Introduction
Psychological counseling is one of the most popular services today. Humanity is currently experiencing one crisis after another, and many need psychological help to cope with it.
Discussion
The article “Privilege and Oppression in Counselor Education: An Intersectionality Framework” made a strong impression on me. It talks about how counselor education should include an awareness of privilege and oppression (Chan et al., 2018). I agree with the authors of the article that counseling practitioners need to be aware of their privilege and know how to work with it properly. The fact is that psychologists’ clients are often people from certain racial, ethnic, or sexual minorities. These people are much more sensitive to the appearance of privilege on the part of the psychologist, which can hurt their therapy. I also support the authors’ view of the need for self-reflection by psychology students.
First, the psychologist must be well aware of his or her peculiarities and reactions to build proper communication with the client. Second, the process of self-reflection can be complicated for some clients, and the counselor needs to explain how to cope with these difficulties.
Conclusion
In general, the more diverse the psychological approach to different minorities is, the more comfortable the clients will feel. Each person needs to know that his or her psychologist will not overwhelm him or her with their privileges but will express complete understanding. This, in turn, can achieve the most noticeable result of therapy. This is explained by the fact that the more trusting the relationship is built with the client, the more he will be able to open up and therefore better perceive the treatment.
Reference
Chan, C. D., Cor, D. N., & Band, M. P. (2018). Privilege and oppression in counselor education: An intersectionality framework. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 46(1), 58-74.