Wk 3 Discussion – Personal and Cultural Crisis
Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:
As a crisis counselor, you might encounter a client who is experiencing a crisis related to incongruence between their personal values and beliefs and those of their culture. When working with these clients, it is important for the counselor to seek understanding about the client’s culture and the conflict they are experiencing.
Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow:
Nasir is a 26-year-old Pakistani male who has come to see you regarding his recent experience of suicidal ideations. He reports that these thoughts have surfaced over the past week, and he is really scared because he is not sure if he would follow through on the thoughts.
Nasir explains that he is the only child of self-made immigrants and is the only one in his family to have grown up in the United States. He admits that he is currently in a deeply loving relationship with an American; however, his parents have arranged for him to marry someone else from within their faith community. He has not disclosed to his family that he is dating someone, as he believes it will shame the family. He explains that, for a moment, for the first time in his life, he had felt free, but that his parents contacted him recently to tell him that it is now time for him to meet and marry the chosen woman in 3 weeks.
Nasir describes feeling torn, overwhelmed, and hopeless. He explains that, if he does not go through with the arranged marriage, he will disrespect and dishonor his family, and believes that the only way out is to end his life. He states, “If I dishonor them, I have nothing, but if I deny my heart, I still have nothing.”
• What are the ethical and cultural implications of working with this client?
• If you were the counselor in this situation, what other questions would you have for this client?
• What are some culturally relevant resources in your local community that you could refer the client to for additional support?
Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words each classmate:
SW classmate
Some of the ethical and cultural implication of working with Nasir are to practice cultural humility, always refrain from imposing personal, most likely American, cultural values, and be able to understand emic issues related to Nadir’s Pakistani heritage (Kanel, 2018). I would not apply any values or cultural implications onto Nasir, I would wait for him to tell me what his values and cultural views are. I would certainly refrain from ever imposing my individualistic, American views into the counseling session. I would hopefully have more knowledge than I currently possess about Pakistani culture and family member expectations.
As a counselor, I would question Nasir about how he views his family structure, what his place is within that structure, what the expectations are of him and how he feels about that. I would keep the emic values of strong family values and respect the shame he may feel if he goes against his family’s wishes (Kanel, 2018). I would ask about his relationship with his American partner, and everything he feels about that relationship. I would ask about the arranged marriage, how he felt in the past about the arrangement and how he feels now. I would encourage Nasir to explore “what if’s” about his choices and different conversations he could have with family members or loved ones involved if he so chose to do so. Of course, I would also ask questions about his intentions to harm himself, and if he appeared to be at a high risk for harming himself, I would report that information to the proper authorities.
I could suggest the resources available at the Islamic Center of Greater Salt Lake, where Nasir might want to talk to one of the five Imaam’s at the center. If Nasir would like a counselor of his nationality or faith, I could suggest he look at psychologytoday.com, which is not local, but allows one to enter filters that may appeal to him, such as “Asian” or “Muslim.” When I just did this, I found two Asian, Muslim, female counselors in Salt Lake City. One is even Pakistani. There would be more in surrounding cities as well, I am sure.
Kanel, K. (2018). An Overview of Crisis Intervention. In (Ed.), A guide to crisis intervention (6th ed.). Cengage Learning. https://bibliu.com/app/#/view/books/9780357088531/epub/OEBPS/11_9781337566414_ch1.html#page_170
JB classmate
Working with Nasir poses a variety of ethical and cultural considerations. First is his safety, suicide prevention is the first and fore most issue and why he is having these thoughts. He is facing a hard crisis in his life. A choice of going against his cultural beliefs and dishonoring his family to not go through with the arranged marriage or live an unhappy life by following the beliefs. The culture that his parents have and raised him with have become tainted for Naris since he has been raised in the northwestern culture. More information needs to be gathered for Naris to approach his dilemma. Is there a religious factor to the marriage? He is rationally thinking but need guidance to find alternatives to his problem. He should consider things like, what are the rules of the marriage, are his parents insisting the marriage, what does he believe and is there other ways for the one he loves to be accepted as the chosen marriage partner by the parents? It would be best to discuss more about his culture and what he has experienced in the past. I would refer him to the local community of the Pakistan ethnicity or other immigrants that could be facing similar cultural blend challenges. If there were religious beliefs contributing to the challenge, I would suggest Naris to seek counsel from the clergy. Kanel writes, “When there is lack of acceptance, young adults may need encouragement to take care of their own emotional needs, and, if possible, still maintain some involvement with the parents.”. Naris is facing a major life changing decision.
Reference:
Kanel, K. (2018), A guide to crisis intervention, 6th ed. P. 164
