Self Advocate

Activity 14.1

A primary way counselors can advocate for minority and underserved client populations is to identify and address barriers to accessing counseling services. Minority clients may face many challenges to seeking counseling help including limited financial resources, travel difficulties, and the stigma associated with seeking help for mental health issues. Other barriers to accessing counseling services may be culturally based (e.g., not seeking help outside the family unit) or related to broader socio-political oppressive practices faced by minorities. Counselors need to be culturally knowledgeable and sensitive when addressing barriers to access, yet they must also be proactive in addressing issues which may not have been championed by other professionals. For example, an urban school counselor recognizes that for an after-school parenting skills program to be successful, transportation and child care issues will need to be addressed. The counselor surveys parents interested in the program to determine ways the school can help them make arrangements to participate. The school counselor then reports the information to the school administration to gain resources for creating onsite child-care options and creating a car pooling network.

Activity 14.2

It is hard to know what my identity will be as a professional counselor when I am not yet a counselor. Perseverance is the first trait I can indentify in myself as part of my professional counselor identity. There have been many barriers that I have had to overcome to get to where I am in today. This is something that I would like to pass along to my clients one day. This also goes hand in hand with my leadership qualities. I pride myself in being a great leader and able to inspire my peers as well as others I might come in contact with. The last quality that will be part of my identity as a professional counselor is my ability to have empathy. This is crucial in becoming an effective counselor. Empathy should be part of every counselor's identity. I have been put into numerous situations this year where having empathy was the only way I could truly make a difference in some of these students life. I hope that I will continue to develop more traits that would allow me to be an effective counselor in the future. As a counselor your identity should continue to evolve. There are always things about you that could be worked on as well as perfected.

Activity 14.3

Empowering this client would be my first step to help overcome these issues. I would work on giving him the tools needed to be able to survive on his own. I would also try to find other people in his same situation that are succeeding in taking care of themselves. This would give home the confidence in knowing that it is possible. Understanding how a peer is handling the exact same situation would empower him not only to want to do the same but also equip him with tools needed to do so. If this does not work I will go over other options that might be available to him.

Providing care for an elderly loved one can be difficult, particularly if the elderly person still lives in her own home and cannot drive or is not mobile. To make it easier to help the elderly get the care they need at home, there are a number of charitable and professional organizations and government agencies dedicated to providing different types of care to elderly persons. If an elderly person has difficulty with mobility, he may not have the ability to shop for food and cook his own meals. There are more than 5,000 Meals on Wheels programs throughout the United States that assist in providing more than 1 million meals to seniors every day. Many local Meals on Wheels programs are capable of delivering meals directly to the home of seniors who have limited mobility. Some elderly persons who live in their own home may require in-home medical care by a visiting nurse service, such as daily monitoring of vital signs or rehabilitative care. The Visiting Nurse Associations of America is a trade group which maintains an online database of local visiting nurse services. The YMCA is a community organization that maintains community centers in over 10,000 cities in the United States. Many YMCA centers have pools, fitness centers and community athletic equipment for men and women of all ages, with some organizing fitness classes specifically for the elderly. Most YMCAs also hold group classes for elderly individuals looking to socialize and explore new interests.

Activity 14.4

When I was a junior in college my father passed away. He was sick for a long time, but at the time when he died he seemed to be doing a lot better. A week before he died he called me and let me know how proud he was of me. He told me I truly become the man he always hoped I would become, and never give up on your dreams. Lastly, he said to always look after my mother and be the man of the house when it was his time to leave the earth. I didn't pay much attention to these statements at the time, but when he passed away they became more powerful. When he passed away it was during finals. School was the last thing that was on my mind, and all I wanted to do was go home and be there for my mother. I debated a long time if I should take the rest of the year off and concentrate on my family. We were going through bad times financially because the death was so sudden. I thought the responsible thing to do was to start working so I can help out more around the house. My professors were kind enough to give me some time to make my decision. I spent that winter break going back and forth on what I should do while also trying to cope with the loss of my father. I realized that my father was proud of me because of the man I was becoming, and if I quit something that he wanted for me for so long I would have been letting him down. I decided to go back to school and became more dedicated than ever. I changed many aspects of my life that year and no matter what happened to me in the process I always go back and remember the last things that my father told me. This has inspired me to fight through any barriers that might come my way.

Activity 14.5

In my role as a professional counselor one of the "powers" that I will possess that my client might not is the type of relationship I will have with their teachers. If I have built a good working relationship with my colleagues I will be able to advocate more effectively for my clients.