WHITE COUNSELLORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR INFLUENCE IN COUNSELLING RELATIONSHIPS By Sharon Munk B. A., Simon Fraser University, 1989 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF EDUCATION in EDUCATIONAL COUNSELLING © Sharon Munk THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA June 1998 APPROVAL Name: Sharon Eileen Munk Degree: Master of Education in Counselling Thesis Title: White Counsellors’ Perceptions of their Influence in Counselling Relationships Supervisor: Dr. Ron Lehr, Education Program Advisor: Dr. Colleen Haney, Education Program Advisor: Dr. Marianne Ainley, Women’s Studies Program External Examiner: Dr. Antonia Mills, First Nations Studies Program Date of Approval: /W Abstract The position of counsellor in our society carries with it the potential to influence many individuals due to its interactive nature. Concern regarding the client’s potential vulnerability in the distribution of power with the counsellor/client relationship has been raised by feminist, social constructivists and multicultural counselling theorists. Though counsellors may have benevolent intentions, they are embedded in a society which simultaneously promotes economic, social and political oppression of certain groups of people while providing benefits to a privileged few. The task of gaining awareness and understanding regarding the impact of the counsellor’s cultural history on their daily practice is difficult and challenging. A qualitative research design was used to explore the critical reflective process of how counsellors make sense of the complex and interactive factors which influence the construction of their position within the counselling relationship. Data were collected through six semi-structured one-to-one interviews with practicing counsellors. Participants were solicited from private and public mental health facilities from three communities located in interior British Columbia. Five emergent themes of: Values, Beliefs, and Attitudes Influencing Practice, Underlying Explanations and Experiences, Expectations, Maintaining a Multi- Dimensional Perspective and Unexamined Assumptions are discussed. Implications from this study add to the continuing disruptions of previously held assumptions regarding the counsellor’s perception of his or her influence with clients. iii Acknowledgments In recognition of the support and guidance provided to me throughout my journey I would like to acknowledge my supervisor; Ron Lehr, who made certain I kept on going, my committee members; Colleen Haney and Marianne Ainley, who believed in my ideas and encouraged me to venture into new territory; my husband Larry, who walked along beside me, laughed, cried and experienced the challenges with me, and most importantly, our children; Amber, Chad, Natalie and Stephanie, whose patience, understanding and flexibility allowed me to climb a great mountain, let go of my fears and FLY. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of contents Hi Acknowledgments iv CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1 Background to the problem 3 Purpose 5 Research design 6 Research question 7 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 8 Definition of concepts 10 Nature of power 13 The Identity of Conventional counselling 19 Individual psychological theory and practice 20 Family systems theory and practice 23 The Multicultural movement in counselling 24 The Counsellor’s Identity 28 White Counsellor research 31 White counsellor self-awareness 36 A problem-posing approach to power imbalances in counselling 39 V CHAPTER THREE METHOD 43 Design 43 Interviews 44 Interview questions 46 Participants 49 Procedure 53 Ethical considerations 54 Pilot Interview 55 Analysis 55 Data Analysis 56 Step one 57 Step two 58 Step three 58 Step four 59 Rigor of Research 61 Role of the Researcher 62 CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 64 Introduction of the participants 64 Dale 64 Kelly 65 vi Mary 66 Tom 68 Mark 69 Jan 70 Dominant Story 72 A) Beliefs, Values and Attitudes Influencing Practice 73 B) Underlying Explanations and Experiences 81 C) Expectations 90 D) Maintenance of Multi-Dimensional Perspectives 97 E) Unexamined Assumptions 1 06 Analysis of the Data 1 12 CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 119 Implications 1 22 Limitations 124 Recommendations 1 25 REFERENCES 126 APPENDIX 135 A. Demographic questionnaire 135 B. Informed consent form 137 vii C. Interview question format 138 D. Introduction of self. 139 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION A cursory review of the literature regarding counsellor/client relationships seems to raise concern about the client’s potential vulnerability in the distribution of power within counselling. Some counselling theorists have stressed the need to examine the factors which could influence the development of this relationship. They believe this is particularly important with culturally diverse clients as they are most at risk for discrimination, disempowerment and oppression in a society whose “norms” are primarily based on white, male, middle class values and beliefs (Atkinson, Morten and Sue, 1993; Boyd, 1990; Brown, 1994; Katz, 1985; Korin, 1994; Pedersen, 1996; Pinderhughes, 1989 and Rave, 1990). In her succinct discussion regarding the realities of power for many ethnic and cultural minorities, Boyd (1990) utilizes a quote from Sue (1981); Psychotherapy and counselling are western concepts based on the philosophical assumptions of life, liberty and happiness for all members of this society. The civil rights movement of the 1960’s gives clear evidence that this country, in reality, supports a monolithic set of values rooted in traditional white, middle¬ class, Puritan work ethic (p. 162). Boyd has stated that the denial of ethnic or cultural differences may decrease the chance for beneficial healing. Equally important is the effect on utilization of the helping system services by minorities which Boyd revealed is dramatically diminished. 2 “Denial of differences and lack of educational awareness on the part of the therapist are two major reasons that women of color give for avoiding psychotherapy” ( p. 1 56, Shipp, 1983). Also, most multicultural and feminist counselling theorists assert, one of the most important goals of counselling is to empower the client to find effective ways of coping with the social and internal realities of his or her daily life. As noted by Rave (1990), empowerment allows the client to see how they can enact influence over their lives and gives them a sense of personal meaning and purpose. In reaction to conventional therapy, which centralizes the therapist as the primary agent in the enactment of client empowerment, many feminist therapists have expressed a need for a shift in the therapist’s position. Brown (1990) has stated that feminist therapy should attempt to make itself non-useful, and not essentialize the counsellor as the most important person in the client’s life, nor should it create a relationship which is viewed as the only path toward empowerment. To reach this outcome, Brown argued for the creation of a strong connection between the counsellor and client, without overvaluing it over other relationships. She described this connection as “a temporary, focused exchange with a specific outcome in mind” (p. 45). Given the importance to the outcome of counselling, many theorists have begun looking at some factors which could be influencing the development of this counsellor/ client relationship. Throughout the past ten years many feminist and social constructivist counselling theorists have worked to both deconstruct the power structures within social relations and have attempted to develop alternative approaches to position the counselor and the client 3 on a more equitable plane. However, some feminist and multicultural theorists have began to critically evaluate these approaches as not adequately acknowledging the power relations within a socio-political and cultural context. Unraveling the complex interplay of factors and determining how these factors impact the counselling relationship is a challenging task. This study will explore the basic characteristics of a counselling relationship and focus on what the counsellor perceives to be his or her responsibilities in the co-construction of a path toward client empowerment. The central point of this research will be the counsellors understanding of these issues and elicitation of the counsellor’s reflective process of how he or she see these factors influencing their daily practice. Background to the problem Before a critical analysis regarding the interconnected factors influencing the counsellor’s use of power is undertaken, 1 believe it is important to clarity for the reader my interest in this area. My interest in this issue began four years ago, when I embarked on a new career as a counsellor at a small community college. This was a dramatically different position for me as I had previously been involved in a small home business. However I was readily welcomed by most staff and students. As time passed, I was fortunate to interact with many people from a wide variety of cultures and with a wide variety of life experiences, and I began to notice some subtle differences regarding expectations of minority and non-minority students. Although the common goal of these people was to encourage and/or participate in post-secondary education, the means 4 through which to achieve this goal seemed weighted dramatically in favor of a pre¬ determined privileged few. During this period, I also became aware of the pressure (albeit inadvertently) to participate in the perpetuation of this covert selection of successful academics or develop alternative methods for working with diversity. First and foremost, this required that I begin to reflect on my construction as a counsellor and as a person. This included a painful view of how I had benefited and continued to benefit from the oppression of certain classes, races and ethnic groups in society. Thus, 1 sought to develop ways in which I would not continue to use my privileged position of power to intentionally or unintentionally inflict more harm on any of my clients, specifically those who have experienced cultural oppression. Throughout my graduate courses, the issue of ethical and professional conduct has been raised, from general discussion of “respect for the dignity of the person” to specific case examples of how to “obtain informed consent”. Nevertheless there has been a neglect to look at the issue of power, which counsellors seem to take for granted. There appears to be substantial room for discretionary power in terms of interpretation for conduct, which some individuals argue is necessary as autonomy should ideally lead to self-reflection. However, I believe, as we become immersed in our particular context, the borders of that perspective limit our scope of vision and may obscure the complexities of daily practice, attitudes, values and beliefs which are embedded beneath the context. Therefore critical reflection becomes no more than a simple reification of theoretical ideals and is dis-connected with contextual reality. Moreover, this view is partial, both in 5 space and depth due to the inherent bias of one’s life experiences, education and interactions with others. It was important to further explore how I, as a counsellor, may be contributing to the discrimination, marginalization and segregation of many individuals in society as the result of taking on mainstream values and beliefs. Hardy and Laszloffy (1994) have stated “the act of exploring one’s self is akin to a looking within process” (p. 30). This type of self questioning may be difficult and overwhelming as it entails multi-focal vision of reality that requires the counsellor to acknowledge the complexities of life experiences and the interconnectedness of these experiences to his or her counselling practice. Frankenberg ( 1 993) has suggested that the idea of self-questioning of one’s socio-racial and cultural history is beneficial as it provides a way of applying new frameworks to old landscape. This view makes visible the meanings and importance of one’s whiteness and privilege in society. Attention to the construction of the white experience is important, both to transform the relations of whiteness and transform the relations of race in general. This is crucial in a social context in which racial order is normalized and rationalized rather than upheld by coercion alone (p. 242). This study, therefore, was also my attempt to step outside the field of counselling theory and myself, and look within at the transcending boundaries between society’s values and the counsellor’s use of power, in hope of finding a temporary space for my own novice practice of counselling. This space will both acknowledge and centralize the issues of gender, class, race and their relations to power as organizing principles for my theoretical basis for counselling. 6 Purpose Congruent with a post-modern feminist perspective which is strongly derived from a critical theory framework, this study sought to both acknowledge the importance of culture as a salient influence for all human interactions and raise consciousness about inherent values and beliefs within the counselling relationship as a means of liberating the oppressed as well as the oppressor from the binds of their roles. Korin’s (1994) application of Paulo Freire’s problem solving method of; mutual dialogue, critical reflection and action, was utilized as a way of exploring the oppressive nature of the power imbalances in counselling relationships. This study also supported the social constructivist belief that human characteristics such as race, class, culture, sexual orientation and age are interactive socially constructed factors which are not fixed and natural but are negotiated over time through various types of discourse. According to Brown (1994) these factors have the potential to influence all social relationships because powerful meanings are attached to them. Therefore, they may have “profound effects on how power is experienced and shared in the therapeutic context” (p. 99). Therefore the purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the counsellor and his or her client. The focus was on the counsellor’s perceptions of how his or her cultural context, both past and present contributes to the development of an effective counselling relationship. Implications from my study may be used to disrupt previously held assumptions regarding the counsellor’s perceptions of their influence on clients. Also, my study adds to the literature on white counsellor self-awareness as an important factor in the development of multicultural counsellor competence. 7 ResearchJesign I utilized a qualitative research design for my study. Given the sensitive nature of this topic, individual interviews were used to explore the critical reflective process of how counsellors make sense of the complex and interactive factors which influence the construction of their position within the counselling relationship. Consistent with the principles of social constructivism, that a person’s construction of reality is reflected in his or her stories (Green, Jensen, & Jones, 1996), participants were asked to express how they make sense of their counselling positions through dialogue with myself. Data were collected through six semi-structured one-to-one interviews with practicing counsellors. Participants were solicited from private and public mental health facilities from interior British Columbia. Underlying Research questions How does the white counsellor make sense of the multiple and interactive factors which may impact the counselling relationship? What role does the practicing counsellor’s theoretical philosophy and educational background play in the development of the counselling relationship ? To what degree does the counsellor’s perception of his or her whiteness/ i.e. race, class, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation) influence how he or she makes sense of the power imbalances within the counselling relationship? How does the counsellor attempt to reduce power imbalances within the relationship? counselling 8 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW According to Hackney and Cormier (1996), the establishment of an effective relationship between the counsellor and the client is a critical component of the counselling process, which in turn influences the attainment of a successful outcome. Most counsellors would agree with Hackney and Cormier’s statement that “ the relationship you establish with your client is the beginning point, the foundation for all that will follow in the counselling process” (p. 49). Hackney and Cormier have also provided a definition of counselling which seems appropriate to this discussion. They state “Professional counselling involves an interpersonal relationship with someone who is actively seeking help with personal issues that interfere or detract from a satisfactory life” (p.2). Over the past two decades, research revealed that one of the crucial factors which contributed to the establishment of an effective counselling relationship was the counsellor’s capacity for empathy. Richardson and Molinaro (1996) have defined empathy as “ meeting the client where he or she is, and/or seeing the world to some extent as the client sees it” ( p. 240). Due to the diversity in the populations of people presently utilizing the helping system, it seems essential that this profession ensure its members are able to develop a more complete awareness of the factors which facilitate the counsellor’s understanding of the client. 9 As such, there have been many attempts to develop counsellors’ awareness of the client’s world. However, significant amount of time and energy has been spent gathering information about various groups of minorities and has not focused on the development of counsellor self knowledge, (Atkinson, Morten & Sue, 1993; Pedersen, 1985 & Sue & Sue 1990). Most multicultural theorists seem to agree that the acquisition of “cultural knowledge” as the path towards meeting the client of different color, class or gender has dominated the counselling training landscape. Given its prevalence within this field, it is important to examine how the term “culture” has been framed. There are many definitions which broadly describe culture as the “acquired ideas, beliefs and knowledge that a particular group of individuals use to make meaning of their experience and generate cultural behavior” ( p. 209, Spadley, 1979, cited in Bannister & Peavy, 1 994). Due to the difficulties of defining this nebulous whole, the simultaneous and interactive experience of gender, race, class and culture has often been ignored ( Robinson, 1993). Recently, some theorists, such as Pedersen ( 1 996), Pinderhughes, ( 1 989) and Hare-Mustin and Marecek (1994) have suggested empathy can not and will not be successfully established if the counsellor only acquires generalized knowledge about the client’s cultural frame of reference and does not gain access to their own contextual experience. In addition, they have advocated that the development of empathy should begin with the counsellor’s personal exploration of issues around their cultural value system and racial identity. Greene, Jensen and Harper Jones (1996) have agreed and suggested that it is not primarily the application of client knowledge within a specific therapeutic approach or technique which leads to a successful outcome for the client. 