Ethnic Diversity of Counseling Clients - Essay Example

Ethnic Diversity of Counseling The word ‘change’ is presumed to be the only constant word in the dynamic world of today. With massive developments in the segments of information technology along with communication process, the tricks of the business and profession are fast changing. The impact of globalization has also been hugely influential and has contributed towards the ever increasing competition in almost all of the segments. The tremendous competition along with extreme peer pressure has often resulted in failure of nerve of many of the professionals and business persons all across the globe.

California has been one of the leading states of the United States of America in terms of diversified ethnicity. The state has wide range of population which includes major proportion of African – Americans, Hispanics and Asians along with the white populace. The need of counseling is observed more in to the lower strata of the society especially among those who have immigrated from the lesser developed nations. The fight for the survival often takes toll of those struggling minds. It is observed that they often need counseling because of drug over dose, alcoholism and other social curses that they become part of.

In the broader perspective, the need of the counseling is felt in two ways namely voluntary counseling and that mandated by the judicial system. The voluntary counseling is such counseling, the need of which, the recipient himself can understand. On the other hand, the judicially mandated counseling is that which the court of law orders the recipient to receive (the treatment of counseling) as it deems fit.According to the Department of Mental Health of California, following are the major areas that are covered by the department:Facilitating joint decision making process within the state as well as countryEnsuring of continuous supply of Federal fundsTo look the delivery of services in the health services of CaliforniaProvision for mental health services to the needy, directly or through contractsOther administrative supports(Mayberg, n.d.)The diversifying need of the mental health treatment in the state of California is high among the Africans – Americans, Hispanics and Asians.

A report of the year 2001 suggested that 16.3% of the entire population of the state needed mental health treatment which was a hopping figure of 4 million adults (Lund, 2005).Another important report in the mental health care segment, which is also directly related with counseling, depicts those more than 600,000 persons to receive health care treatments in the state of California itself in between 2004 to 2005 (Jew-Lochman, 2008). Mental counseling has been one of the fastest upcoming sectors in the health industry.

It has been observed that almost every day the number of affected person increases. The requirement of well trained professionals is on the rise. The other important aspect of the counseling is that sometimes the client himself can feel the need of counseling while many a times the judge has to intermediate so that the patient receives the required treatment. ReferencesJew-Lochman, S. (2008).Health Data Summaries for California Counties, 2006. Department ofHealth Services.Lund, L. (2005). Mental Health Care in California Counties: Perceived Need and Barriers toAccess, 2001.

Center for Health Statistics.Mayberg, S. W. (No Date). Mental Health Services in California. California Department of Mental Health. Retrieved Online on February, 20 from http://www.dmh.ca.gov/About_DMH/docs/dmhbro.pdf BibliographyLok, V. & Chapman, S. (2009). The Mental Health Workforce in California: Trends in Employment, Education, and Diversity. University of California. Retrieved Online on February, 20 from http://futurehealth.ucsf.edu/Content/29/2009-03_The_Mental_Health_Workforce_in_California_Trends_in_Employment_Education_and_Diversity.

pdfThe National Academies Press. (No Date). Institutional and Policy-Level Strategies for Increasing the Diversity of the U.S. Health-Care Workforce. Introduction. Retrieved Online on February, 20 from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10885&page=23