Religion and Spirituality
Watch the video, East vs. West- The Myths that Mystify (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. by Devdutt Pattanaik. Define and discuss the terms “religion” and “spirituality,” reflecting on the video and readings. Consider the following statements from your text (Schmidt, 2006, p. 147) and summarize what they mean to you:
- Jonathan Swift: “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule.”
Evaluate the difficulties that may surface as a result of having a different belief system than your clients and share your reflections on this topic in 250-300 words. Support your comments with two references.
PAGE 174
Counseling Inferences
A significant aspect of self-concept development is the interaction of the person with society. This chapter presented social factors related to socioeconomic status and social class that might have an impact on people’s individual development as well as how they function in society in general. How counselors and other helping professionals assist clients in handling any or all of these factors is dependent on the knowledge they have about facts and issues related to socioeconomic conditions, trends, and individual behaviors and their self-understanding of social class.
Helping clients to work through various social factors that impede self-development or damage personal relationships must also take into account cultural beliefs and differences. As noted in other chapters, the focus of this text is on social and cultural foundations that relate to and affect counseling relationships. When working with clients who exhibit behaviors or face challenges related to any of the variables presented in this chapter, successful counselors learn about family and cultural background to help clients work through issues within an appropriate context. Ignoring ethnic or cultural factors places the helper at risk of encapsulation, which inhibits empathic understanding and limits the likelihood of successful helping relationships.
As with all the other status variables presented in this text, socioeconomic status and social class must be explored and understood by counselors or other professional helpers if they expect to be effective with clients across cultural groups. The starting point for such exploration and understanding is to self-examine and self-reflect about your perceptions and beliefs regarding these socially constructed variables. At the same time, sensitivity about how clients might perceive you, and your social class, is also important in establishing credible helping relationships. Often, class biases are unknown to counselors and other helpers who have them. Sometimes, biases are inherent in the mental health system or counseling services as they are designed. For example, a public counseling service that only offers daytime hours unintentionally neglects a large portion of the community who, due to work schedules, could only participate during evening hours. Missing work and pay could present a tremendous financial strain that would be unrelieved by any counseling service. Similarly, the cost of services might be prohibitive for some clients.
Few professional counselors are equipped or prepared to handle any or all issues that clients might bring to the helping relationship. Helpers might require expertise for many of the social factors covered in this chapter and throughout the text. Knowing your limitations, seeking additional knowledge and skill, or referring clients to more appropriate sources for assistance are essential ingredients in being an intentionally effective counselor (Schmidt, 2002). In terms of socioeconomic status, counselors and other helpers can search for informed financial sources to provide clients with accurate information about savings plans, loans, employment opportunities, retirement plans, educational programs, and a host of other resources to enable clients to make informed decisions.
Because of socioeconomic realities, counselors and other human service professionals take action beyond their own self-understanding and the immediate services they offer clients. They become socially and professionally active in helping communities provide broad-based services to a wide audience of clients. Narrative 9.1 tells about Bayview, Virginia, and the story of people who proactively took charge of their town. In the next chapter, we will explore this notion further by considering advocacy, conflict resolution, and social justice.
NARRATIVE 9.1 • The Revival of Bayview, Virginia
CBS News and the TV show 60 Minutes have reported about how a 300-year-old community, Bayview, Virginia, and one of its residents, Alice Coles, mustered political action and public involvement to change the course of a town.
In the 1990s, Bayview was a forgotten town in the eastern shore farmland of Virginia. Comprised of run-down shacks that rented for about $30 a month, this community had been home to African Americans for decades. Now impoverished, these once proud residents lived in substandard dwellings without indoor plumbing and with hazardous electrical wiring. According to Alice Coles, who lived in Bayview most of her life, the houses had no designated kitchen, because no plumbing or electrical appliances gave any particular room that distinction.
In 1995, the state of Virginia began deliberating the possibility of putting a maximum-security prison in the middle of the town. Coles, at that time a middle-aged single mother making less than minimum wage as a crab picker, began her crusade against the government’s plan. With a small band of community members, she founded The Bayview Citizens for Social Justice and proceeded to lobby for better conditions in the town and against the prison being built in their community. Through their efforts, the group learned about lobbying, politics, and nonprofit organizational status. They eventually recruited Maurice Cox, an architect and college professor, to help them design a new vision for Bayview. After much effort to clean up the town, politicians and government officials began to pay attention. The state started to commit money for projects, and overall Bayview raised about $10 million from various state, federal, and private sources.
By 2004, several new houses were constructed for families to leave their shacks and begin new lives. The new prison had not been built in Bayview, but a new community center was on the drawing board. Plans were to help the community continue to realize its dream of restoring pride in its heritage. All this became possible because of a few people’s desire to make positive changes, seek the financial resources to restore a community, and take political action to prevent the loss of their town.