10 They have revealed in their research “virtually all therapeutic approaches are equally effective” ( p. 172). Therefore, they have suggested, an important factor which contributes to the development and maintenance of a counselling relationship may be the counsellor’s awareness and subsequent use of self within any one approach or technique. Korin (1994), Pinderhughes ( 1 989) and Richardson and Molinaro ( 1 996) agreed and have stressed the need for counsellors to critically reflect and gain understanding of their position in any therapeutic relationship. This process will enable the counsellor to gain awareness of how these factors can influence and interactively impact the counselling relationship. Also, Korin has asserted, the development of an empathic relationship will be seriously hampered if acknowledgment of the social inequalities related to culture, race gender and class between the counsellor and her client does not occur. She has also suggested that the neglect of client-counsellor differences could lead to power imbalances within counselling relationship which in turn produces incongruity within the helping process. Sue, Arrendondo, and McDavis ( 1 992) concur and have further suggested, given the multiplicity of diverse realities within today’s society which influence an individuals life, it is critical for counsellors to gain awareness of how their sociopolitical and cultural backgrounds have impacted their perceptions of the counselling process. Definition pf Concepts To facilitate a more concise understanding of the “multiple intersections” between class, race, culture, gender and their relationship to power, it is important to determine the meanings of these terms. Robinson, (1993) and Pinderhughes (1989) have provided 11 some helpful and clear language from which to base a discussion about the interrelationship of these factors. Although the purpose of Robinson’s discussion of these terms was to explore the dynamics of gender, race, class and culture within a client’s psychosocial identity formation, it would seem that because a counsellor’s identity has formed prior to formal counsellor training, these factors would similarly play a critical role in his or her identity development. Robinson defined class as “a person’s relative social position in a hierarchical ranking” ( p. 51). She described race as having both “biological origins” and social domains. In addition, while applying it to whites and non-whites, she acknowledges its’ capacity to hold rank and status in western society. This definition also includes income levels as important in the structural ordering of people in society. According to Robinson, gender, like race, has biological origins in terms of sex and has a socially constructed set of behaviors which can refer to both men and women. Furthermore, gender has been placed in a hierarchical structure as conventional ideas of gender are based on males and non-males. It is in this space that Robinson believes we can begin to see the interrelationship between race, gender and social class. Finally, Robinson reminded us of Pinderhughes’, (1989) definition of culture: the sum total ways of living developed by a group of human beings to meet biological and psychosocial needs. It refers to elements such as values, norms, beliefs, attitudes, folkways, behavior styles, and traditions that are linked together to form an integrated whole that functions to preserve the society ( p. 6). 12 Both Pinderhughes and Katz (1985) have discussed how all people in society develop ways of living from more than one culture. But through an in-depth analysis of varying cultures, Katz has suggested it is white culture that sets the dominant cultural norm from which all other cultures are described. Given the focus of this research, acknowledgment of white culture, its meaning and relationship to power is critical. This also helps to provide a framework to view the white counsellor’s self-perception. As such, Katz has defined white culture as “the synthesis of ideas, values and beliefs coalesced from descendants of White European ethnic groups in the United States” (p.617). It is in the context of similar understandings that the multiple intersection of class, race, gender and culture have been discussed by many authors within social science discourse. Many have argued that to treat each concept as separate and pure is to remain disconnected from the daily realities of life where elements of each are dynamically intertwined. Robinson succinctly exemplified this point by drawing attention to the differences of experience between a college educated Black American male from a multigenerational, middle-class background and a Black American blue-collar worker with a high school diploma from a multigenerational working-class background. Although each man may have a common experience of racism, due to their distinct social and economic status in society, the effect on their psychological self is very different. And because western society values a person’s capacity to produce, their experience of power is also different. How this relationship between class, gender, race , culture and power shapes an individual’s experience is a complex and challenging question. It involves widening the 13 view of context to include the influence of larger social, economic, and political systems on the development of individual values, beliefs and daily actions. Equally important is the examination of the nature of power structures in larger society and how the inherent values and beliefs embedded in these structures are reflected in the relationship between the counselor and their client (Almeida, 1994; Douglas, 1985; Goodrich, 1991; Hare-Mustin, 1987; Hare-Mustin, & Marecek, 1994; Katz, 1985 and Pinderhughes, 1989). In Korin’s (1994) analysis of the recent trends in family therapy, she noted that many of the current critiques and new counselling practices have been based on the constructivist method of text deconstruction. Although she acknowledged the value of Hare-Mustin and Marecek’s (1994) analysis, as providing a means of looking at how therapeutic discourse functions beyond our daily consciousness and creates meaning, she has pointed out an important limitation. Korin expressed concern regarding the utilization of methods which only focused on the individual and neglected to examine the “multiple social contexts that are oppressive to the individual” (p. 79). Therefore, to further understand the nature of power and the interconnections between society’s values, counselling theory and the counsellors’ position in the counselling environment, it is important to explore, from the literature, how the definition of power has changed. Nature of power For many years, most schools of thought within psychotherapy neglected to acknowledge the importance of power within therapeutic relationships and were based on the premise that the power of the therapist was non-consequential. However, since the growth of feminist family therapy, power and its implications has become a hot topic of 14 debate. Within the seemingly polemic debate in the literature, many theorists have offered different definitions which have increased our understanding of this elusive and challenging concept. Douglas (1985) defined power from a multidimensional model in which the counsellor and client roles have an inherent inequality that directly and indirectly functions to perpetuate the societal value of women’s subordinate position with respect to men. Others, like Roger (1995) have examined how power within the therapist’s role is intimately connected with the western colonial view of domination over “others”. Laidlaw and Malmo (1991) and Katz (1985) have maintained that counselling is entrenched in traditional individual counselling psychological theory in which it’s basic assumptions only serve to maintain white male patriarchy through the domination of women and people of color. Thus, many counsellors may be operating from a stance of power-over others, which implicitly attempts to fit individuals back into rigid stereotypic gender roles. Katz (1985) seemed to agree in her exploration of how white culture has been used as a basis for counselling theory, research and practice. She also pointed out how the blind utilization of these theories has discouraged effective cross-cultural counselling partly because of the neglect to include an examination of the counsellor’s embeddedness in these systems. Thus, the counsellor’s position of authority and power remains the norm and is not challenged. Foucault (1970) also described power as multidimensional and as operating multidirectionally. Foucault has been instrumental in revealing how power operates at all 15 macro-structural and micro-structural levels in society. His analysis of power has influenced critical theorists such as Freire (1992), counselling theorists such as social constructivist Michael White (1993) and feminist theorists such as Rachel Hare-Mustin (1987). Foucault’s analysis of power has been particularly helpful because he did not limit his focus to a dichotomous definition of only legitimate and illegitimate exercises of power. According to Fraser (1989) this was a beneficial move as it provided a wider view of this concept and encouraged us to look at power as multi-dimensional. However, in her critique of Foucault's analysis, Fraser (1989) has revealed some problems in his analysis. She has suggested that the view of modem power as continuous, local, productive and operating at all levels of interaction, may give rise to a value -neutral account of power. If power is everywhere, then it is nowhere and it’s application can not be challenged or changed. Fraser (1989) has concluded that this appears to be similar to the controversial Batesonian definition of power as circular and everyone having equal access to it. As pointed out by Korin (1994), this view of power obscures the unilateral realities of power differentials between individuals or between groups of people. Miller (1991) has defined power as the potential for an individual to create changes in his or her environment. This basic definition is not adequate as it does not incorporate the wider dimensions of power that Goodrich (1991) has suggested to be important to counselling. Goodrich, instead, has drawn a distinction between power-to and power-over. Thus, she has created a broader definition as she described this distinction: “Power-over refers to domination and control. Power-to refers to the ability 16 to perform or produce and implies also the freedom and resources to do so” (p. 8). This definition seems to fit this discussion as it seems to recognize the presence of two competing elements of power. This is significant as some feminist theorists have voiced concerns regarding the potential for the client to view the counsellor position as a powerover stance, given it’s adherence to a medical model expert-like position. Douglas, (1985) has further examined the nature of the power relationship between the counsellor and the client. She seems to accept Goodrich’s two dimensional model of power but expands it to include four negative and two positive aspects with respect to the counselling environment. Douglas’ multi-dimensional model defines power as coercive, expert, legitimate, referent, informational and reward. Watson (1991) succinctly outlines the first four aspects of this definition to include; coercive power is the form of power generated from the organization of the social system which at both the covert and overt levels, serves to maintain the status quo. Expert power is what accrues from a certain level of expertise, degree, or title. Legitimate power is that given as the consequence of holding a particular office. Referent power is the power one accrues through association (p. 53). Douglas has explained the latter two aspects of power as positive because of their potential to support the client. Reward power is how the counsellor validates and encourages the client. Informational power is the sharing of the counsellor’s knowledge on the destructive effects which gender roles, race and class can have on men and women. Douglas’ definition also addressed the interactive dimensions of power between the counsellor and the clients. For example, within sessions counsellors may express many types of power as she and the client work through different issues. The counsellor’s expression of anger or impatience toward the client regarding her/his behaviors could be viewed as coercive power. This is because the counsellor has the capacity to use her/his disapproval or devaluing of the client’s action and attitudes in an influential manner. Similarly, within the same session, the counsellor could use her knowledge to promote the resocialization of the client’s experience. This could be considered expert power. In addition, if the client enters a contractual arrangement with the counsellor to participate in specific experiential interventions, this could encompass the legitimate power of the counsellor. Finally, these aspects interact and are specifically present when a counsellor provides feedback regarding the client’s expression of thoughts, feeling and behaviors and this complex dimension could be viewed as reward power. The multi-dimensional and complex nature of power has also been identified in the work of Tyler, Brome and Williams (1991). They appear to support the positive aspects of Douglas’ (1985) definition of the nature of power and its implications to the counseling relationship. They have added to the dimension of the “power-to” and included the notion of psychosocial competence. This is critical for the client and counsellor because it encompasses one’s ability to increase control over one’s life “while respecting the diversity and rights of others” (p.85). Tyler, Brome and Williams (1991) have also agreed with Douglas and Foucault’s inclusion of the negative components of power, specifically when power over others is considered. According to these authors, power becomes negative and potentially dangerous when one person is viewed as having 18 sole responsibility for fulfilling the emotional necessities of others. This aspect is particularly worrisome in counselling as many theories of individual and family therapy seem to support the expert position of the counsellor. Although all of the above definitions of power are important to consider, for the purpose of this discussion, an explanation which includes the interconnectedness and multi-dimensional nature of power relations within the counselling environment and an individual’s social context must be considered. Fowler, O’Rouke, Wadsworth and Harper’s (1992) definition of power seems to incorporate this notion of power as it have included the view of how the counsellor’s experience of him or herself is intimately involved with the distribution of power in counselling relationships. It also allows for the exploration of the underlying mechanisms which appear to be supporting the maintenance of a counsellor’s power as an extension of social control. Though Fowler et al.(1 992) developed their definition for the purpose of helping counsellor’s avoid bias when counselling women with disabilities, the principles of their approach seem to be applicable to this discussion. They cited McWhirter’s (1991) definition of power as “a primary political construct through which attitudes, beliefs and socially limiting roles can be explained” (p.15 ) This construct of power is helpful because it incorporates both the power over and power to aspects as previously described by Douglas (1985), Foucault (1980), Goodrich (1991), and Tyler et al. (1991) and further operationalizes power as a demonstrable action through specific words and actions. It was through the unraveling of underlying assumptions and beliefs that, Katz (1985), Hare-Mustin and Marecek (1994) and Goodrich (1991) gave us a different view 19 of the long-standing ideals of the counseling profession They revealed how theory has developed from assumptions which supported the counsellor as the objective “expert” who held the “essentialized knowledge” about the client’s experience. These authors have suggested that these un-examined assumptions have had negative effects on the counselling process. For example, Hare-Mustin and Marecek ( 1 994) have proposed, that through the mystification of therapeutic knowledge the client’s capacity for self- determination has been undermined. The counsellor’s superior position and power to make decisions regarding diagnosis, set treatment goal and determine outcomes has clearly diminished the clients ability to develop a sense of personal control over their lives. It will become apparent in this discussion, that although the focus of counselling has changed throughout the past twenty years, the underlying premises still implicitly support and maintain white male patriarchy (Mowbray, 1 995). Moreover, most theories and practice have neglected the reality of economic, social and historical conditions embedded in society and how these factors influence the power relations within roles. By not adequately addressing the interconnectedness of therapy and society’s values, counselling theory and practice has obscured the destructive effects of not only role bound sexism but also institutional sexism, racism and classism. Before a discussion of how the counsellor is immersed in an intricate web of interconnected factors , it is important to examine the underlying assumptions and beliefs of conventional counselling. 20 The Identity of Conventional counselling Beginning with the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, a questioning of the appropriateness of mainstream counselling theory for women, people of color, different socio-economic status, sexuality and abilities began to become visible in counselling literature (Pedersen, 1988; Lafromboise, Trimble & Mohatt, 1993). Many counselling theorists started to examine the patterns of use of helping service by persons of minority status and their effectiveness in “problem” resolution as a means to address this concern. For example, Sue and & Sue’s (1990) research revealed that although the total population of First Nations people had increased over the second half of this century so had the prevalence of health problems when compared to other ethnic groups. However, their results indicated First Nations people were under using helping systems. Similarly, in Lafromboise, Trimble, and Mohatt’s, (1993) study, they noted that when First Nations people were utilizing the available service, their return rate for more then one visit was less than 50% compared to other groups whose return rate was 30%. In addition, McCormick’s (1995) review of the literature noted that First Nations people are less likely to respond to treatment as compared to non-First Nations people. These concerns have helped to produce some groundbreaking critiques of counselling psychology , family systems theory and multicultural counselling theory and practice. Examples which are relevant to this literature review can be found in writings of Rose (1990), Sherif (1994), Hare-Mustin (1987), Roger (1995) and Dyche and Zayas (1996). These critiques revealed a gap between theoretical ideals and the realities of practice. 21 I Individual psychological theory and practice Rose (1990) and Sherif (1994) have opened a dark side of psychology and revealed two very significant findings. Both authors have suggested it was powerful white males of the early 1900’s, who , in an attempt to develop rationales for Darwiniantype myths of the eugenics movement, helped construct psychological testing and theory that divided people into hierarchical categories. These “scientific” assessment tools have enabled many oppressive systems in society to maintain their power through “legitimate”, yet, exclusionary mechanisms. Many social, economic, educational and political institutions have all adopted psychology’s positivist notion of the truth of “normality” and have spread the view of white western superiority over other races, classes and ethnic groups as the norm. In his analysis, Rose has also demonstrated how major systems of power have infiltrated the very soul of the individual and his/her relationships with the world and have helped the individual define themselves in terms which support the dominant groups in society. Through the cloak of scientific inquiry, psychologists have been given the power to describe, define, categorize and ultimately secure control for the dominant group in society. As the result of psychology’s way of knowing the world, individual existence has been irreversibly re-shaped and re-constituted to fit the desires and needs of those in power. These desires and needs have been transferred to theory regarding human development and family functioning, and are espoused to be objective, politically neutral truths. Finally, both Rose and Sherif have pointed out that these theories are very political. This is because they focused on individual pathology as to the origin of human pain or suffering and neglected the social and economic realities of daily experience. Many of these theories have supported dominant myths of white western society of “individual ruggedness”, competition, autonomy and mastery over one’s environment as natural and necessary goals for all humans to strive toward. These theories have also stressed a separation between the mind and body and thus treatment of the “problem” is interpsychic and the influence of external factors is dismissed as unimportant. The goal of treatment from these models is to help the individual strengthen one’s ego or self¬ worth through self-exposure and self-assertion. From the perspective of traditional First Nations people, these values, beliefs and goals are conflictual at best and marginalizing at the worst. Another problematic assumption of conventional counselling theory is the belief that it can transcend boundaries regardless of context. As such, it does not address the unique realities interplay of complex factors such as race, class, gender and history as influencing the daily lives of individuals. An approach which was developed as an attempt to deal with this neglect is family system theory and family systems therapy. Although the theoretical assumptions of this approach acknowledged the influence of interrelationships as impacting the individual’s life, feminist scholars such as Rachel Hare-Mustin (1987) have found that most therapists do not consider the larger contexts in their descriptions of dysfunctional patterns. These theories have also been chastised for their assumption that all members of the family have equal responsibility in 23 problem development and do not acknowledge power imbalances within the family dynamics. This is particularly problematic for the First Nations woman who is experiencing individual abuse, racial and institutional oppression because it suggests that the woman is in some way co-responsible for the abuse. In addition, this approach essentializes the patriarchal notion of the nuclear family and the father as the head of the family, and tends to focus on the mother as a source of pathology and perpetuation of individual and family dysfunction. Again, obligation for change is placed in the hands of the person who, in an abusive situation is already experiencing considerable stress and overwhelming responsibility for the safety of herself and her children. Also, this approach does not place importance on societal rules and boundaries, and thus, issues of socio-economic and political deprivation are ignored as unimportant within the therapeutic environment (Waldegrave, 1993). Family systems theory and practice Similar to individual counselling theory, many family systems models have supported the universal application of theory and practice for all cultural groups regardless of race, class or gender relations. Therefore, counsellors have not acknowledged the importance of race in daily life, and because it is not talked about, it has remained in a collective silence. This phenomenon of not seeing (colorblindness) or not talking about race (silence) creates the perception that race is irrelevant ( Hardy & Laszlofty, 1994). 