Week 12: Advocacy

° I feel that as a counselor it is an integral part of my job to advocate for clients and challenge bias. Often, clients have not yet found their own voice within themselves and have not yet become able to advocate for themselves in their own best interest. I believe it is my function to help give clients the tools with which to represent and assert themselves in the various areas of their lives. Furthermore, there may be institutional forms of oppression and bias which clients are facing that may come into focus as part of the counseling process, and I also believe it is my task to address these issues, as well.

 

Being an advocate for my clients is a role I expected to take on for my clients and one I expect I will enjoy. My goal is to strive to keep my own values as separate as possible from the therapeutic relationship as I am able, but I know this is not possible. There are some groups I would find it more difficult to advocate for, for example, I would find it harder to be as enthusiastic about getting out there and focusing on the needs of pedophiles as I would, say, LGBT clients. However, I don’t see pedophiles as having the same pressing needs as LGBT clients. But, I can clearly see my values coming through even in my language just in discussing these two groups of people. I speak of a label in the former group and in the latter, they are referred to as the more human “clients.” This clearly reflects my beliefs.

 

 

°Blog references:

http://www.algbtic.org

The Association for LGBT Issues in Counseling is a website that provides information on competencies for therapists who are seeking to improve their skills in treating LGBT clients. The site features a therapist resource listing where individuals can locate mental health services for LGBT clients in their state, a discussion exchange listserv where counselors can talk online about LGBT issues that are on their mind, as well as a newsletter that includes submissions on LGBT issues from professional counselors, counseling students, counselor educators and counselors working in research settings. The site offers counselors who are interested in advocating for LGBT issues ways to promote equality toward the treatment of LGBT clients and communities.

 

http://www.hrc.org

Human Rights Campaign is a great website where counselors can direct LGBT clients to get information on such practical issues as coming out and parenting to more broad matters affecting the LGBT community including how to participate in state advocacy and marriage rights. HRC has a “Health & Aging” section section of its site where counselors and clients can go to find the site’s identified Leaders in LGBT Healthcare Equality, which selects healthcare facilities in states throughout the country chosen for excellence in providing an equal level of care to LGBT patients. HRC also offers LGBT clients who are struggling with addiction and potentially feeling lowered self-esteem ways to connect with and advocate for their community through a “local” section of the site that shows them how they can get involved and fight for equality in their area.

 

http://www.pride-institute.com

Pride Institute runs a treatment facility in Eden Prairie, MN, dedicated to helping LGBT individuals improve their sexual health and and mental health, as well as those seeking treatment for substance abuse problems tailored to LGBT needs. The facility’s website offers excellent resources to counselors who are looking for information on how to improve their skills in serving LGBT clients through webinars that can be downloaded on such topics as LGBT language awareness and understanding issues in substance abuse treatment. There is also a newsletter that has timely topics of interest to counselors, as well.

 

http://www.soulforce.org

Soulforce is an organization that seeks to promote nonviolent resistance to the oppression of LGBT Christians and the LGBT community. Soulforce’s website is a great resource for counselors and clients to to learn about Christian issues of religion and faith from an LGBT perspective from leading ministers in the field. The site is an excellent place to go for those dealing with substance abuse and struggling with the added guilt and shame of their LGBT orientation as Christians.

Week 11: Influences Shaping My Attitude Toward Substance Use

• What were your attitudes toward use of substances when you were a child and an adolescent?

My parents came of age during the ’60s and consequently both had rather liberal views regarding alcohol and drugs. As a result, I internalized these views and thought there was not a lot of danger in these substances as long as you did not abuse them. I did not realize how easily one could lose control over his or her use, however.

• What was your personal and peer group experience of substance use? How are your views the same or different now? What might it feel like to work with clients making different choices, or to encourage choices that you did not make?

I remember in the 8^th grade a friend bringing alcohol to a party I had at my house. I didn’t have any because I wasn’t ready to drink yet. I soon distanced myself from this girl at school. The same thing happened a few months later, only with a group of friends who were smoking pot. Again, I distanced myself socially. Looking back, I guess I had some strength in being able to resist at that point. But by the age of 18, I did start drinking, even though it was not legal.

I do not support kids using alcohol underage or using marijuana. It is illegal. I also believe using certain illegal substances can be very destructive to a person. In terms of working with clients who might make different choices, this is something I can expect to encounter. However, I am assuming the reason people are coming into counseling is typically because they want to make changes in their lives. I will support clients in helping them try to make those changes and transition to a healthier lifestyle — physically, emotionally and spiritually.

• Who advised you about drugs and alcohol, and when? What was your response? What encouraged or discouraged use in the approaches you encountered? What do you hope to emulate or discard from your models?

I believe I was mostly influenced by what my parents told me about drugs and alcohol, as well as what I saw in the popular media in the ’70s and ’80s during my youth. Despite the overall negative message I got from my parents about drugs and alcohol (my father was more vocal about drugs since he became somewhat of a drinker by the time I was in high school), it was communicated that binge drinking and drugging was fine and fun as long as you were careful. This is actually what I thought at the time. The reality was neither one of my parents were actually sitting down and really talking to me about drugs and alcohol. I guess the biggest thing I hope to discard in the message that was transmitted to me within my own family is that certain substances can be very addictive, particularly for certain individuals. Addiction runs in my family. This is something that I talk openly with my son about and I would encourage this style of communication with individuals and families I counsel, as well.