LD is a thirteen year-old Haitian -American seventh grader who is enrolled in the General Education program at Middle School 500. She lives in a large household that is comprised of her paternal grandmother, her father, younger brother, aunt, the aunt’s boyfriend, along with her two cousins, ages 2 and 4. LD was referred to counseling by her Guidance Counselor due to conflicts in the home with her grandmother. The source of LD’s problem stems from her grandmother’s strong ties to Haitian culture and traditions. Although LD was initially referred for family problems, the dynamics of LD’s situation changed when her grandmother died suddenly before the holidays. As a result, the focus of LD’s sessions was changed from family problems to grief
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LD’s grandmother had a strong presence in her family. The matriarch set the family structure and created her family system according to the Haitian traditional customs and beliefs. In the process of working with LD, I had to research Haitian culture and traditions to understand better her dilemma’s with grandma. In my research, I gained knowledge that enabled me to process what LD was communicating to me and used that knowledge to assist her.
Shulman (2016), states that as the middle phase session proceeds the worker uses several groups of skills called skill factors. Skill factors are defined as a set of closely related worker skills that may include empathic skills, sharing feelings, challenging the illusion of work, supporting the client in taboo areas, and sessional ending and transition skills. I believe that I have included and demonstrated these skills with LD in session. Empathic skills were utilized in reaching for her feelings, in the client/worker relationship, trust and caring were established and the client was able to perceive empathy. It is imperative for the worker to differentiate empathy from sympathy. According to Kirst-Ashman (2015), empathy is crucial for the helping process to be effective. It involves not only being in tuned with the clients’ feelings, but also conveying to the client that you understand how they
LD’s grandmother had a strong presence in her family. The matriarch set the family structure and created her family system according to the Haitian traditional customs and beliefs. In the process of working with LD, I had to research Haitian culture and traditions to understand better her dilemma’s with grandma. In my research, I gained knowledge that enabled me to process what LD was communicating to me and used that knowledge to assist her.
Shulman (2016), states that as the middle phase session proceeds the worker uses several groups of skills called skill factors. Skill factors are defined as a set of closely related worker skills that may include empathic skills, sharing feelings, challenging the illusion of work, supporting the client in taboo areas, and sessional ending and transition skills. I believe that I have included and demonstrated these skills with LD in session. Empathic skills were utilized in reaching for her feelings, in the client/worker relationship, trust and caring were established and the client was able to perceive empathy. It is imperative for the worker to differentiate empathy from sympathy. According to Kirst-Ashman (2015), empathy is crucial for the helping process to be effective. It involves not only being in tuned with the clients’ feelings, but also conveying to the client that you understand how they