24 Many family therapists are still trained without reference to the insidious role that hierarchies related to culture, class, race and gender play in the U. S. They are taught concepts of human development, psychopathology and family functioning from the totally skewed patriarchal ciassist framework of the dominant white groups in our society ( p. 1 34, McGoldrick, 1 994). Again, like individual psychology, family theory has tended to use labels for diagnostic classification in order to determine appropriate intervention strategies which are applied to the family via the therapist’s direction. Labels have usually focused on individuals within the family and are usually placed on the victims more often then the abusers. More significantly these labels do not place abuse in the larger societal context. For example, the three most common diagnostic labels given to women who have experienced continual abuse are multiple personality disorder, post-traumatic stress and self-defeating personality disorder ( most common for battered women). These labels define the entire life of the people who have gone through the trauma, but do not acknowledge or describe the people or external situations who do the traumatizing (McGoldrick, 1994). Thus, a look at individual psychology and family system theory shows some of the reasons why conventional therapy has perpetuated status-quo values of the white middle class and has obscured the oppressive realities of daily life for many people of difference. The Multicultural Movement in counselling A final area of counselling, which some theorists have given hope to providing a criteria for a thorough examination of the counsellor’s identity, is the “multicultural” 25 movement. This approach has been deemed by some as the fourth force in counselling. And given the mosaic nature of Canadian society it does seem necessary to explore its principles. Most theorists within this area, like Pedersen, (1988) and Sue and Sue (1990) base their approach on the assumption that most people live simultaneously in many different cultures in society. Each of these cultures has varying values, beliefs and norms through which each individual is socialized and is given implicit and explicit messages on how to conduct themselves in the world. This perspective emphasizes and appreciates cultural difference and seeks to inform the counsellor about how to become aware of the inappropriateness of imposing conventional counselling practice on various cultures. Although this area seems promising, some feminist and post-modem theorists have questioned this movement’s ability to provide an adequate framework for effective work with minority groups. For example, Hardy and Lazloffy ( 1 994) have pointed out that the use of less offensive language such as “multiculturalism” could be seen as a convenient mask to perpetuate the “historical neglect of racial issues” ( p. 23). Other writers, such as Dyche and Zayas(1996) have agreed and have provided a concise critique of the cultural literacy approach. Although these authors have acknowledged the value of multicultural work, they have also pointed out some important limitations. First, they believe there to be potential for overgeneralization. This is because it is generally thought that cultural knowledge would decrease oppression but sometimes information is used as a tool of oppression. This seems to be the case for First Nations women because there is the potential to impose negative stereotypic characteristics on people of diverse cultures. The knowledge about the prevalence of physical, sexual and 26 substance abuse has been utilized by the dominant society’s belief that these types of behaviors are confirmation of an internal cultural deficit. Second, many of these approaches have placed too much emphasis on abstract and not on daily reality (Sue & Sue, 1990). The “major problem with approaches emphasizing either cultural knowledge or culture-specific techniques is that neither are linked to particular processes that result in effective psychotherapy” (p.39). The acquisition of generalized theoretical knowledge may encourage new understanding through suggesting that the reason for the high suicide rate among First Nations single males is the result of their painful discrimination in residential schools. This knowledge does not inform the counsellor on how he or she continues to perpetuate this client’s sense of oppression and subsequent feelings of hopelessness through the use of their counselling position as the expert about the client’s reality. Third, stereotypes are often inadvertently supported. Clients become culture, and are not seen as themselves. Therefore, counsellors adopt a homogenized stance regarding one culture and do not address the unique oppression of individuals within that culture. Much of the research on First Nations people exemplifies this problem because it categorizes men, women, youth and the elderly into an one dimensional category and does not acknowledge their unique needs. This type of generalization has occurred in research completed by Peavy (1994) and McCormick (1995). In their zeal to provide First Nations people with a voice, they have obscured many of the differences among the bands and the individuals within each band. For example, Peavy’s review of the 27 problems within First Nations communities in British Columbia focuses primarily on the violence experienced by young males living on reserves. Although Peavy has identified some important areas of concern, he has neglected to include data on young female single parents living off reserve, who Pressman ( 1 994) has revealed are subject to high levels of economic, social and emotional isolation and deprivation. Pressman has suggested that this type of generalization has contributed to the perpetuation of oppression for this group of First Nations women. This is because most of the health initiative policies, employment opportunities and financial support have been developed for the needs of males living on the reserve and have obscured the needs of females living off reserve. A final critique provided by Roger ( 1 995) has revealed a more dangerous impact of cross-cultural literature. She believes the majority of cross cultural counselling theory and practice “implicitly others, pathologizes or racially constructs those who are not white, middle class western or able bodied” (p. 4). She has stated that by using terms, like “multiculture”, we have obscured the dominant norms and shifted focus from the oppressor to the oppressed. Roger has identified the need to be cautious about the practice of attempting to understand other cultures as the method itself can become a “culturally othering process instead of disrupting historical and deeply embedded political representations of identity” (p.5). In essence, Roger has asked for a reversing of the counselling lens and bringing into focus the therapist’s identity. This is significant, as most conventional theory does not adequately challenge the “expertness” of this position 28 or explore the impact of the inherent power in this place of knowledge as having a less than desirable link with the outcome of counselling. Many feminist counsellors have identified the power imbalances between the client and the counsellor. Given their differential experiences within counselling and the world, these counsellors have attempted to re-position themselves as non-directive guides working along side of their clients (Sturdivant, 1980). However, the application of these principles in daily practice, in terms of encouraging empowerment, has proven to be more difficult (Greene, 1994). To enact substantial change, the counsellor must become aware not only of the imbalance but also of the complex factors which support this hierarchical ordering. Therefore to adequately explore the power differential within the counselling environment, we must look at the counsellor’s development of his or her identity and how this position of power shapes the client’s view of themselves. The Counsellor’s identity Pare (1995) has advocated for a complete paradigm shift for family systems theory as he has suggested that therapy, for many minority groups, has become the extension of oppressive forces of the dominant order. From Pare’s view, the therapist has acted “as colonial power, the therapeutic model as the dogma of a foreign culture, the therapy room as the mission school where religious conversion and cultural assimilation are the undergirding agendas” (p.32). If this is assumed to be true, it should be imperative for counselling theorists, researchers and practitioners to re-examine their roles, underlying assumptions and subsequent practice. As a profession and as individuals, we must recognize the notion of pluralistic identities and how these identities 29 have been influenced by social, economic and political systems of power. This includes the therapist’s identity. Pare has suggested, we all belong in many cultures of family, gender, race, politics and class simultaneously and the interwoven connections between these identities should not be thought of as separate. Tamasese and Waldegrave ( 1 994) agreed and have suggested that any “therapy that does not address cultural meaning is racist” ( p. 32). Pedersen (1995) has explored the notion which suggests many counsellors may be acting as unintentional racists if they have neglected to examine how their own education and socialization interacts with their theoretical philosophy and application of practice within the counselling environment. He has suggested that many counsellors have seriously minimized the power of their internalized position of dominance and this neglect has caused them to remain in a unexamined place of cultural bias. He has offered a broader definition of racism which holds the counselor accountable for her/his actions, beliefs and values in the context of any counselling relationship and explained how these factors impact the counselling sessions. Pedersen has stated “it is essential to view racism as a political and economic force and consider its consequences as contributing to the inclusion of some and exclusion of others’ access to power” (p. 202). As such, we, as white counsellors, have the privilege of being able to develop our sense of ourselves through our educational and occupational experiences. Most of us have had positive feedback from our relationships with other members of our communities and have been supported by our culture in our pursuit of self development. We have not had to face barriers of personal, institutional or cultural discrimination and had direct access to many 30 economic and social resources. Our sense of personal power, in terms of self-worth and competence to make decisions, has been continually nurtured by the dominant beliefs within mainstream society. We have become accustomed to believing in the myth of our society that “hard work pays off with rewards” and “good things come to those who deserve it”. We have maintained what McGoldrick ( 1 994) has stated is the biggest myth in western society. This universalized myth, is based on the premise that we live in a classless society where we all have equal access to strive toward our human potential. The question posed by some counselling theorists is how have counsellor’s socio¬ political, economic and historical experiences shaped, influenced and impacted their daily counselling practice (Katz, 1985; Korin, 1994; Pressman, 1994 and Roger, 1995). Because most people in society learn through socialization and this process is based on the Eurocentric notion of white superiority, we must ask if counsellors have been successful in maintaining an anti-racist, anti-sexist and anti-classist stance. As noted in the above discussion of psychological, family and cross-cultural theory, fragments of the dominant social order of colonial patriarchy have been found interwoven throughout all aspects of these paradigms. As counsellors are a part of society and their racial identity has been primarily shaped by their experiences within the larger systems, an exploration of who they are within their clinical practice is essential. This is primarily because, as shown by Bowser and Hunt (1996), “each person’s view of self as a racial being influences his or her perceptions, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors toward members of other racial groups” (p. 22). If this idea is assumed to be true, then who a counsellor 31 perceives him or herself to be as a person could dramatically impact the view the client will receive of themselves from their counselling experience. Jones and Carter (1996) have supported this position in their discussion of how people as individuals, simultaneously contribute to the oppression of others and maintain their own power. Their perspective has provided a necessary framework for the exploration of the counsellor’s identity. More importantly and relevant to this study is their linkage of Helms’(1990) white identity status theory to McIntosh’s (1988) concept of white privilege. This connection may be beneficial in helping to explore the counsellor’s perception and use of personal and professional power. Equally important are the recommendations of other researchers, such as Sabnani, Ponterotto and Borodovsky (1991). These authors have integrated the work of cross- cultural counsellor-training developmental theory, racial-identity development theory and cross-cultural counselling competency. In addition they have suggested specific training goals and tasks to further novice counsellors progress and self-learning In order to adequately understand the importance of how these concepts impact the counsellor’s identity, a discussion of how these concepts have been explored and operationalized in the research will be presented. White Counsellor Research Janet Helms was one of the first theorists to stress the importance of racial identity as an important area for all counsellors to explore as a way to increase self- awareness (Richardson & Molinaro, 1996). Racial identity is defined as “ the sense of group identity based on one’s perception that he or she shares a common heritage with a 32 particular racial group” (p. 240). Historically, Helms’ developed this concept and subsequent theory as an explanation for the cultural alienation experienced by many blacks in the United States (Helms, 1987). Recently, Helms (1990) expanded this theory to understand how whites respond to dilemmas of individual, institutional and cultural racism. This theory focuses on interpersonal conflicts which involve two primary themes. The first three identity statuses encompass the theme of surrendering a racist position. The second three statuses are associated with a thematic dilemma that encourages the person to develop a positive non-racist worldview (Richardson & Molinaro, 1996). Helms has suggested whites can progressively work through racial identity statuses and are not fixed to any particular status. They have the capacity to move from a racist (colorblind) understanding of the world to a nonracist view which values diversity and can actively support the need for change of oppressive sociopolitical and economic structures in society and counselling practice. She has found support in her research for the assertion that it is at more mature level that whites can readily incorporate the negatives and positives of their race ( Carter, 1990; Carter& Helms, 1990). From the work of Carter and Helms (1990), it appears that some white individuals are operating from less mature, unsophisticated statuses which are externally controlled by society. These authors examined the relationship between White racial identity attitudes and cultural values of 506 white fourth year University students. The students completed three measures; The White Racial Identity Attitude Inventory, The Intercultural Values Inventory and a personal data sheet. The findings indicated that 33 white racial identity attitudes could predict White American cultural values. More generally these authors pointed out that white students who were at a less developed status related more strongly to traditional white cultural values of individualism, dominance over nature and lack awareness of their ethnic group-membership. Although this type of study added support for the need to further explore the connection between white culture, values and practice, it was not without important limitations. First, the sample consisted primarily of fourth year University students whose participation was influenced by the draw of additional course credit. Thus, their responses may not be representative of the total white student population of the University. Second, as noted by the researchers, the validity of the measure used to determine white cultural values was questionable because it was developed almost two decades prior to its application. Therefore, the questions may have no longer been relevant to the students experience of American culture. Carter’s (1990) study suggested differential attitudinal patterns among white American students’ level of awareness regarding racial issues. He examined the relationship between racism and racial identity among 100 students from a large midwestem university. While his results indicated support for White racial identity attitudes to be predictive of racism, he also found significant gender differences in White racial identity. Generally Carter had hypothesized that all white people have not adequately explored the meaning of their Whiteness. But his preliminary analyses indicated that men seemed to be at less developed statuses than women. The men’s responses seemed to indicate a stronger adherence to external social norms and more 34 confusion regarding racial issues then the women. The men also expressed racist beliefs and attitudes at all levels of awareness, whereas the women expressed similar racist beliefs and attitudes when at a low level of racial awareness. Although this study was exploratory and the results are tentative, the author identified two elements that are critical to this study. Carter acknowledged that the factors of gender, racism and White racial attitudes may be interconnected with each other. He also identified the reluctance and anxiety experienced by whites when they are asked to explore complex issues. More importantly, Carter stressed the need for Whites to examine their own racial/ cultural awareness as a means for promoting race relations. Carter asserted that when whites begin to acknowledge the interrelationship between the varying types of oppression and accept their participation within oppressive systems, multicultural competence may be increased. When applied to counsellors, research in this area has found support for more serious implications for practice. There have been many studies which have found support for a relationship between White Racial attitudes and multicultural counselling competencies ( Helms, 1990, 1995; Helms and Carter, 1991; Ottavi, Pope-Davis & Dings, 1994), These authors are convinced that when counsellors are encouraged to develop self-awareness, they can work towards statuses which are mature, complex, accepting, internally controlled and unthreatened by the notion of “losing power” or “position”. On the other hand, the most significant limitation of these studies has been their reliance on quantitative measures to investigate counsellor self exploration. Although these methods have allowed researchers