The Efficacy of Counseling with Native Americans Essay

The Efficacy of Counseling with Native Americans - Essay Example In this paper, an assessment of possibilities that contribute to certain observable counseling efficacy values among Native Americans is made. The challenges faced by this ethnic group will be used to create the link that counseling process seeks to establish in the discourse. Four questions attempting to answer issues touching on unique historical perspectives, counseling process complexities, cultural interaction issues and spirituality are used in the design. The research reveals that it’s necessary for therapists to consider Native American cultural history when establishing the counseling process. The research also details a number of specific actions that should be considered, including linguistic and body language elements that aid the counseling process. The counselors must also be aware of their own biases in relation to the client. Finally, it’s indicated that the incorporation of Native American spirituality could greatly aid the therapist in the counseling p rocess. The Efficacy of Counseling with Native Americans Introduction The context of Native Americans is created with an understanding of the ethnic group’s history and cultural setting. ... However, very little information is available regarding the Native American suffering at the hands of slave masters, when compared with the famous African slave trade. The sensitive developments that the political arena in the United States exposed this group to are still fresh in the memories of a majority of the Americans, which brings nasty reactions among them. Cases of rejection, neglect and discrimination from certain sections of their aggressors appear in the broader image of a Native American. For counseling clients with such a historical background, it becomes difficult to appreciate the impact of counseling in confronting such challenges, unless a bold journey is taken to discover such a past acting as an impediment to the counseling process. How do historical injustice and modern racial discrimination issues affect counseling processes among Native Americans? To shed more light on the tumultuous historical background that the Native Americans have had to experience would p erhaps facilitate an understanding that would assist therapists to carry out a comprehensive counseling process. As briefly observed above, scars of mistreatment in the hands of foreign aggression by the European-backed slave trade would perhaps act as one of the biggest hindrances to successful therapy. Due to a rich cultural heritage and traditional cohesion practices that bound this â€Å"minority† group, roots of bitter past must haunt them in the hands of public mistreatment and racial discrimination. According to Trabich (1997), there must be some form of remnant heritage that has facilitated passing on of old wounds to the current Native American community to bear witness of untold atrocities that were committed against them.