance Of Being A Caring Guide Essay

As a white man coming from a relatively well-off, middle class family, I was unaware of just how much I didn’t understand about race and culture, and how they can impact one’s mental health until this class. What perpetuated this ignorance was in part due to the fact that I was raised in a small town of about 7,000 people—of whom, an overwhelming majority were white. Because of this, I was socialized in an environment in which whiteness and white culture were dominant and considered normal.

Racial diversity is something that is often discussed on college campuses. As a student who self-identifies as a minority in more ways than one I often feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the subject of racism and race. However, often times when these issue are discussed I learn something new; this was the case when reading the articles this week. This week’s articles examined the issue of race from different perspectives. This allowed me to re-examine the issue in a fuller manner; it also allowed me to question some of my own notions that I hadn’t really challenged before.

Race is a particularly powerful way of maintaining the dominance of the social group in power. The construct of race is about stratification, which puts a racially justified hierarchy among people in society to keep the dominant social group in power. Stratification can influence the resources an individual receives. Therefore, social workers sometimes use a theoretical approach called, Critical Race Theory (CRT), to guide their work in making certain general assumptions about issues of power, race, ethnicity, and racism. This is because CRT is an alternative theory that offers a radical lens to make sense of racial inequality in society, which could prove useful when analyzing a client’s situation. The

I have always thought about myself as just a person. After taking this course, I think of myself as a white person. To me, being colorblind and attempting to look at everyone as just a person, were ways I avoided being racist. This course, taught by Dr. Bianca Williams, has enabled me to change my views on racism and race to a move correct outlook. I now understand that it is my duty to be able to acknowledge my race and other identities and the privileges that come with being a white, middle class, heterosexual person. I used to think that interpersonal racism was the main problem in the United States, but after this course realize that institutional racism is the problem. This course, coupled with readings from Devon W. Carbado on his piece titled “Privilege”, Beverly Daniel Tatum’s article titled “Talking about Race, Learning about Racism”, Brittney Cooper’s article on “The Politics of Black Women’s Hair” and Audre Lorde’s article called “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism”, I have shifted my views on race and racism to a more constructive and correct outlook.

It is very important to address the concerns Mr. Williams has regarding his wife, Ertha. Until he is reassured that there is a plan in place to assist him with her care and address her medical and her possible mental health issues ,his anxiety level will remain high and interfere with his own recovery . In addition, patients with high anxiety don’t process information, such as patient education, chronic and acute disease teaching as effectively as they would when their anxiety level is decreased. Mr. Williams would be a poor candidate, His focus now is on Erath and not himself.

As health professionals, it is important to constantly be self-aware and to discover new truths about oneself. Jourard (1971) stated that lack of personal awareness can lead to a feeling of vulnerability when approached by patients expressing feelings, due to the fear of not knowing how to respond in an appropriate way. By having self-awareness, the sources of limitations that have the tendency to cause anxiety can be identified, so forward planning can be prepared to reduce or eliminate the impact this may have on performing activities and approaches to patients. Certain individuals utilise different techniques to minimise anxiety such as deep-breathing exercises or thinking of the positive outcome that comes once the source of fear or anxiety is overcame. Meanwhile, others prefer being critiqued, since it allows areas within practise needing improvements to be highlighted and alternatives to be considered.

The patient claimed that she had mild depression before her visit. She said that she felt like her job was unfulfilling and that she was disappointed that she did not have a partner. Once she came and sat down with Dr. Santos, she would talk for about ten minutes and then interrupt herself by apologizing saying that the doctor was ‘bored or had better things to do than listen to her’. She told her that was not the case and to keep going. She interrupted herself again three times during her session. Dr. Santos payed an appropriate amount of attention to Mallory. She was careful with her body language, eye contact, and made sure to make Mallory feel that she was interested in what she was

Henderson Daniel aimed to see if increasing the amount of black women in the field of psychology as facilitators in the research, would increase the rate to which black women students would further their education in the research field. Henderson Daniel did not only want to encourage more young black women to become research psychologist. She also hoped by incorporating more black women in the area of research, would lead to topics about “diverse persons” (Henderson, 2009). By the end of the pilot program more than half of the women in the pilot studied remained in “significant research-related careers” (Henderson, 2009). Henderson Daniel believed if black women held positions in underrepresented areas like psychology research professors, which in 2006 was known to be 1.1% of professors; it would lead to role models for black women students in psychology. (Digest of Education Statistics,

Britain lives in a diverse, multi-cultural society, and so to ensure smooth functionality, we need to ensure that all different groups are able to coincide with one another so society is able to maintain it’s stability.