to gain access to large samples of 35 counsellors’ perceptions, the use of predetermined structured survey questions has limited the depth of the inquiry. Also, a recent meta-analysis regarding the structure of scale used by many researchers to measure White racial identity has questioned whether the constructs within this scale are actually measuring what they are supposed to measure ( Behrens, 1997). Therefore it is necessary to analyze alternative approaches which have attempted to explore this area. One such attempt was a study by Heppner and O’Brien (1994). They investigated counsellor trainees’ perceptions of helpful and hindering events during a multicultural counselling course. Qualitative data were collected from 20 master’s and doctoral students who were asked to complete individual responses from The Guided Inquiry questionnaire. The frequency of their responses to seven weekly open-ended questions was tabulated. The results indicated that the students’ perceived the experiential activities and guest speakers of diverse background to provide the most valuable avenue for selfexploration. More importantly, the students responses indicated that the factor that contributed the most to hindering their personal growth was their own biases. One student’s comment succinctly summarized this barrier in the statement, “Because I am blinded by my own culture, I may accidentally overlook or offend someone” (p. 15). In summary, the potential for the components in a first level graduate level multicultural course to act as a powerful way to encourage self-exploration and increase awareness was supported. In addition, it was apparent that given experiential and interactive activities, counselling students can identify areas where personal changes are needed and can work toward these changes. The major limitation of this study was the use of identical 36 questions in weekly self-reports. The students responses may have been influenced by the use of repeated measures. This is because over time there may have been a tendency to give socially desirable responses. Though Behrens (1997) has remained skeptical of the scales used to test White racial identity, he has supported further inquiry into Helms’ racial identity theory as providing greater understanding regarding the complex interplay of factors which impact the effectiveness of counselling relationships. He has asserted that this area should be acknowledged as valuable and continued exploration of this theory is critical. By gaining an understanding of the white racial view within counselling relationships, we may improve counselling services for diverse cultures. Sabnani et al. (1991) have also recommended that more research regarding White identity/consciousness be completed and implications for cross-cultural counsellor training be considered. In addition, they stressed a need for research projects which would incorporate both quantitative procedures and qualitative methodologies, such as interviews and oral histories. They also suggested a need for creative studies for exploring the link between daily counselling practice and attitudes and beliefs. I believe my study is a step in correcting the dearth of research in this area and is an attempt to bridge the gap between a counsellor’s self-perceptions and practice. White counsellor self-awareness Richardson and Molinaro(1996) have stated “racial development for a counsellor has profound implications if one examines the potential impact that it can have on various aspects of the counselling process and outcome” (p.74). These authors have succinctly 37 summarized the restraining consequences that each of the counsellor’s racial identity status can have on the effectiveness of the counselling relationship. As a thorough examination of these implications can be found within their paper, I will not attempt to reproduce their analysis any further. It is more important to point out that the authors support counsellors, who are at less developed racial identity status, continued participation with cross-cultural clients. However, they have acknowledged, as does Helms, (1990) that there is the increased danger for counsellors with less developed statuses to negatively impact the counselling relationship and potentially harm the client. The notion of white privilege has not been given a significant amount of attention in the mainstream counselling journals, however, in cultural feminist literature it is slowly appearing as a process to reveal how whites maintain power and status even after they have gained cultural knowledge and skill. McIntosh (1988) has stated that whites are taught about racism in terms of its impact on the “other” and how it disadvantages other groups, but are not often taught how they have benefited from oppression. She is convinced whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege because it is so deeply embedded in social structural arrangements. McIntosh has described white privilege as: an invisible package of unearned assets which we can count on cashing in on each day, but about which we remain oblivious. In fact, white privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurance, tools, maps, guides, code books, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank cheques (p. 78). According to McIntosh, white privilege is difficult for us to identify because we have been taught it throughout our lives and thus take it for granted and are under the 38 illusion that everyone has equal access to power, resources and money. Katz clearly accentuated this point with her quote from Ferguson, (1980) “the bonds of culture are invisible and the walls are glass. We may think we are free. However, we cannot leave the trap until we know that we are in it” (p. 623). Frankenburg’s (1993) meticulous analysis of the social construction of whiteness has provided a more sophisticated view of the maintenance of power imbalances in the daily lives of white women. She has revealed through her interviews of 35 white women from varying backgrounds, how the insidious nature of this process acts on their daily constructions of their world and people in it. Kliman (1994) concurred and has argued that in order to understand the power relations and personal experiences of gender, class and culture it is necessary to examine the context of both the oppressed and the oppressor and how they interact on a personal level. On the other hand, although the above authors support the need to acknowledge white privilege, they also express concerns about the difficulties of asking counsellors to look at themselves and their practice as potentially racist, ciassist and sexist. The issues which emerged from Roger’s (1995) preliminary interviews for her dissertation seemed to support this concern. Most of the difficulty revolved around the therapist’s lack of desire to engage in comprehensive self-exploration regarding white culture. Roger noted three re-occurring themes ranging from denial of the connection between whiteness and personal history to tentative acknowledgment of its’ potential to impact the counselling relationship but refusal to give it up. She emphasized that many of these therapists had intellectually aligned themselves with anti-racist groups whose 39 primary goal was to empower minorities. However, these same therapists had not adequately addressed the implicit power inequities within their own race. The literature reviewed suggests the counsellor’s identity and level of self¬ understanding does influence the manner in which they interact with their clients. Also, the establishment of an empathic relationship where the client can express who she is and describe her experiences is directly influenced by the theoretical stance taken by the counsellor. In turn, research has shown that conventional counselling theory is strongly tied to western cultural values, norms and beliefs which primarily support the dominant position of the white male middle-class (Katz, 1985; Rose, 1990 and Sherif, 1994) .This is extremely important, for example, given the daily class, gender, and race discrimination experienced by First Nations women. This is because for these women to regain a sense of themselves and sense of purpose in their lives, the counsellor must be in a place where their vision of themselves is not held as a superior expert. The counsellor should have explored various avenues of critical reflection which would have encouraged a thorough look at his or her use of power . Therefore, a more inclusive, pluralistic model of counselling is needed before the inequities within a counsellor/client relationship can be effectively addressed. As we become increasingly aware of the gender, racial and cultural injustice implicit in counselling experienced by persons of difference, we must search for an empowerment model which acknowledges counselling power imbalances, challenges our own bias and assesses both the client’s and counsellor’s life in context (Pressman, 1994). This is 40 critical, as the impact on the client’s self-esteem and ability to cope with his or her situation have far reaching implications. As noted by McKormick (1995) and Pressman (1994), this approach must highlight a person of difference’s personal and cultural strengths and validate their unique experience within Canadian mainstream society and their own culture. While recognizing the political implications of different counselling responses, it must be open to explore traditional and alternate methods of healing which may be already in place in many communities. It should acknowledge that counselling alone can not solve all issues but it can be an important way to respond to the “suffering generated by destructive social structures and values as it is a means of providing validation, comfort, support... and tools for healing” ( p. 384, Pressman, 1994). For example, McKormick stated it may be necessary for the counsellor to redefine his or her role and act not as an “expert” but as a facilitator and work with the resources within each community. A problem-posing approach to explore power imbalances in counselling A model which seems to have most of the necessary elements has been offered by Korin, (1994). She has acknowledged inequalities within therapeutic relationships and confronts the client-therapist differences of culture race, gender and class. Korin has proposed the use of Paulo Freire’s model of Education for the Critical Consciousness as a means of dealing with this type of power imbalance. An important concept in this model is social empowerment. Though she has defined it as a “process in which people develop a greater sense of self-worth, and self-confidence,” she has extended empowerment to include Rappaport’s (1984) process in which people understand how the ‘broader social 41 world has defined their lives and realize the potential they have for more actively influencing their own environment” ( p. 87, Korin, 1994). Within this problem-posing approach the client and counsellor work together to enact changes in the oppressive aspects of their lives. Through a co-constructed journey, the client can become aware of how she can create the future as she finds ways to be active in social change. Thus, the central task of counselling becomes a social critique where both the client and the counsellor engage in “mutual dialogue” and “critical reflection” to uncover the layers of economic, political, cultural and historical influences on the client’s present experience. Questions within this model are direct and do not obscure race, class or gender. For example the counsellor may ask: How does this experience relate to the fact that you are First Nations? and/or female? and/or your socio-economic status? In addition, this approach seeks to give marginalized people a voice, as it differentiates the personal from the social and does not minimize their pain. This is achieved through extinguishing self-blame by emphasizing the embeddedness of an individual’s experience within a context. However, unlike many narrative counselling approaches which also give people a voice by valuing the telling of everyone’s story, this approach addresses the preferred meaning of some stories over others. The example presented by Waldegrave (1993) is extremely relevant in cases of spousal abuse. Although each member in a family may have a story to tell, it is necessary to be careful not to give an implicit message that the abuser’s story is of equal value to the abused’s story. Through critical reflection, all participants, including the abuser, are encouraged to take social and moral responsibility for their behavior. 42 Finally, Korin has outlined the third element of this approach, social action. As a result of challenging the client’s partial view through making distinctions between individual and social problems, the client is empowered to take action to change his or her environment. Korin has stressed it is at this point that the client reaches a level of consciousness which enables movement to occur. According to Korin (1994) and Freire, “there is no merit to personal change when it is divorced from change at the social level; there is not legitimacy to social action without a corresponding concern with personal issues” (p. 94). Because Korin’s problem-solving approach acknowledges power imbalances it was used in this study as an appropriate method to deal with the positioning of researcher and participant in traditional research. The primary focus of this model is to explore the complex realities of an individuals daily life and it does not obscure social, political or economic factors. Therefore this approach may have allowed participants to discuss difficult topics and gain a broader understanding of themselves. This model seems to systematically and sensitively address the issue of power through the use of a collaborative stance. I believe this model allowed me to join together with the participants to critically examine whether their counselling positions are embedded within a context in a mutually respectful environment. Because I have chosen to define power as a multidimensional political concept which is explained through an individuals’ beliefs, values and attitudes, participation in this process could have encouraged novel and enmanicipatory perspectives to develop. Also a critical look at their underlying assumptions may have opened up areas for purposeful personal change and social action. 43 CHARTER THREE: METHODOLOGY The present study utilized an individual semi-structured qualitative interview design to explore the counsellor’s perceptions of his or her influence on the counselling relationship and the counsellor’s attempts to deal with power imbalances. Korin’s ( 1 994) problem-solving approach for unraveling inequity within the counselling environment provided the framework for the interviews. This three step process of mutual dialogue, critical reflection and social action also guided the questioning format. Design A qualitative design was used to explore the complex factors affecting the counsellor’s experience of the counselling relationship. Due to the importance regarding development of an empathic relationship to the counselling process, a method which can delve into the subjectivity of the counsellor was selected. As a post-modern feminist perspective provided a backdrop for this study, it was important to allow the counsellors to describe how, as noted by White (1993), their lives have been “shaped by the meaning that they ascribe to their experience, by their situation in social structures, and by the language practices and cultural practices of self and of the relationships that these lives are recruited into” ( p. 36). It was also important that this design is simultaneously consistent with the social constructivist and critical theory research principles of dialogue and self-reflection. Because both of these perspectives emphasize a reflective process of open dialogue to identify oppression the likelihood of mutual understanding and equality is enhanced. 44 Therefore, this design allowed the participant to give explanatory feedback regarding thoughts and feelings surrounding the research questions. It also promoted dialogue between myself, as the researcher, and the counsellor, as the participant, that did not essentialize one truth or way of seeing an issue over another, but instead sought to make visible multiple dimensions of similar and different views of reality. This type of design is consistent with feminist research as it did not attempt to place versions of truths into dichotomous categories which become hierarchical in nature. Instead, according to Kitzinger (1986), it acknowledged all persons’ versions of reality as real and enabled the research to explore the meanings and implications of each with the participants. Interviews Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were used to allow the participants to describe their experience in their own words. An interview method was appropriate due to the exploratory nature of this study. It was also effective because it allowed me to gather in-depth information from each participant. Open-ended broad questions enabled a wide scope of explanatory responses from each participant and allowed for flexibility in responses into new and unanticipated areas of questioning (Palys, 1 992). Because this research was framed from a critical feminist perspective it was necessary to clearly define the interview process. According to Kirby and McKenna (1989), an interview could be simply defined as a “special form of interaction between two people, the purpose of which is to elicit information by asking questions” ( p. 66). It can also be described as 45 “a face to face verbal interchange in which one person, the interviewer, attempts to elicit information or expressions of opinions, or belief from another person or persons” ( p. 499, Maccoby & Maccoby, 1984,). To remain consistent with a critical feminist research methodology and with Korin’s problem-solving approach, 1 attempted to create an interview of mutual dialogue. I attempted not to position myself as a traditional researcher and did not remain distant nor completely objective. Instead, 1 placed myself as an active associate in the interview and acknowledged my contribution to the research process. This approach was consistent to Ann Oakley’s (1981) approach to interviews where the “interview is a discussion or guided conversation in which both the interviewer and the person being interviewed share information and contribute to the research process” (p. 66). An example of the use of this approach was provided by Frankenburg’s (1993) research on the construction of whiteness. During her interviews with white women, Frankenberg deliberately positioned herself in a space where she could be actively involved and able to share with her participants relevant personal information. Frankenburg has suggested that this approach was helpful in dealing with the power relations of interviewing because it allowed her to reduce the degree of researcher invisibility. This approach did not allow for the researcher to maintain a position of expert objectivity. Kirby and Mckenna (1989) agreed and have stated that the development of an egalitarian setting and relationship between the researcher and the participant is one of the essential components of the previously described “interactive” interview. Korin’s (1994) approach also identifies the importance of equality in the development of relationships 46 which seek to address implicit power imbalances. She has stressed that both people should be “involved in a process of co-investigation of the personal and social realities that surround a person’s life” ( p. 91). From a Freirian perspective, the interview must be approached as a questioning of not only the nature of the counsellor/client relationship, but also the researcher/participant relationship. Although some pre-determined questions were asked, spontaneous questioning from both the researcher and participant was allowed. As Kirby and McKenna (1989) have stated, the interview and the researcher are more than instruments of data collection. Acknowledgment of the sharing of one’s self, one’s ideas and experience was extremely important to this specific research question. Consistent with the development of an egalitarian relationship, both the researcher and the participant were given the opportunity to ask questions, decline to answer particular questions, withdraw, talk about or not talk about issues relating to the interview process. As such, this interview was guided by what Korin (1994) has described as “a basic belief in people’s capacity to provide insights about themselves and the world surrounding them” ( p. 90). Interview Questions The questioning process was guided by Korin’s (1994) adaptation of Freire’s problem solving approach. As power balances between the researcher and participant are similar to those in a client/counsellor relationship, this approach provided a means of encouraging equity within this setting. In addition, this model does not obscure the complexities of daily life. Instead it acknowledges and embraces the impact of different 47 realities, focuses on the connection between life experiences in a personal and social context and, therefore, enables the researcher and participant to engage in an interactive critique of the daily realities of race, class, gender, culture and power. Finally this approach seeks to disrupt the “specific social context in which the counsellor’s life is embedded, in order to identify sources of oppression and then to examine critically the impact of that oppression on the counsellor’s views” ( p. 89. Korin, 1994). Within each part of this process, I posed specific kinds of questions. However, prior to the formal interview process, it was is important to begin with one or two broad, non-threatening questions as a warm-up to establish a rapport with the participants. Sample questions were phased; “Describe your counselling approach”, and “Tell me something about the philosophy underlying your approach”. During the initial part of the process, I attempted to develop a discussion which was based on Korin’s’ “mutual dialogue”. The definition of mutual dialogue involves systematic questioning addressing the specific social context in which the counsellor’s experiences are immersed. This type of interaction is based on respectful curiosity and genuine interest. I began with questions that were descriptive and focused on the counsellor’s perceptions of his or her counselling role in a social, historical and economic context. It was within this supportive environment that we attempted to situate the counsellors’ position in it’s multiple dimensions . An example of this type of question is; “I’m wondering about the connection between your counselling approach and who you are as a person?”