Reflective Essay: Cultural Identity in Counselling and Psychotherapy

This reflective essay examines the author's cultural background and its impact on their perspective and practice as a counselor and psychotherapist. Originating from Lebanon, the author explores how their upbringing, influenced by various civilizations and cultural elements like religion, lang...Read More

Reflective essay in
Counselling and
Psychotherapy

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Reflective essay would be including writing about oneself, our background and culture
from where we are coming and how would all these impacting the way we are thinking. This
would also be influencing our working or position on which we are working or the people to
whom we are meeting in day to day life. The current essay would be including my background
and culture and how would this be impacting my career as counsellor or psychotherapist. This
would also be covering areas of awareness that person need to consider while broadening to meet
all challenges of counselling role.
MAIN BODY
Reflection and identification of cultural identities.
As I'm inhabiting or originated in Lebanon which forms majority of Lebanese and Sunni
Muslim people. So, the culture of Lebanese people is emerged from various civilisation over
more than a thousand year which remain home for many immigrates like that of Arabs, Persian,
Roman or Greeks. Thus, they have been influenced by all these types of people which is also
reflecting onto their diversified culture like that of religious groups, festivals of countries,
literature, music and cuisine as well (Iannaco, 2018). Their culture is also overlapping with that
of Egyptian one holding in field of literature, theatre, cinema and journalism. They also celebrate
the festivals and holidays as per the calendars of both Islam and Christianity.
Development of fundamental or key cultural identities.
In this context, I could prefer putting the cultural identity theory which is telling about
belongingness of particular culture and group of people with whom we have been living or
brought up. This is a long way process which would also be influencing my career in field of
counselling and psychotherapy. Like, learning and accepting heritage, cuisine, traditions,
language and religion or thinking pattern of those people or group where we have particularly
brought up. This could then be telling us about our own concept of humans including that of
beliefs, values and norms under which we are presenting ourselves. Both these would be
effecting what we are doing and how would our culture be getting into development of work
which we are doing.
Fundamental influence which is based on my life including own choice as counsellor.
The job of counsellor is not an easy task which would be involving handling and treating
people who are suffering from problems like that of psychological or mainly related to mental
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health. My job would be based on tracking out main problem of people who are approaching my
for their counselling, helping them to come out of this problem and then assessing them so that
they could come on to normal track as they were in their past life (Ormond, Austin & Middleton,
2018, March). The work of counsellor is not that easy task as people think it to be as this mainly
depends upon how I would be handling patient and how would this be affected with my
background or culture from where I'm coming. On the other hand, psychotherapy would be
meaning that I'm treating that person who is mentally disturbed or having disorder with the help
of psychological means and not by medicines. As medical issues which are not been suitable for
them.
My job and working would be mainly affected by my background from where I belong
and the main reason behind my choice of this profession would be increased in number of people
who are suffering from mental disorder. So, this was the reason as to why I choose my
profession as this counselling one so that I could help those people who are suffering from
mental problems. However, cultural identity would not be influencing my choice to be
counsellor which is different from both my job and from culture where I belong to.
Influence of fundamental culture identities that would be on my role as counsellor.
Cultural identity which I would be having should always be influencing me and all the
role in my life which I'm playing. Whether I'm playing the role of a mother or a friend or as the
citizen of my country as would be my role as the counsellor which I need to play at the time of
my working. This cultural identity would mean group or nationality for which we belong to so
this ultimately is effecting our thinking and way of living our life (Flynn & DipCPN, 2018). All
the things which I have been doing since my childhood days would be having their own
influence on my current or upcoming life. So it is must that I'm learning and taking all good
habits which my family, patents, siblings, friends and relatives are having. As all these peoples
who are there with me since my birth would be influencing me and my habits of dealing with
other peoples. The language which I'm speaking, food which I'm in taking, education which I
have received or in the area where I'm living would all be having certain type of effect on me and
my role as counsellor as well. Other than these things in the recent time's internet is also meant to
play certain role in a person's life like many of us including me as well are regular users of
internet which is source of important information in current era. Internet or other related parts of
it like that of social media platform would be influencing my thinking power and reasoning
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capacity as well. This would be helping me to know or distinct between what is wrong or what is
right which is also moulding me either into good or bad personality (Inger & Inger, 2018).
Areas of awareness, knowledge and experience need to be considered at time of meeting
challenges.
There are certain challenges which I could experience at time of my career as counsellor
like that of not able to understand what my patient is trying to tell me, or what actual problem he
or she is facing or how could I help him. But at the same time I should be aware of what sort of
changes that are been taking place in world what are trends that are effecting thinking of humans.
Like for instance many people in this world are getting affected by what is going on in this world
which they come to know with the help of internet of things. This is the most frequent influencer
