Career Counseling with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Clients - Essay Example

432817 VC-9 Assignment One of the challenges for a counselor of GBLT individual is that they must understand that the individual probably developed in the same way as a heterosexual child, but always felt there was something "different" about themselves. Because of this, it would be very important to talk to the individual abut where they were in the coming out process. It would also be important to know whether the individual was looking for a career where they could be open about their sexual orientation (Whitcomb, Wattersten and Stolz, 2006). Supers theory of development seems to be appropriate because it looks at all aspects of a persons life over time. The idea of recycling the different steps at different times in a persons life makes sense. The counselor must understand that coming out is an added feature that must be taken into consideration when counseling GLBT individuals. When racial identity is added to the GLBT experience, the counselor must take into consideration to multicultural issues of race that come into play. This would entail the counselor having some multicultural competence. As an example, Arredondo et al (!996, as cited in Capuzzi and Stauffer, 2006) suggest that a counselor must focus on the individuals worldview so they understand the "effects of racism and discrimination" (p. 424) on an individuals decision making. This means that a counselor must understand all of a clients needs when they are GBLT and have a visible racial group. The competent career counselor will understand that there are a variety of issues when counseling GLBTs and the more informant they have, the more effectively they can work with their clients. References Bowman, S.L. and Evans, G.L. (2006). Career counseling with visibly recognizable racial and ethnic minority groups in Capuzzi, D., and Stauffer, M.D. Career counseling: Foundations, perspectives and applications. 421-444. Whitcomb, D.H., Wettersten, K.B., and Stolz, L.C. (2006). Career counseling with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clients in Capuzzi, D., and Stauffer, M.D. (2006) Career counseling: Foundations, perspectives and applications. 386-420. Assignment 3 The two case studies I chose to compare are Marisol, a 41-year old lesbian and Hallie, a 58 year old transsexual. These two women have other issues that would create challenges in their career choices such as age and gender. In both examples the women are relatively new in defining their sexual identity. Marisol came out three years ago. In her case, her partner is a high profile lawyer who has been out longer. Marisol is wrestling with going public to help her partner versus staying in the closet for her job and her children. Hallie is wrestling with discontinuing her work as a drag queen which does not pay as much money as if she were working in an office (Whitcomb, Wettersten and Stolz, 2006). In both cases, the womens sexual orientation impacts their job because they must make decisions bout whether to come out on the job or stay closeted. Both will take risks of losing job opportunities if they come out; Marisol risks losing her family. Marisol will need to come to terms with her lifestyle in order to make her decision. If she is a lesbian and not just trying something new, she will face this decision now or in the future. It seems that her partner is more comfortable with who she is, thus the decision to come out during her campaign. Marisols ex-husband has not come to terms with her sexual orientation, which could cause problems for Marisol and her children if she stands up with her partner to say they are a solid lesbian couple. Hallie in some sense, has an easier time because she has been a transsexual for fifteen years and she is more comfortable in herself than Marisol. She is also older which may cause problems finding a job in an office. However, getting more training will help her become more competitive in the workplace. Theories of Counseling In this section, one of the most important insights I have had is that we can not counsel every person exactly the same, and we cannot expect that the theories will work the same for heterosexuals as other sexual orientations. There are also a variety of issues that GLBT individuals have that are not the same as heterosexual. The issue of coming out is one such issue. It is important to help GBLTs find an environment that is GLBT friendly because it will allow more job satisfaction for the individual (Whitcomb, Wettersten, and Stolz, 2006). This is another issue that we do not think about in counseling heterosexual clients in this same way. In other words, we assume that everyone is heterosexual unless otherwise told, which can be difficult if a client does not know we are GBLT friendly. Another insight I had was the variety of barriers to careers that a GLBT individual can experience. The fact that many will experience discrimination because they are open about who they are could cause family discord and that "heterosexism" can cause GLBT individuals to have more difficulty with "psychological, health and job related outcomes" (Whitcomb, Weltersten and Stolz, 2006, p. 407). Recommendations for the Practice of Career Counseling All of the recommendations are important to keep in mind for a counselor, but the most important would be those that are different form what the counselor would normally experience. As an example, a heterosexual counselor may need to be more aware of the influence and the negative effects of discrimination, stigma and stereotypes play in the life of clients. This is an area that a heterosexual counselor may not know about unless they are actively seeking this informant. Also, the counselor would need to examine any prejudices or "stereotypical beliefs" (Whitcomb, Weltersten and Stolz, 2006, p. 408) that they may hold that would be detrimental in attempting to help the individual. I would also imagine that ht counselor would need to have many resources for themselves and their clients about GLBT issues and know where activities were in their city. This knowledge would help them be more effective in directing their clients. The use of nonsexist and inclusive language would be important and knowing the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. To sum this discussion up, it would seem that GLBT individuals have more options on many levels and may need a counselor to help them sort out all of the information. Reference Whitcomb, D.H., Wettersten, K.B., and Stolz, L.C. (2006). Career counseling with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clients in Capuzzi, D., and Stauffer, M.D. (2006) Career counseling: Foundations, perspectives and applications. 386-420. Read More