(Further probe: How does your approach fit with who you are outside of counselling?). Tyler, Brome and Williams (1991) have suggested questions to elicit 48 awareness of how enculturation and socialization have played a major role in the construction of identity and daily practices. These questions were for deeper exploration and included specific questions from the following categories: a) the counsellors present awareness about his or her race, class, gender and culture. (Question: How has your race, class, gender and culture influenced your counselling practice?). b) past experiences and associations with racial, class, gender and cultural issues, c) specific examples and descriptions of cross-cultural experiences. During the next portion of the process, I utilized “critical reflection as a means to explore the underlying causes for power imbalances. The use of “how” and “what” questions were designed to help participants to: relate facts, experiences and realities, identify patterns among them and, finally conceptualize themes” (p. 92, Korin, 1 994). Also, critical reflection questions focused on comparing and contrasting experiences in terms of time and location to help participant gain different levels of thinking and gain awareness of issues from a social perspective. (Example: “What do you expect to occur in a counselling relationship? How has your education, culture, class and gender influenced your expectations of yourself and your client? How have your expectations changed and developed throughout your practice?) In addition, these types of questions may have helped the counsellor to gain awareness of the degree to which their assumptions about relationships are partially the result of intuitive and experientially derived expectations (Tyler, Brome & Williams, 1991). Subsequently, I posed questions i 49 that encouraged a social critique of any experience. For example, “Why are some counsellors comfortable with counselling people of difference and others are not?” The third aspect of questioning was based on Freire’s process of “conscientization”. Korin (1994) has described this as occurring “ when person is mobilized to change their context and takes responsibility for individual and social change” (p. 93). Korin has suggested that when an individual is given the opportunity to reflect on the personal and social dimensions of his or her life without the promotion of self-blame, meaningful transformation on multiple levels can begin. Examples of these questions have been suggested by Rave (1990). These questions also emphasize the interactive nature of social structures and life experiences on a counsellor’s daily practice. For example, “When working in a predominately white, middle class institution and/or system, how do you maintain and encourage a multicultural and multidimensional stance?” and “Describe the ways in which you have developed to deal with this issue?” Finally, to gain a clear understanding of how the participant puts their beliefs and values into practice, I posed questions in a way to elicit concrete examples of his or her observable behavior in the counselling environment. As the participant discussed his or her thoughts regarding how whiteness and power imbalances are dealt within the counselling relationship, I asked; “If I were unobtrusively observing your counselling sessions what would I see you doing and saying that would demonstrate your thoughts about this issue?” 50 Participants This section includes description of the participants in my study. It begins with an overview of the sampling procedure and selection criteria. Subsequently, a summary of demographic information is provided. This is followed by a brief description of the interviewer, pilot interviewee and pilot interview evaluator. The selection of each participant was based on purposive sampling of practicing counsellors from three Interior British . Columbia, communities. A list of potential contacts was gathered from academic and working colleagues, community resource books and participants’ suggestions. The criteria for each participant to be interviewed was based on two primary considerations. The participants were individuals presently employed as individual, family or group counsellors from various public and private counselling centers. Each participant had minimum of training of a Masters Degree in counselling education, counselling psychology or clinical social work. Two of the participants, one male and one female, had completed their Post graduate in Educational Psychology. This type of nonprobablistic sampling technique was chosen for two reasons. It allowed for easy identification of whether or not a potential participant fits the criteria. It was also less expensive and less time consuming than random sampling which requires a complete list of the population, since, unlike purposeful sampling, its’ major purpose is representativeness (Palys, 1992). Although this placed a limitation on this study, I believe the potential for gathering in-depth information, which has been seriously neglected within this area of study, was more important than obtaining a sample that can 51 be deemed as representative of the counsellor population. Also as the intent of my study was exploratory and to open the boundaries of the counsellors’ perceptions of their roles, representativeness and sample size were less important ( Nelson, 1 996). From a list of ten potential practicing counsellors, I selected the first three males and three females who agreed to participant. These six individuals voluntarily agreed to be participants in my study after I have given them a verbal overview of the topic over the telephone. Four of the participants had a prior professional relationship with myself. However, none of the four had previous knowledge about my thesis topic. The remaining two had been given a brief verbal overview of my general topic area through discussion with a mutual colleague. Also these individuals were not known to myself before the compilation of potential participants for my study, however they had expressed an interest in the topic. At the time of the interviews all six participants were employed as counsellors in a variety of public and private counselling centers within three interior communities of British Columbia. The population of these communities ranges from 5000 to 75,000. All three locations are resource-based and their primary employer is the forest industry. The population of these towns/cities is diverse with regards to race, gender, age class, culture and abilities. The participants provided a wide range of counselling services. Four of the participants were private counsellors with self-paying clients. These four counsellors were also employed as counsellors for Employee Assistance Programs within a days drive to their respective homes. Three of the four participants also had part-time 52 contracts through the Provincial Ministries of Education and Child and Family Services. In addition one of the four participants had secured a Federal contract to provide counselling for First Nations people who attended residential school. The remaining two participants were employed as full-time counsellors in a local community institution. The location of the participants counselling practice was also quite varied. The two participants from the community institution had individual private offices within a large counselling center. One of the participants did not rent a formal office and practiced either in an Ministry office or at the client’s home. Two of the participants had an office located in their private homes. One of these offices was located in the main living area and the other was on the lower level of the house. The sixth participant had temporary office space available at numerous elementary schools within 40 miles of their home. This participant also rented office space in “town” for private and Employee Assistance Program counselling. The participants consisted of three males and three females, whose ages ranged from 47 to 55 years. The cultural group or groups these individuals described themselves as most strongly identifying were Western, Central European, Caucasian and French Canadian. Four of the participants described their combined family income level to be more than $50,000 but less than $75,000. Two participants described their approximate combined family income level as more than $100,000. The participants experience as a practicing counsellors ranged from 10 to 23 years in length. I believe it is necessary to give a brief description of myself at the time of my study as I completed all of the interviews. I am a 38 year old female who mostly strongly 53 identifies with Western and Central European and white Canadian cultural groups. My combined family income is approximately more than $50,000 but less than $75,000. During the final stages of my study I was employed both as a part-time instructor and part-time learning assistant. I have three years of individual and career counselling experience. The pilot participant for my study has 1 0 years experience as an Adult Special Education instructor and three years as a contractor counsellor for Adults with learning disabilities. The pilot interview evaluator is an Alternate High School teacher with 12 years of experience in the public school system. Because both individuals have extensive experience with these marginalized populations their involvement in this study was invaluable. Procedure Six face to face, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Each interview was approximately 60 to 90 minutes in length, depending upon the participant’s available time. Each participant was asked to choose the location of the interview as I believed this would increase not only their availability but also their comfort. Three interviews were held at the participant’s home, two were completed at their place of employment and one in a classroom setting of mutual centrality and comfort. All interviews were completed by myself. Each interview was audio-taped and I took some notes in order to help summarize the process at completion. My role as the interviewer was to assist a purposeful dialogue about the participants’ experience 54 regarding race, class, gender and power. This is not contrary to what Kirby and McKenna describe as “the need for equality in the research relationship” ( p. 67). Instead, it was an acknowledgment of the differences between myself and the participants’ knowledge regarding the interview purpose and process. Before beginning each interview I explained the research rationale and how it was carried out. I discussed the parameters of my role as the interviewer and my expectations for their participation. For example, I invited questions regarding my research focus and interview approach. As noted by Kirby and McKenna (1989), this type of interview procedure is a sharing of ideas, philosophy and experience. As such, at the end of the interview I encouraged participants to point out any questions I had missed or holes in the interview process. An informed consent form was discussed and signed by each participant prior to the commencement of each interview. Each participant was asked to complete a demographic questionnaire, the purpose of which was to ensure, for myself, that each participant fit the criteria, and enabled me to make some general comparisons. In order to ensure confidentiality, I informed each participant that any identifying characteristics, such as names, place of employment, personal addresses, would be changed and their anonymity protected. Ethical considerations The ethics board from UNBC received a copy of the research proposal and approval was granted before the commencement of this research. Informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to their involvement. The rights of the participants was secured through the verbal explanation of the rationale, the interview process and 55 potential outcomes to each participant and he or she was given the opportunity to ask questions about the research and/or the researcher. Consent forms were explained, completed and signed. Participation in the study was voluntary and participants were told they were free to completely or partially withdraw at any time. A partial withdrawal was explained as; at any time during the interview the participant could ask to have the tape recorder turned off if he or she is uncomfortable with the recording of some pieces of information. Privacy and confidentiality were satisfied for each participant. Names and identifying characteristics were removed from the transcripts and replaced with a single letter code. The only persons with access to the tapes and transcription were myself and my thesis supervisor. These tapes are secured in a locked filing cabinet for a period of one year after which all information will be erased. Pilot Interview In order to more fully develop my interviewing skills and test the appropriateness of the questions, I completed a pilot interview with a volunteer practicing counsellor. This trial interview was video-taped. The primary purpose of the pilot was to validate the methodology. Observation of the video-tape allowed me to evaluate not only the effectiveness of the process but also determine how I might be influencing the outcome of the process. In addition, after the interview, I gave the volunteer an opportunity to provide me with immediate feedback regarding his experience of being interviewed. This allowed for suggestions of areas and questions that I had overlooked. Finally, I asked a third person, a professional teacher and counsellor, to watch the video-tape and provide feedback on how my interview style and/or questions was biasing the process. 56 Analysis Each interview was transcribed verbatim, as soon as possible, after completion. Tentative emergent themes from each interview were noted and, although a similar format was followed for each interview, these themes were presented in subsequent discussions with each participant. Any written notes taken during or after the interviews, such as summaries or personal reflections, were included as raw data. Written statements from all the interviews were individually coded and subsequently organized together into manageable categories, in an attempt to identify themes regarding the participants’ perceptions of the research questions. The demographic information from the questionnaires was summarized and coded from each participant. Differences and similarities between participants were noted. Data analysis consisted of collation and comparison of demographic information, interviewers personal notes, analysis of transcribed dialogue and thematic statements of experiences. The criteria for identified themes was guided by the areas for self¬ exploration suggested by Tyler, Brome and Williams (1991) and themes identified by Roger (1995). These include : a) the counsellor’s present awareness about his or her feelings, thoughts of race, class, gender, b) the counsellors’ attempts to cope with power imbalances (the action taken, both personally and socially), c) the difficulty of seeing one’s whiteness and how it is historically connected to daily life, d) the recognition of whiteness as a privilege, of which one cannot and will not completely escape. Themes that have emerged from the participant’s interview were: Beliefs and Values Influencing Practice, Underlying Explanations and Experiences, Maintenance of Multi-dimensional 57 Perspectives, Expectations and Unexplained Assumptions. The results and discussion are presented in written form with exemplary quotes of the emergent themes. A summary of the results will be made available to all interested participants. Data Analysis The five major themes were identified through the following steps. Although these themes were closely related to the themes described by Tyler, Brome and Williams (1991) and Rogers ( 1 995), they were unique and original in their context. Step One After I completed the transcription of each interview, I numbered each page with two numbers. The first number ( 1 ) indicated the sequence of the interview. The second number indicated the actual written page number (1-2). No para-linguistic language was included in the transcription. Statements from myself and the participant were identified as separate through the use of the first letter in each of our first given names. A statement was considered to be one sentence or a series of sentences which expressed an idea, thought, experience, activity and/or feeling. The length was determined by normal conversational turn taking of two individuals. Verbal or non-verbal agreement was not identified as a separate turn and was included within the text of the person who was talking. As I completed the transcription of each interview it was re-read in its entirety. I then highlighted the statements that the participant seemed to talk about as important to them. The criteria used to determine if a statement was important were if the participant used words like “most important to me is..”, “most critical to me...” “I am strongly 58 influenced by...”, “my belief is...” and “I place high value on...”. These were tentative areas of interest for me and were not considered thematic at that point. Step two I re-read each interview for the third time and selected the third interview as a starting point for a more in-depth analysis. My selection of this interview was primarily based on the participant’s use of vivid examples to describe his/her perceptions regarding the influence his/her race, class gender and culture on his counselling practice, his/her past experiences with racial, class and gender issues and specific examples of cross- cultural experiences. As I re-read the transcript of the third interview, I hand wrote tentative themes that described the main issues of discussion. The criteria for each of the first 1 5 themes was determined by, first, the questions asked and the main idea of each response. Short examples of each theme were also included under each hand-written theme, as was the page number of each example. I continued creating themes until the majority of the statements were cut from the file. The only remaining statements left in the file were my own questions, probes, clarifying statements. The participant’s remaining statements were placed under a heading entitled “misc.”