of all times which is not only effecting the life or thinking of people but also their lifestyle
(Dryden, 2018). Many people are just buying or doing certain products because others like their
favourite film star is doing this is known to as chronic copycat.
So because of these changes that are taking place it could be seen that many people are
getting mentally disturbed if they are not been able to do certain things. Problem of lack of
confidence or that of not been able to talk to someone is also increasing so I should be having
full knowledge about this habit of people. This type of challenges are there which I would face at
times when I'm dealing with my patients so I should be having knowledge of how to handle these
type of situations and people as well who are coming to me for guidance or counselling purpose.
Clear examples.
There are certain examples which could be helping me to understand meaning and
importance of cultural diversity and its effect that could be applied on me. There is common
thing which is applicable to all like that of habits and personality of my family, friends or
relatives are having could be one that I'm having into myself. These are some things which are
important to be noted and that could be part of myself and my living (Bainbridge, 2018). Like
my mother is a teacher who is very much into field of teaching and is also quite disciplined on
her duties and responsibility which she is having. So this quality of my mother is also in built in
my nature I take up my duties, roles and responsibilities very seriously just like my mother does.
She is also very much dedicated towards her work which is seen in me on the other hand I'm also
having quality of my father which is completing of particular task on time.
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My father always like to take up challenges in which he excels all the time so I would
also like to take up all sorts of challenges and then handle them my patience level. This quality
within me is from my teacher who taught me that being patience and calm I always key to
success. We all could easily tackle any situation with easy and patience if we are getting hyper or
overreacting to that situation then this becomes much harder for us to complete that task.
All these are some important examples on who would my culture, people around us
would be influencing me and my working as counsellor (Cincera & Rieckmann, 2018). If anyone
need to understand what is diversity then they must be beginning from their personal level as
how they are different from their family members or from their parents. As there are differences
in all type of people who are living on this earth we all are having something unique which is
making us different from others who seems to be like us only. If we need to recognise the
meaning of diversity we must be looking about what is that thing which is making me look
different from others who are around me.
This could be considered to as initial steps in making in developing cultural awareness as
this would be helping us a lot. Each and every cultural group which is existing in world are
having some form diversity among them. Like in the country where I belong to is also having
many cultural differences like that of language which they are speaking, food which they are
having, cloths which they are wearing or whole culture which they are having differ from each
other (Matheson & Sutcliffe, 2017). Expressions which is related to cultural is been depending
upon factors like that of geography, age, religion and socio-economics status which they are
having in living.
There are differences even with the people who are working in same field like if I seen
my colleagues who are practising in same field within which I'm working they are having some
variety of methods of treatment. This is acceptable to have these types of changes among people
who are working into same field. My role as counsellor or my methods to handle situation or
people should be different from that of others as all people in this world needs to be treated in a
different way (Holliday, Peacock & Lewoski, 2017). Cultural identity would be effecting the
way in which I'm working or how I'm thinking over certain things or issues like that concerning
with the personality of people. This is important that we all are having knowledge regarding to
which culture do we all belong to what could be the things that are effecting our behaviour or
need.
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CONCLUSION
From the whole reflective on counselling and psychological it is been discovered that
work which we are doing or going to start would all be depending about from where we come or
what are the things which we have taught since our childhood. Things which we are
understanding or learning from the beginning of our life would all be depending upon our life in
upcoming phase. So we must be having knowledge about what is correct and what is wrong as
per all the concerned things. We should be having the ability of reasoning and analysing between
what is good and what is bad for us.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Bainbridge, A. (2018). Psychoanalysis and education: Minding a gap. Routledge.
Cincera, J., & Rieckmann, M. (2018). Designing a sustainability-driven entrepreneurship
curriculum as a social learning process: A case study from an international knowledge
alliance project. Journal of Cleaner Production. 172. 4357-4366.
Dryden, W. (2018). The historical and philosophical context of rational psychotherapy: The
legacy of Epictetus. Routledge.
Flynn, B., & DipCPN, D. (2018). Using couple and family therapy to treat people experiencing
alcohol problems. Nursing. 9. 57.
Holliday, C., Peacock, F., & Lewoski, C. (2017). Student motivations for undertaking a child
and adolescent psychotherapeutic counselling course. British Journal of Guidance &
Counselling. 1-11.
Iannaco, G. (2018). Diversity in counselling training: The essential role of the experiential
group. Psychodynamic Practice. 1-6.
Inger, J., & Inger, I. B. (2018). The road taken: a brief history of a dialogic family therapy.
In Positions and Polarities in Contemporary Systemic Practice (pp. 51-65). Routledge.
Matheson, R., & Sutcliffe, M. (2017). Belonging and transition: An exploration of International
Business Students’ postgraduate experience. Innovations in Education and Teaching
International. 1-9.
Ormond, K. E., Austin, J., & Middleton, A. (2018, March). Genetic counseling globally: Where
are we now?. In American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C: Seminars in Medical
Genetics. Wiley-Blackwell.
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