More details about this story can be found through the following resources:
PAGE 174
Counseling Inferences
A significant aspect of self
–
concept development is the interaction of the person with society. This
chapter presented social factors relate
d to socioeconomic status and social class that might have an
impact on people’s individual development as well as how they function in society in general. How
counselors and other helping professionals assist clients in handling any or all of these factor
s is
dependent on the knowledge they have about facts and issues related to socioeconomic conditions,
trends, and individual behaviors and their self
–
understanding of social class.
Helping clients to work through various social factors that impede self
–
dev
elopment or damage personal
relationships must also take into account cultural beliefs and differences. As noted in other chapters, the
focus of this text is on social and cultural foundations that relate to and affect counseling relationships.
When workin
g with clients who exhibit behaviors or face challenges related to any of the variables
presented in this chapter, successful counselors learn about family and cultural background to help
clients work through issues within an appropriate context. Ignoring
ethnic or cultural factors places the
helper at risk of encapsulation, which inhibits empathic understanding and limits the likelihood of
successful helping relationships.
As with all the other status variables presented in this text, socioeconomic status
and social class must
be explored and understood by counselors or other professional helpers if they expect to be effective
with clients across cultural groups. The starting point for such exploration and understanding is to self
–
examine and self
–
reflect a
bout your perceptions and beliefs regarding these socially constructed
variables. At the same time, sensitivity about how clients might perceive you, and your social class, is
also important in establishing credible helping relationships. Often, class bias
es are unknown to
counselors and other helpers who have them. Sometimes, biases are inherent in the mental health
system or counseling services as they are designed. For example, a public counseling service that only
offers daytime hours unintentionally ne
glects a large portion of the community who, due to work
schedules, could only participate during evening hours. Missing work and pay could present a
tremendous financial strain that would be unrelieved by any counseling service. Similarly, the cost of
ser
vices might be prohibitive for some clients.
Few professional counselors are equipped or prepared to handle any or all issues that clients might
bring to the helping relationship. Helpers might require expertise for many of the social factors covered
in th
is chapter and throughout the text. Knowing your limitations, seeking additional knowledge and
skill, or referring clients to more appropriate sources for assistance are essential ingredients in being an
intentionally effective counselor (Schmidt, 2002). I
n terms of socioeconomic status, counselors and
other helpers can search for informed financial sources to provide clients with accurate information
about savings plans, loans, employment opportunities, retirement plans, educational programs, and a
host of
other resources to enable clients to make informed decisions.
Because of socioeconomic realities, counselors and other human service professionals take action
beyond their own self
–
understanding and the immediate services they offer clients. They become
s
ocially and professionally active in helping communities provide broad
–
based services to a wide
PAGE 174
Counseling Inferences
A significant aspect of self-concept development is the interaction of the person with society. This
chapter presented social factors related to socioeconomic status and social class that might have an
impact on people’s individual development as well as how they function in society in general. How
counselors and other helping professionals assist clients in handling any or all of these factors is
dependent on the knowledge they have about facts and issues related to socioeconomic conditions,
trends, and individual behaviors and their self-understanding of social class.
Helping clients to work through various social factors that impede self-development or damage personal
relationships must also take into account cultural beliefs and differences. As noted in other chapters, the
focus of this text is on social and cultural foundations that relate to and affect counseling relationships.
When working with clients who exhibit behaviors or face challenges related to any of the variables
presented in this chapter, successful counselors learn about family and cultural background to help
clients work through issues within an appropriate context. Ignoring ethnic or cultural factors places the
helper at risk of encapsulation, which inhibits empathic understanding and limits the likelihood of
successful helping relationships.
As with all the other status variables presented in this text, socioeconomic status and social class must
be explored and understood by counselors or other professional helpers if they expect to be effective
with clients across cultural groups. The starting point for such exploration and understanding is to self-
examine and self-reflect about your perceptions and beliefs regarding these socially constructed
variables. At the same time, sensitivity about how clients might perceive you, and your social class, is
also important in establishing credible helping relationships. Often, class biases are unknown to
counselors and other helpers who have them. Sometimes, biases are inherent in the mental health
system or counseling services as they are designed. For example, a public counseling service that only
offers daytime hours unintentionally neglects a large portion of the community who, due to work
schedules, could only participate during evening hours. Missing work and pay could present a
tremendous financial strain that would be unrelieved by any counseling service. Similarly, the cost of
services might be prohibitive for some clients.
Few professional counselors are equipped or prepared to handle any or all issues that clients might
bring to the helping relationship. Helpers might require expertise for many of the social factors covered
in this chapter and throughout the text. Knowing your limitations, seeking additional knowledge and
skill, or referring clients to more appropriate sources for assistance are essential ingredients in being an
intentionally effective counselor (Schmidt, 2002). In terms of socioeconomic status, counselors and
other helpers can search for informed financial sources to provide clients with accurate information
about savings plans, loans, employment opportunities, retirement plans, educational programs, and a
host of other resources to enable clients to make informed decisions.
Because of socioeconomic realities, counselors and other human service professionals take action
beyond their own self-understanding and the immediate services they offer clients. They become
socially and professionally active in helping communities provide broad-based services to a wide