. Step, three I then went back to the selected transcript and created a third file, where I placed verbatim statements under each theme. While completing this step, the number of themes were reduced to 11 as I determined that 4 of the grouped statements seemed to be sub¬ topics of the larger themes. More specifically, a major theme was the participant’s 59 “expectations of him or herself in the counselling relationship”. I determined that the statements regarding the demonstration of respect towards the client were not a separate theme but an example of how self expectations are carried out in practice. After each statement was placed into a theme, I also identified the original page number that it was taken from in order to allow me to go back and view its place in the context of the original transcript. Si£p_ta I then reviewed each of the 1 1 themes and the participant’s statements in each theme. These themes were grouped into five major categories, of which each thematic group of statements was kept together in order to maintain its contextual meaning within the interview. The collapsing of the 1 1 themes into one of five major categories was based on the congruency of meaning between themes. For example, one of the categories is called “Expectations”. In my fourth re-read of the 1 1 themes, I found there to be three themes in which the participant talked about what he or she expects out of her or him self in counselling, what he or she expects from the client, and how he or she demonstrates these expectations. Therefore a common meaning to all of these themes and the statements within each theme, was the participant’s discussions about how he or she wanted to act within the counselling sessions, how he or she demonstrated his or her actions to the client and which behaviors, verbal and non-verbal, he wanted the client to display. The four other categories are: 1) Beliefs, Values and Attitudes Influencing Practice, 2) Underlying Explanations and Experiences, 3) Maintenance of Multi- Dimensional Perspective, 4) Unexamined Assumptions. 60 The criteria used to select the participant’s statements for the theme of Beliefs, Values and Attitudes Influencing Practice was based on their meeting of three conditions. First, statements were included if the participant used the words, “belief’, “value”, or “attitude”. Second, these same statements were only included if the participant discussed the above words in the context of belonging to their way of seeing the world. Finally, statements were included in this theme if they explained how the belief, value, or attitude had effected the participant’s thoughts, actions or feelings in his or her counselling practice. For example, one participant talked about how he placed a lot of importance on “hard work”. He stated this value was supported in his belief of work in general and described how working hard had enabled him to get through his personal problems This participant discussed the impact of this belief on his practice. He stated, he “works very hard at helping people gain control in their life and getting the skills that they need to maintain that sense of control”. The criteria for the second theme of Underlying Explanations and Experiences was also twofold. Participants’ statements were included first, if their statements about their beliefs, values or attitudes were explained in the context of childhood memories with race, gender, class, culture, ability, education and/or any combination of those factors. Second, if the participants statements discussed these same beliefs, values or attitudes in the context of cross-cultural experiences in their counselling practice. The criteria for the selection of statements for the third theme, Expectations, was primarily based on the participants’ discussion about appropriate behaviors that they and their clients display in the counselling sessions. Within these statements were contextual 61 reference to words like “respectful”, “responsible” and “accountable”. Also, included were statements about the actions or words that demonstrated the participants’ expectations. The fourth theme, Maintenance of a Multi-Dimensional Perspective, was based primarily on exemplary statements about strategies developed by the participant to keep him or herself from making inappropriate judgments about clients’ actions, thoughts and feelings. For example, statements were included when the participants used terms such as “to keep me on track”, “keeping me in check” and “reviewing of goals”. Descriptive statements of these strategies were also included. For example, some participants discussed their use of journaling, self-reflective questions, peer consultation and continuing education as helpful strategies to help them maintain a more comprehensive view of their clients' world. The criteria for the fifth major theme, Unexamined Assumptions, was based on statements that the participants made indicating a lack of consideration or acknowledgment of race, gender, class age or abilities as issues important to examine in their counselling practice. For example, statements were included if the participant said, “I’ve never really sat and thought too much about that”. Also, statements when the participant discussed the client’s ability to self-select the counsellor who best “fit” their needs were included in this theme. Finally I made a decision to separate some statements out of the five major themes. This was based on the fact that these statements were responses from questions I posed at the beginning of the interview and I believe their primary purpose was to build 62 rapport and trust. These statements focused on the participants description of the clients in their practice and their approach to counselling. Rigor of research In order to establish the rigor of this qualitative design, a pilot interview was completed. The video-taping of the pilot interview allowed for a third person to view the tape and provide feedback regarding the ways in which I might have unintentionally biased the process. Careful and continual written recording of personal reflections was also included as data. In addition, the inclusion of a discussion with respect to my personal interest in this area allows the exposure of my biases and assumptions and enables the reader to determine how these factors influence this study. Role of the Researcher As I was the sole interviewer, I have influenced my research in a variety of ways. Most importantly, I have impacted my study through my personal beliefs and values about counselling relationships. I recognize these beliefs have been shaped by feminist and critical theory’s position regarding the interrelationships between race, gender, class, culture and power. I have also influenced my study through the framework of my interview process and the selection of the actual questions and probes I used for each interview. In, addition, I influenced each interview by my verbal and non-verbal idiosyncratic cues that may have encouraged certain responses and not other responses. Finally, I have influenced my study through the words I heard and transcribed from each interview. Also, my selection of the themes was partially due to my own 63 conscious and unconscious identification of words and statements which fit my own experiential, cognitive and intellectual understanding of the world. 64 CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS AND RESULTS The results and analysis are described in this chapter. A summary of the five major themes of: Beliefs, Values and Attitudes Influencing Practice, Underlying Explanations and Experiences, Expectations, Maintenance of Multi-Dimensional Perspectives, and Unexamined Assumptions, are provided. Subsequently, the results of each theme are presented and are related back to the literature in this area. Finally, the results are discussed in relationship to my underlying research questions. However, prior to this presentation, I will introduce each participant in order to help frame the participant’s words in his or her contextual environment. Introduction of the six participants Because general demographic information about each participant was previously presented in the last chapter, I will only present a brief summary of details to aid the reader in identifying each participant when his or her statements appear within the text of each theme. The descriptions of the participants are a compilation from two sources. The sources consist of their personal biographical information and my observations of their living/working situations. Dale I have given the first participant the pseudonym of “Dale” and will refer to him as Dale hereafter. Dale is a 50 year white old male who describes himself as identifying most strongly with Western European and Caucasian cultural background. He has a Masters Degree in counselling education with 10 or more years experience as a counsellor. My interview with Dale took place in his counselling office. The office was 65 brightly lit with natural light from large windows. The decor was mainly soft colors, two or three framed pictures on the walls, wood furniture, and hardwood floors. As we talked, we drank coffee and snacked on muffins and bagels which I had provided. I began the interview by asking Dale about his client base, in his counselling practice. He stated that he did primarily individual counselling with males and females aged 15 and older. He estimated that close to 75% of his clients paid for their counselling through Employee Assistance programs and 25% of his clients paid for the counselling themselves. Dale also stated that the majority of his counselling is with First Nations people. When I asked about his counselling approach Dale stated he generally used a combination of brief and solution-focused therapy. He talked about how these models seemed to fit for him because the principles allowed him to work hard, get to the issues quickly, have clear roles and have tangible goals to work towards. He related this to his personal understanding of himself as a “goal oriented person”. Kelly I have given the second participant the pseudo name of “Kelly” and shall refer to her with this name throughout her story. Kelly is a 55 year old white female who described herself as identifying most strongly with the cultural groups of Western European, Central European and Caucasian. She has completed a Masters Degree in counselling psychology and has 10 years of counselling experience. My interview with Kelly took place during a Monday morning at her primary residence. Kelly’s interview was the first in two regards. She was the first person I 66 talked to for my study and was also the first female. During the interview, we sat at her kitchen table, eating muffins and cookies. The decor in the house was modem with vaulted ceilings, skylights and hardwood floors. As with the above interview, I began by asking about Kelly’s client population. It is important to note that this question was first suggested in the pilot interview by the pilot participant. He suggested this because he believed I needed a softer entrance into the counsellor’s experiences. He had described his difficulty with the first question of, “what is your counselling approach?” as “having a bit too much punch”. After reviewing the pilot interview, the pilot evaluator concurred and the above question was selected. Kelly stated that she works with three different types of populations of clients in various locations. She works with children aged 5 to 14 years as part-time elementary school counsellor. She works with young adults, aged 14 to early twenties and their families as a contracted counsellor for a privately funded agency. And she also has a private practice where she sees males and females of all ages. Kelly was not specific about her clients racial or cultural background, however, in the interview she made many references to past experiences with First Nations clients. She also did not describe her clients’ economic background, although she stated that the clients in her private practice were either self-pay or funded by an Employee Assistance program. Therefore, many of these clients could probably be of middle class status as they would need to be employed at a company who’s financial position was able to support an EAP or have an income that would allow them to pay for their own counselling. Mary 67 The third participant I have called “Mary”. She is a 48 year old white female whose cultural groups mostly strongly identified with are French Canadian and Canadian. Mary has a post-graduate degree in Educational Psychology and has practiced counselling for 23 years. This interview was held in the classroom at a local community college during the mid-afternoon. This location was chosen by Mary as she found it a convenient stop in¬ between her scheduled appointments with her clients. We sat near a table that served not only a practical place for the audio-tape but also allowed for snacks to be within a hand reach away. It is important to note this classroom was the location of a program for Adult Special Education students that I had been teaching throughout the present semester and some of whom Mary was seeing as clients. However, due to the college’s mid-semester break, classes were not in session and the students were not present in the building. The classroom was, thus, decorated with various student and teacher materials on the wall. Eight regular table and chair sets were scattered throughout the room. The table we sat at was close to a large window and closed door. When I asked Mary about her client base, she stated that they were mainly adults aged 18 and older with mental and/or physical disabilities. Also they were of various race and cultural backgrounds. In her practice, she saw a balance of males and females. Mary stated that although she did have a private practice license, approximately 90% of her clients were referred to her through contracts from Ministry agencies. Mary also stated she did mainly individual counselling with her clients and some group counselling, 68 depending on the need. In addition, a major portion of Mary’s practice was Psychological assessments for the above mentioned systems. In terms of the manner in which she works with her clients, Mary stated that she uses primarily cognitive-behavioral approach based on developing basic decision making skills. Throughout her practice with this population Mary stated she has found that many of these clients either can not make simple daily choices or lack the confidence to carry out their choices. Due to Mary’s understanding of this groups’ differential cognitive thinking abilities she has developed an approach that utilizes concrete experiential diagramming and choice making activities. Tom The fourth participant interviewed is identified by the pseudo name of “Tom”. Tom is a 47 year old white male who noted Western European as his most strongly identified cultural group. Tom holds a Masters degree in Counselling psychology and has practiced in the counselling field for 23 years. My interview with Tom took place in his counselling office which is located within a large community institutuion. The decor of his office was similar to a traditional professional office setting of carpeted floor, wood desk, filing cabinet, bookshelf and two upolstered chairs. Some personal touches had been added such as family pictures and certificates of merit. When I asked Tom about the type of clients he saw in his practice, he stated they varied in age from 16 years to 65 years. In terms of culture, most of his clients were Caucasian, although he did see some Indo-Canadian and First Nations individuals. Tom 69 stated he probably saw more females than males, given that the college’s population ratio of females to males was 6 to 4. Tom stated that the approach he uses with clients has evolved over time from a Rogerian client-centered to “more of a constructivist kind of thing in the sense that each person sort of builds their own world and sees it in a particular way”. Tom stated his gradual change of approach occurred as a result of the change in the type of person he saw in counselling. He stated that economic difficulty and loss of connection have become primary issues for his clients and a constructivist approach seems to fit his need for helping his clients find the personal and financial resources to be successful both at the college and in life. Mark The fifth participant I interviewed, I have called “Mark”. Mark worked at a large community institution and my interview with him was completed after Tom’s interview. It is important to note both men were on tight schedules and my interview time was limited. Mark is a 53 year old white male whose most strongly identified cultural group was Caucasian. He has a post-graduate degree in counselling and has approximately 20 years of counseling experience. With regards to the type of clients that Mark sees in his practice, they are similar to Tom’s clients. Mark succinctly summarized his client base as “the whole gamete”. More specifically, he stated that he saw many different types of individuals with needs 70 that varied from resolution of personal, emotional and/or relationship conflict to the provision of educational and career information. In terms of his counselling approach, similar to Tom, Mark described it as having developed over time. He talked about growing into more of who he is, becoming comfortable with the “nature of himself’. Therefore, because he sees himself a person who wants to be efficient and effective, he finds the solution-focused counselling approach “fits” for him. He states that this approach allows him to get to the issues as quickly as possible and puts him in a “better position of solving difficulties” and of “trying to assist in the development of solutions”. Jan Jan was the sixth and last participant that I interviewed for my study. She is a 50 year old white female who noted Western European as her most strongly identified cultural group. Jan has been a private counsellor/therapist for 14 years. She has completed a Masters degree in Social Work with specialty training in Advanced couples counseling, Transactional Analysis and Gestalt therapy. When asked about her client population, Jan said she sees clients aged 1 3 and older, but primarily adults. In terms of cultural background, the majority of her clients are First Nations. Jan states the economic and educational background of this group is lower class. The funding source for these individuals is primarily the Federal government. She stated that most of the white clients she sees are from middle to upper class background, both economically and educationally. Within her total client base, Jan does a variety of individual, couple, family and group therapy. She also teaches in 71 workshop settings in the areas of grief and couples therapy for other counsellors. In addition, she is trained as a divorce mediator. Though she has a diverse practice, Jan described her counselling/therapeutic approach with her clients as essentially Transactional Analysis sprinkled with Gestalt techniques. She said she came across this approach through her own journey of personal healing and, like some of the above participants, T.A.’s theoretical philosophy “fit” with her own values about family and her understanding of the world. Jan described her training in Transactional Analysis as a process of feeling like “coming home”. More importantly, she stated that this theory and therapeutic approach was “a wonderful affirmation that there was a process by which I could decide to live at age 35 and know that I was okay”. In summary, although all the participants are white Canadian counsellors practicing counselling and psychotherapy in Canada, they are unique in the way they practice and how they view themselves in their distinctive counselling sessions. Moreover, the themes that emerged from our discussions may have been woven through each participant’s words, but as my results reveal, the color, texture, and strength with which they were spoken from each person was as distinct as the patterns on an originally designed quilt. Before describing the five major categories that seemed to emerge from the transcriptions, it is important to acknowledge that these interviews did not follow a pre-determined format of stops and starts as one question was answered and another posed. The interviews were the creation of a dialogue which was woven in and out of my I 72 questioning towards an almost storytelling event where each participant provided different explanations and recalled memories of past experiences. Dominant Story Because the definitions and the criteria used to identify the five themes was discussed in detail in the methodology chapter, I will only present the reader with a brief overview in order to help frame their context. The first theme, “Beliefs, Values and Attitudes Influencing Practice” included statements that emphasized the participants way of seeing the world and its impact on their counselling practice. The second emergent theme, “Underlying Explanations and Experiences” included statements where the participant talked about how they explained the origins of their belief, values and attitudes in relationship to issues of race, class, gender, culture or abilities. “Expectations” is the third theme and included statements about the manner in which the participants wanted to act towards clients in their counselling sessions. For example, most said they expected themselves to be responsible and respectful. This theme also included statements about the manner in which the participants expected clients to act towards them. Finally, this theme included statements regarding the participants demonstration of their expectations. The fourth theme, “Maintenance of MultiDimensional Perspective”, included statements regarding the strategies developed and employed by the participants that helped them remain in a non-judgmental position with their clients. The last theme, “Unexamined Assumptions” included statements regarding the dismissal or minimization of issues such as race, gender, class, culture or abilities as impacting the counselling relationship. 