On this day our guest speakers were a group of community activist, mental health workers, and a few professors. For the hour we discussed intersectional systems of oppression that affect black women (and people of color), ways as activist that we may combat these inequalities, and the psychological impact of unbalanced power structures create for the individual.The discussion was thought-provoking; as always, however I found myself in a conundrum.

Black psychologists faced many unique challenges in their quest for inclusion and voice in the professional and academic community of Psychology. However, the Civil Rights movement began an era of transformation that impacted several sectors of society, including the professional and academic spheres. Both the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) and the Black Students Psychological association (BSPA) played a significant role in challenging the American Psychological Association’s (APA) discriminatory actions towards the Black community and the general lack of awareness of the field’s exclusively White and euro-centric framework. The ABPsi was established at the APA convention of 1968, where they disrupted a meeting of the APA Board of Directors meeting to present their concerns with the establishment. During this formal protest, they declared that “Members of the Association have pledged themselves to the realization that they are Black people first and psychologists second. Accordingly, they will not continue to ignore the exploitation of the Black community” (Williams, 1974).

Overarching research on women of color (African American, Native American, Latina/Hispanic, Pacific Islander American, and Asian American) and the impact of racism and sexism as interrelated constructs on their academic aspirations is limited. A few scholarly pieces that explore racism and sexism as intersecting constructs, primarily focus on understanding the relationship between these isms and the mental health of women of color (DeBlaere & Bertsch, 2013; DeBlaere, Brewster, Bertsch, DeCarlo, Kegel, & Presseau, 2013;Martin, Boadi, Fernandes,Watt, & Robinson-Wood, 2013).More specifically, extant literature suggests one of the major consequences women of color experience in relation to racist and sexist events is psychological distress,

Sara Sayed is very shy, lethargic and reluctant. She is slouched down on the couch and is making little eye contact. She appears nervous and hands are “shaky.” She is not talkative so the counselor must develop of means of building rapport to increase Sara’s comfortability (American Psychiatric Association).

She stated that anxiety started after high school when she felt pressure to go to college. There is no evidence to support that client has learning disabilities. Hannah reported that she thought the change would help improve her life. She stated that she thought moving out on her own would shift her into independence. However, client reports that her anxiety has been worse. Reportedly, she has difficulty spending too much time alone. Hannah recalled her recent experience meeting with friends at a coffee shop and reported that during the entire outing she experienced persistent thoughts of going home. She stated concerns about the possibility of losing her friends due to the anxiety. Hannah reflected on how social life when she lived with her parent and reports her new social difficulties. Client reported that her anxiety is stopping her from making friends. Hannah works as a freelance photographer. Anxiety has been stopping her photography. Hannah reported that she has been receiving less work and took the responsibility for the decline in work. Client reports some of her anxiety symptoms as shaking, hot flashes and sweating. In addition she reports having many flooding thoughts that others may think she is stupid, she can’t do her job, she’s an idiot, weirdo, or everyone is looking at her. She reported that those thoughts make her feel she should give up and she is an idiot. Hannah reports that when anxious while working, she has the tendency to clinch tight onto the camera. Reportedly, her shaking interferes with her taking photos. Client reported that had resorted to wearing black to work and many places to conceal the evidence of her sweating due to her

The antagonists in this book are his patient from whom he elicits permission before using them. The author uses scenarios from some of his therapy sessions to evoke alertness in his audience as well as to provide a practical framework with which they can relate or be guided as therapists or future therapists.