Difference and Discrimination in Psychotherapy and Counselling

by Sue Marshall

• ISBN13: 9781412901178
• ISBN10: 1412901170
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781446232347
• Additional ISBN(s): 9781446232347
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-06-22
• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd

Summary

'Prejudice is, for good or ill, a part of our nature. It is instilled in us from birth onwards. All we can hope to do is to combat it, and the first tool in our armoury must be that of awareness. Without this, it is very difficult, perhaps impossible, for the psychotherapist or counsellor to explore how it might be influencing the psychotherapy relationship.Sue Marshall has, in this book, performed a valuable task in that direction, and has done in it very cogently in a most difficult area. I applaud her' - Joe Sinclair, Nurturing PotentialDifference, prejudice and discrimination are issues which all counsellors and psychotherapists need to address as part of their personal and professional development. Designed to support training on these complex issues, Difference & Discrimination in Counselling & Psychotherapy helps therapists understand the experience of discrimination, as well as explore their own - often unconscious - attitudes to others, based on gender, sexuality, race, culture or mental health.For most therapists an attitude of acceptance and non-judgmentalism is fundamental to their view of practice. However, in seeking to be non-judgmental, therapists may run the risk of concealing their own prejudices. It is only by facing up to these attitudes and exploring them that therapists are able to fully relate to their clients and help them effectively. Synthesising sociological knowledge with her experience of a practitioner, Sue Marshall powerfully demonstrates both the importance and the practicalities of developing awareness about difference.Difference & Discrimination in Counselling & Psychotherapy offers a straightforward approach to some of the most difficult issues relating to practice, making it an ideal text for use in training and for qualified therapists continuing their professional development.

Table of Contents

General Introduction to The SPC Series	ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction	1	(4)
1 Discrimination, Difference and Identity	5	(16)
2 Race and Culture	21	(49)
Racism and racial discrimination - a historical overview	25	(20)
The process of racism and racial discrimination	45	(10)
Race and culture in counselling and psychotherapy	55	(15)
3 Gender	70	(31)
Gender relations - a historical overview	71	(11)
Gender and gender identity - some of the theories	82	(8)
Gender in counselling and psychotherapy	90	(11)
4 Sexuality	101	(36)
Homosexuality - a historical overview	103	(14)
Sexuality and homosexuality - some of the theories	117	(10)
Homosexuality in counselling and psychotherapy	127	(10)
5 Mental Illness	137	(47)
The treatment of madness - a historical overview	139	(14)
Theories about mental illness	153	(11)
Mental illness and counselling and psychotherapy	164	(8)
Mental illness and other minority groups	172	(12)
6 Conclusion	184	(7)
Bibliography	191	(10)
Index	201