73 A). Beliefs. Values and Attitudes Influencing Practice The first major category of thematic statements from the transcripts was, The Beliefs, Values and Attitudes influencing counselling practice. Statements for this category were selected if participants used the words “belief’, “value”, or “attitude” in the context of belonging to them and, then, if they talked about how these have shaped their counselling practice. For example, Dale talked about the importance of “working very hard at helping people gain control in their life and getting the skills that they need to maintain that sense of control”. Most of the participants described how their beliefs have become part of their larger value system and influenced the way they worked with people. In general, these values and beliefs placed a lot of importance on the individual, the individual’s responsibility for their life, the individual’s personal integrity, freedom and independence. Many of the counselling goals discussed by the participants were congruent with these values and their supporting strategies essentialized changing the individual's behavior and increasing the person’s abilities to cope in the world. The majority of these values and supporting counselling goals have been discussed by Katz (1985). She has stated that these values and beliefs in counselling are congruent with the larger cultural components of White society. Therefore, it seems the participants are involved, consciously and unconsciously in the perpetuation of the status quo. A value which was apparent in the transcriptions was the need for the participants to help their clients (re)gain control in their lives. Most of the participants talked about their belief that this was not only important but it would increase the client’s sense of well-being and reduce their stress or anxiety. For example, Tom talked about his concern 74 about the changes in available funding for people to attend post-secondary institutions. Further, he believed that the lack of financial resources coincided with people’s lack of connection with each other. Tom said that many of his clients’ problems were caused by the lack of help and unpredictability of previous support systems. Therefore, Tom’s approach in counselling focused on uncovering the client’s personal resources. According to Tom, this discovery enables his clients to regain a sense of control in their lives and this, in turn, allows them to be successful in their academic pursuits. Tom, like Dale, places a high value on the individual’s ability to achieve success through their personal assets. Tom: And again, I suppose that the connectedness or lack of connectedness, somehow plays a part in the erosion of the belief in themselves. So then, to help them achieve what they want to achieve, it [is my job] to make apparent that they are the primary resource that is going to be the one to make it happen, that they have the resources necessary to make it happen. Dale also talked about the value of personal resources. However, he discussed resources from a wider perspective. He stated, “I don’t make the assumption that education only happens in a classroom. Education happens in life, it happens (S: through your experience) yea, through your experience and umm, that’s a gift that I have benefited from”. He described how the adherence to this value has helped him to see his client’s past experiences as important resources. In addition, he talked about placing high value on a person’s freedom and independence to make their own choices. He discussed that this value has impacted his counselling practice through his discussion with his 75 clients at the onset of counselling. For example, Dale stated, “I think I work quite hard at assuring the client that they’re in control of what happens in here, in this space. And I’m not going to take that away from them. I’m not going to make them do anything that they’re not comfortable doing”. Kelly also discussed the importance of valuing her client’s independence and strongly believes in their ability to come up with their own solutions to their problems. Kelly: I’m the facilitator. They have the solutions. I just facilitate them to get to the solutions.... let them come up [with the answers] you know, through questioning and that kind of thing. It's amazing what they come up with that I would have never thought of. But it’s not going to work if I impose it. They have to buy into the solution, so they have to own it. Similarly, Tom’s statements about his belief in the client’s ability to identify their issues and path to resolution seem to echo Kelly’s belief and also points out the potential for reducing the connection between the counsellor and the client. Tom: They can be the boss and that’s entirely appropriate in my estimation. Its that they need to dictate to a very large extent how the issues are determined. How they’re identified and how they may be potentially resolved. And to try to assume too much or to impose your views on how this thing should be done, that to me, is a place where you can almost see the eyes flicker. Its like... you’re not hitting anymore. And that’s when you know you’ve jumped in and you’ve gotten on the wrong road somehow. 76 Jan’s statements about her belief in the client’s integrity to make choices about their lives is similar to Tom’s, Dale’s and Kelly’s belief. However, in her statements, she emphasized her lack of responsibility in directing her client’s life path. In the following statements, Jan seemed to reveal an attitude of neutrality with regards to her influence on any of her clients major decisions. She also stresses the parallel beliefs in her educational background and personal healing. Jan: And the training that I took and the belief about people as responsible for their own feelings and that they make choices about how they’re going to feel and all of that was very, very important to me. And along with the work that I did personally. The three things Berne talked about, in terms of counselling theory and values, he calls, the three “P’s”. Potency, Protection and Privacy and its my job to provide these things and the client will still decide that they may not want to do the work that I may think they will do. And they may decide that they may not want to keep themselves alive. Another belief discussed by the participants was about the nature of “work”. This was explained in different ways but the underlying value seemed to be that hard work was necessary: “hard work usually paid off’. Hard work in counselling brought success in the accomplishment of one’s goals. Dale supported the value of work in general and explained how working hard had enabled him to get through his personal issues. However, he did acknowledge his potential to jump to an inappropriate conclusion when a client does not show signs of “working hard”, or when he or she is not ready to solve the problem. For example he made the statement, 77 Dale: [I] work hard at things. (S: Yes and try to work things out) So, I believe that. I believe that we can. I bring that with me, this value of, we work at things, but I hope I’ve been able to keep in check some of the other judgments around that. If it’s not going well it means you’re not working hard enough. Similarly, Kelly, Mark and Jan talked about the importance of “getting down to work” and getting to the issue of why the person was in their office, as quickly as possible. This is apparent in their statements about initial questions posed to their clients in the first session. For example, Mark described his questioning as getting to the point very quickly with the majority of his clients. He stated that, in most first sessions, this is more important than establishing a relationship with his clients. Likewise, Kelly talked about it being more important for her to ask questions such as, “What are you here for?” than spending a lot of time on rapport building. Both of these participants stressed the significance of treating each session as an individual unit rather then part of a continued whole. Parallel to these statements is Jan’s discussion of her belief in asking the client to consider their reasons for entering a therapeutic relationship over the telephone prior to their first meeting. During this conversation, she gives them a framework of what they will discuss in her counseling sessions. Jan: And I’ll often say to people on the phone, “Before you come in, could you give some thought to what you want to change. Jan, like Mark and Kelly will then draw up a written contract for change with the client which is based on these discussions. 78 In contrast to the others’ statements, Mary did not make reference to the value of “hard work” in her statements about the nature of her counselling style. Instead Mary talked about the pace and length of sessions as being inconsequential to the outcome of her counselling relationships. She stated that due to many of her client’s disability, they were unable to describe their reasons for seeking therapy or the changes necessary to enact relief. Thus, efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery are not highly valued in her practice. More importantly, she said she has learned not to assume these are the only paths leading to “success”. Mary: And I think as time has gone on I’m just more aware of how long some things can take. And I, as I said earlier, that I had that assumption, that assumption existed before, but I’m even more keenly aware of it now, when I look at the number of years I’ve spent with people, sometimes very intensively, and then off for awhile and then very intensively again. And one of the things that’s changed is, that often we’d get to the point where I would feel I’d better bring up the idea of discontinuing, and we might leave it or we might not. And I would wonder if there was going to be anymore value in continuing and then stuff would start to happen again. It seems that Mary’s’ value of flexibility in terms of length of sessions and duration of counselling is very different than the other five counsellors, who appear to be supporting the value of scheduled appointments and adherence to strict 50 minute hour time limits. Mary also said that taking the “time” to establish a relationship was very important to her. Mary stated that she no longer believes six to 8 sessions are effective 79 f for her clients. She also said that she believes the “best” counselling happens during the last 10 minutes of a meeting with her client. Again in contrast to Mary’s statements, Kelly, Dale, Mark and Jan stated they adhere to counselling duration of four to five sessions and limit their scheduled appointments to between 1 5 and 50 minutes. The belief in goal setting was another area of importance for some of the participants. Jan and Kelly both stated that this belief impacts their counselling sessions from the very first session. Both women described how, for most of their clients, they discuss and sometimes write down mutually agreed upon goals in a contract-like format. This is clearly evident in Jan’s description of the initial meeting, Jan: It’s a starting point for me because Berne always worked with contract. And he called them”, contracts for change”. And I’m not as focused on that, probably because I’ve been away from ongoing formal training. But when I began, I was there monthly. And so then we would have a little accountability from some of the trainers. And in case conferencing, they’d say, “well what’s the contract” And I’d say , “oh yea, I need a contract” SM: So do you mean a written or verbal contract? Jan: Both. So it might be that somebody comes in and after a little while, I mean I’ll take a real easy one, begins to say that they don’t think their worth anything. ...So if I track that back with someone and find out that they have in their gut a sense that they’ve never felt worthwhile, then that might be the contract for change “Would you like to feel worthwhile? And people say yes. And so the contract could be as simply as; I will value myself or I will believe in my worth. 80 And that will be a written contract that the person will write down and I will write down in my notes Sometimes people make a contract like that. But whatever the contract is I usually attach a number of sessions and suggest to people that they make a commitment for that. And then the contract is always the goal toward which we’re working. Again, it seems that three values are strong in the above example. Jan values “work”, “goal setting” and “linear thinking” because she and her clients are proceeding in a forward motion to solve the clients issue. For Dale and Kelly, the need to set goals and work towards them is also very important. Both talked about having concrete, tangible goals written down as helpful strategies for them in counselling. This is clearly evident in Dale’s self-description. Dale: I’m probably a goal oriented person. And I think I’d have to say that I wouldn’t be well suited to counselling relationships that run over a long period of time. I like to get to work at things and I like to have fairly clear roles and know what we are striving for. And I like to be working at things we can look at. Like if we are getting there or we’re not getting there. It’s working. It’s not working. Yes, that’s pretty important to me. In summary of this theme, most of the participant beliefs values and attitudes appeared to support Katz (1985) and Pinderhughes’(1989) view that most counsellors’ perceptions of the world are congruent with white culture. However, I believe it is significant that these counsellors had both awareness of their beliefs, values and attitudes and (for the most part) understanding of the impact in their counselling sessions. 81 Pinderhughes (1989) has supported the importance of the counsellor’s self-exploration of their cultural values, beliefs and attitudes. She stated that this exploration is critical for the counsellor’s understanding of who they are and how their values may filter into the counselling environment. Sue, Arredondo and McDavis ( 1 992) have also agreed that comprehensive self-awareness includes an in-depth look at one’s values, attitudes and beliefs in order to overcome personal prejudice and biases. They have emphasized the need for all counsellors to participate in a critical self-analysis process as an important and necessary supplement to the acquisition of knowledge, techniques and strategies. This, in turn, they have suggested, will increase the likelihood for competency in counselling people of difference. B) Underlying Explanations and Experiences This category includes thematic statements with two key elements. First, these statements relate present beliefs, values and attitudes with past or cross-cultural experiences. Secondly, these statements are interconnected to race, gender, class, education and abilities or any combination of these issues. As with the first theme the participants’ statements varied in terms of continuity and depth. For example, Dale described memories of experiences with significant people in his past, where traditional role patterns of behavior, with regard to gender, class, age and race behaviors, were supported. On the other hand, he provided memories of experiences where traditional assumptions of western society were completely or partially challenged and were full of contradictory messages. 82 Kelly, Jan, Mary and Mark acknowledged their background as white middle class and Christian. However, they did not provide the detail of these experiences or discuss their background as significant to who they were in their present roles. Instead, Kelly and Mary talked about cross cultural experiences with past and present clients and colleagues. Kelly provided details about some of her personal experiences. Mark emphasized the importance of his graduate training as a strong influence in his counselling practice. In contrast, Tom stated he had not previously considered the connection between who he is as a counsellor and who he is as a person. Therefore, I will provide a sampling of all of these perceptions. 1 will begin with Dale’s discussion of his past experiences with racial, class and gender issues as explanations of his present values, beliefs and attitudes. Dale talked about the meaningfulness of his father and grandfather’s behaviors as messages about different races and cultures that lived in close proximity to his northern prairie childhood home. He described his father as “somewhat of a racist”. Simultaneously, with regards to class and gender, Dale provided examples of how his male role models evaluated a person’s worth and right to challenge the way they viewed the world. Dale: My grandfather, he measured a person’s worth by what they had accumulated. And he wasn’t a wealthy man. But he would say, “If you’re smart, if you were having an argument with him and debating something, “if you’re so smart,” and this is especially when he thought he was losing the debate, “if you’re so smart, how come you’re not rich?” He’d make a statement like that. 83 However, Dale related that both his father and grandfather were self-made and self- sufficient early settlers of the prairies. This emphasis on strong work ethic and resourcefulness is evident in these statements. Dale: They were not, neither my grandfather or my father, they were all selftaught. Um, my grandfather was a pioneer in southwest Alberta. And did a great number of things, none of which he was professionally trained to do. But figured out how to do them on his own. My grandfather, or my father was that way too...And the message always was that whatever’s happening, and I’ve gleaned some positive out of it, but the basic message was that whatever’s happening, you can work your way through it. It seems from this example that Dale’s male role models also influenced his beliefs and values about gender and class roles. The belief transferred to Dale was, through selfsufficiency and hard work males could meet with “success”. He acknowledged his difficulty with the rigidity of these beliefs. He also related to me that although these beliefs worked for early white male pioneers with limited educational and financial resources, the strict adherence to these beliefs have not always proved helpful in his practice. In comparison to Dale’s description, Kelly talked about her more recent experiences outside of her practice and their impact on both her belief system and the way she views her clients. Through her adult experiences, she is now able to challenge the inappropriateness of her previous inflexible and judgmental view of people’s and their situations. 84 Kelly: Well I think that in my own personal life I’ve had to come from being a really rigid perfectionist type of person to, you know, like, “it will never happen to me”. And it happened to me. So through my own experience, I have more empathy for people and I can understand like, it can happen to anybody, so getting rid of the judgemental ism. And just being open and really flexible and accepting and “what can we do now?” Because I’ve been there done that and I know what its like to be labeled and I’ve been shamed and I’ve been, you know, I’ve been ashamed of some things that I’ve gotten into. And so that’s all been part of the experience. Ya, so it allows me to get out of myself and into their space and see where they are coming from. The experience of being in an “outside” position seems to have had a effect on Kelly’s view of the world. It has caused her to re-examine not only some of her assumptions about herself but also about others. She stated these experiences have led her to change the way she practices and contributed to her adopting a more positive and less directive model of counselling. These experience caused her to re-examine her need for control and approval, their origins and their effect on her practice. For example, she said, she is now able give up some of the control of her counselling sessions. More importantly, Kelly appears to more readily recognize when issues of control and approval are influencing a session with her clients. This recognition allows her to question the effectiveness of the process as it is occurring and make changes. Kelly: And so then I’ll be up from with people and say, you know, I’m feeling confused or uncomfortable here and I’m wondering if you’re feeling the same? 85 And I’ll stop whatever we’re doing and we may take a 90 degree angle or 360 or whatever and then they pick it up again and move on. Similarly Mary talked about her experiences with different clients over the years as influencing the way she viewed the world and her counselling practice. According to Mary, her educational training had supported her belief that the primary problematic cause for individuals with disabilities was their lack of self-actualization. She said, she had not previously challenged the appropriateness of this belief on a population of individuals who were systematically denied access to the resources needed for the promotion of self-growth and life satisfaction. This discrimination was quickly revealed to her in day to day interactions, and the adherence to these beliefs became fruitless. Mary: And one of the things that was so striking for me about the teenagers and young adults at that time was ... and I had just come out of a psychology degree program and I believed these people were not self-actualized. And I remember sitting in a group with our regular sessions at a community center and we had to plan lunch. And they could not choose between apple juice and grape juice. They could not make a simple choice. Mary stated that she made the connection between the traditional counselling approach, which was based on control and authority, and these individual’s reduced sense of self. Therefore it also became evident to Mary that their issues were contextually based not inter-psychic. As such, she said her perception of the individual as the primary focus for change in counselling dramatically shifted. 86 Dale described how early experiences with other significant people helped him to develop non-traditional attitudes. It was these experiences that Dale talked about as shaping an attitude of acceptance of non-traditional gender and age roles and the development of tolerance towards other cultures. However, of all the significant people in his life, it was his grandmother whom he credits as having the greatest influence on his present view with regards to race, gender and age. Dale stated he believes it was she who helped him to see the importance of challenging traditional assumptions about age, gender and race. In addition, he said, he does not remember making assumptions about correctness of traditional female roles. In this example, Dale first describes a memory of his grandmother’s behavior that provides a connection between his own attitude of tolerance and her actions. Dale: And most strongly my grandmother. My grandmother was a great friend of First Nations people. She would always come to their defense. I remember as a small boy, there had been a band of Native folk come down from Northern Sask, to do cherry picking. And somebody’s house had been broken into. And there was a circle of people there and somebody said, and their first comment was, “I’ll bet it’s got to be one of those Indians.” And I remember my grandmother just jumping all over that person and challenging that person. And I just felt so bowed over by her. She’s a very smallish, diminutive person, but with a very, very big spirit, who just wouldn’t tolerate that kind of, those kind of assumptions. And so I was, I realized, I don’t think it was conscious at the time, but by osmosis, I was 87 taking in a lot of her values. I guess they tempered the ones I gained from my grandfather and my father. In this example, it appears that Dale identifies an interesting phenomenon of the unconscious transfer of values from one generation to the next. According to Dale, the result of having his grandmother’s influence has been mutli-level. Not only did her behavior and teaching give him access to a wider understanding of another culture, it also allowed him to remain “unstuck” with regards to acceptable and appropriate roles for women and the elderly. In contrast to Dale’s memories, although Jan acknowledges the “fit” of her counselling approach with her strong values of family and Christianity, and acknowledges also that she can not separate herself from her gender, race or class, she stated these factors do not have a major impact in counselling. Instead, Jan said, the nonexpert position, advocated and practiced by Transactional Analysis therapists, keeps her separate from these factors. Jan: So I don’t believe that I am the expert on people’s personality. I think that they are. So I don’t think my gender has a huge amount to do with that belief. Now transference and counter-transference always occur....and lots of time clients will come in and they may be in what Berne would call a “Psychological game” of, Please help me, I don’t know what to do”. And so I would be assessing “Ego State” and understanding a little bit of history and understanding the possibility of a game that they might be inviting me into. Which would take away from, not just the esteem of the client, but would also re-inforce that they can’t solve it. 88 And that if I did fall into believing that I was the expert, and that my gender had a huge role and my background had a huge role, then I think it would discount the client’s own potency.... so I hear your question and 1 think that gender is sometimes more important for the client then it is for me. Although I can’t separate myself from my gender and I know it influences me and I was raised white middle class and all of that kind of stuff. Therefore, it seems, that her theoretical training provides a buffer or mask between herself and the client. According to Jan, this allows her to remain focused on the needs and issues of the client. Moreover, due to her strong adherence to the values of her theory, there is little need for her to explore the underpinnings of her previous beliefs about gender or class. In comparison to Jan’s statements, Kelly acknowledged her gender, race and class as having a direct impact on her counselling practice with First Nations clients. Her discussion of her first cross-cultural experiences, appears to reveal some of the basis for her belief that some First Nations people are distrustful of white counsellors. Kelly: I had one family situation at a Native treatment center where a 13 year old girl really had it in for me because I was white and I was female and I was the white bitch and a lot of negative prejudice. And she was trying to bring her family into her perspective and get them all ganged up against me and I had to be very firm in saying, “we’ll hear from you later”. On the other hand, these statements seem to be similar to Jan’s statement because they support the notion that it is the client’s responsibility, not the counsellor’s, to deal 89 with the imbalance. They also acknowledge the connection between training and one’s values but minimize the connection between past socialization and values. More importantly, there is a lack of awareness about the interconnection of one’s cultural and racial history and subsequent presentation of themselves in the counselling environment. This is clearly evident in Tom’s statement, regarding the underlying explanations for his worldview. SM: Any ideas of where that came from? [ the need to understand things] Where is that from culture, from gender, from experience throughout life? Tom: I’ll be honest with you, I truly don’t know. SM: Does it feel like its always been there, intuitively and you’ve developed it? Tom: I don’t know if its always been there. Wanting to understand things, particularly human interaction has been there for a long time. But it may have, at one time, been not as pronounced. And I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know if its a gender or cultural thing, necessarily. I truly don’t. I’ve not really thought about it that much, to be honest. But that’s what I see because I’m aware of that thing in myself. This sub-theme of viewing one’s values, beliefs and attitudes about race, gender and culture as having no or little connection to personal and societal history has been suggested by Roger’s (1995) preliminary study of the construction of whiteness in therapeutic relationships. She noted that, not only did some counsellors have difficulty with this connection, they also minimized the impact of their whiteness in counselling sessions. Roger has suggested that this may be due to the novelty of their own race as an 90 important issue. This is because most therapists become so accustomed to guarding against other abuses, such as sexual abuses, that it may never have occurred to them to name themselves as white for their client. However, according to Roger (1995) and Swigonski (1996), the non-naming of whiteness perpetuates a silence about race and racial issues. It also identifies that white counsellors have the “privilege of not needing to name themselves as raced” (Roger, 1995, p. 10). The notion of non- naming was also revealed in Frankenburg’s (1993) study on the social construction of whiteness in white women. She found that many of the women she interviewed had difficulty in describing white culture (race). These same women were able to discuss “other” cultures at length. However their own position was shapeless and nameless. Frankenburg stated that this invisibility has become an assumed “norm” supported and maintained by the dominant cultural group. Moreover, she seems to agree with Roger (1995), and links the privilege not to name with the power of white culture. The third emergent theme is that of “Expectations”. As noted in the introduction of this chapter, this theme included statements about how the participant treats the client. Sub-themes of respect, responsibility and accountability are also presented within the larger theme of “Expectations”. Further, statements that explained how the participant demonstrates their expectations are provided. Finally the behaviors that the participants expects from their clients are also explored. 91 Within the theme of self-expectations, Dale, Jan, Mark and Kelly talked about three primary areas. These were their personal expectations of responsibility, respect and accountability towards their clients. As with previous themes, my presentation of these themes as separate issues is somewhat artificial. The discussion regarding these expectations sometimes flowed from one to another and at times were intermingled so tightly, it was difficult to see where one ended and the other began. This flow was particularly apparent in Dale, Kelly and Jan’s statements when they talked about their respect and responsibility towards his clients. All three stated, they spent considerable time, during the initial session with a new client, explaining his or her role as the counsellor, the time limit for each session, and the duration of therapy available to them. They then stated, in this same session, that time was spent explaining their counselling approach . Each of these participants emphasized his or her responsibility in providing the client with this knowledge. Dale talked about how this responsibility is connected to his respect for the client. He stated that, by giving the client all the information, they begin to make their own choices in the counselling relationship . Dale: We talk about that at the outset. There’s so many sessions that we have and in the time that’s available, this is what you can expect from me in that process. And I’ll tell them that I like to work pretty hard and work well together and ....so they have all the information. 92 Kelly seemed to agree in her description of her self-expectations. She also revealed the connection between her value that “counselling is hard work” and the importance of setting goals. In addition, she outlined the limitations of her role expectations. Kelly: Well I guess the standard stuff, like informed consent, you know, and talking about the kinds of things that may happen in the counselling process, and letting them know that it may not be easy and that there may not be positive results right away. And looking at what their goals are and how we can meet those goals, particularly in the EAP program. I feel much more restricted there because the company has all their criteria, so I have to be sure that I get the consent form signed. And I have to be sure that I’m covering all the things that the company needs me to cover. So I find that much more pressure than just having someone to work with. But around those parameters, I have to make sure that the client understands. Role parameters are also highlighted in Dale’s explanation of how he demonstrates respect towards the client. The connection between his value of “hard work” and individual responsibility for problems is also evident. Dale: I think I work quite hard at umm, assuring the client that they’re in control of what happens in here, in this space. And I’m not going to take that away from them. I’m not going to make them do anything that they’re not comfortable doing. Umm, I do have a contract with them. That contract clearly identifies the roles. But a fair amount of the interview on my part goes into the discussion that I value their freedom, and independence and integrity as a human being. And 93 umm, would appreciate very much if they ever feel that’s been violated that they would tell me rather then not so we could talk about it. So it’s out, so it’s there, like right from the beginning. Not always that specifically but that every one hears it. In comparison, Mary discussed her expectations, however, the focus of her descriptions was somewhat different. Although Mary talked about some very practical expectations of herself, like being responsible for being able to help her clients identify issues and setting up same day, same time appointments, she also talked about her wider expectations of seeing her client’s in the context of their experience. Mary: You always have to be listening for cues that they may be forgetting. Sol have that expectation of myself, to be able to listen in that way and not just in situation events. I try to learn as much about the clients as I can. Not just from them, but obviously from their caregivers, and other people as well What else do I expect?. I guess one of the things that I’ve become aware of, is that its very important not to be judgmental of people in counselling. People with disabilities are always surprised to find people who aren’t judgmental or authoritarian because that’s often been a big part of their experience. Dale, Kelly and Mark talked about some of the ways they demonstrate respect. First, they both attempt to limit interruptions by turning the phone off and ensuring there are no conflicting appointments. Mark also talked about going through mental checklist, everyday and with every client to affirm his preparedness for each client. 94 Mark: I make sure that I’m mentally prepared to give the individual client my time. That I don’t put myself in a position of giving the impression that I really have to be somewhere else at a certain time or that I’m fumbling through papers t f on the desk or... I don’t wear a watch, so I don’t give the impression that I’m checking my watch to see how much time. Yea, I don’t do that. I think it has benefited me in terms of how I operate. Mark also talked about the expectation of having a clear understanding of himself, of having confidence and trust in his skill and ability to work with clients. He discussed these expectations as being linked together and as helping him to be more effective with his practice. Kelly said she demonstrated respect through verbal explanations regarding the parameters of her role. She also described herself as a facilitator who does “a lot of listening and validating and eliciting from them (the client) what they want. She talked about using her physical body to turn her back on a spouse who attempts to interpret as a way of showing respect for everyone’s voice in a session. In terms of accountability, Dale, Tom, Mark and Mary said their allegiance is primarily with their clients. It is important to note that this topic arose in the context of the impact of outside system demands on their daily counselling practice. Dale stated he did not feel accountable to outside agencies, specifically the Employment Assistance programs. Tom and Mark both stated they had a great deal of freedom to practice within their own parameters. Similarly, Mary described her practice as virtually uninhibited by outside system demands. All three of these participants stated that their autonomy was 95 primarily due to the fact that they were not directly “tied” to their clients through economics. Therefore, their accountability was centered on the needs of their clients. Although Dale has numerous contracts with large systems, he said that his clients and their needs came before their funding source. He demonstrated this to them through clear explanations of the limitations of their employer’s assistance program. In contrast to the above participants description of their accountability to the clients, Kelly said she expected herself to be accountable to the demands of the larger systems with whom she was employed . Despite her lack of comfort with some of their restrictions, she stated they held precedent over the client’s needs. This conflict is very apparent in her example of her explanation regarding her position in a teacher/student situation. Kelly: Well, first of all Td find out exactly what the teacher wants as a result of counselling and I have a form that I give them. And I say, “What’s the problem?” “How would you like the problem solved?” And then if I’m working with the child and they have no clue, then we go to the teacher’s list and I say, “So how could we make Mrs. so and so feel better?” “What could you do different?” So all of these things. And so I work with the teacher’s agenda and sort of get the child to kind of adjust or whatever. With regards to the theme of client expectations, the participants talked mainly about the client’s preparedness to be in counselling and his or her willingness to thoroughly discuss their issues. In addition, Dale talked about how he expects each client to treat him with respect. He said that the client would demonstrate respect by not using 96 abusive language or behaviors which were intimidating or threatening in any way. Mary, Dale, Jan and Tom acknowledged the difficulty of the strict adherence to these expectations because some clients may not be in a place where they can either clearly identify the issues or talk extensively about them. This conflict is exemplified in Dale’s following statements, Dale: I expect them to tell me what the issue. I do expect that. Now I recognize that’s an awfully hard thing to do. I recognize that at times people don’t know. They just recognize that their life is not going well. That’s why my work is to hear that out. I certainly expect that will be uncomfortable for them. The acknowledgment that it is “okay” for the client to make changes in their counselling goals is exemplified in Jan’s statement. Jan: I have certainly had people come in and have one session. And they’ve said this is what I want to change and they’ll do a piece of work and they will sometimes regress, in the sense that they may get to a memory of when they were little, where they decided, they weren’t so good or that they found a way to feel okay was not to show their anger. And then they may find that out and say, “I don’t want to do that anymore”. They may do that on their own and leave. However, most of the participants, talked about their expectation that the client wants to be in counselling and wants to work through issues. Inherent in these expectations is that the client’s participation is self-motivated. Kelly seemed to be the only participant who was dealing with other people’s agenda. As such, she did acknowledge the conflict she had with some of these situations. 97 Tyler, Brome and Williams (1991) have suggested that the exploration of one’s personal and role expectations is another critical step in gaining awareness about one’s assumptions. According to these authors, it is the counsellor’s responsibility to determine whether their assumptions about relationships are partially the result of “intuitive and experiential-based expectations”. Pedersen (1995) has echoed the need for the counsellor to fully examine the basis of his or her expectations. Pedersen has stated that intuitivetype thinking by the counsellor, when dealing with clients of difference, may interfere with the effectiveness of the counselling outcome. In order to be skilled and accurate in their practice, counsellors should attempt to reduce their “reliance on self-referenced criteria” (p. 202). This is because the counsellor may apply expectations that “work” from the counsellor’s cultural context but may be inappropriate from a client’s cultural context. D) Maintenance of a Multi-Dimensional Perspective The fourth category consists of thematic statements describing how each participant maintains a multi-dimensional perspective. The statements selected, focus on examples of strategies employed by the participant to keep judgments about clients “in check”. Briefly, some participants discussed how changing counselling strategies and/or locations, self-reflective journalizing, enrollment in counselling courses, participation in peer consultation and involvement in system policy development and planning are helpful in maintaining better understanding of the world. Dale, Kelly and Mary talked at length about the benefits of counselling their clients in alternate locations, such as the client’s villages and homes. Kelly said, when 98 she was previously involved with First Nations clients, she found it very helpful to become visible to the entire community. She stated, although she was hired for a 1 5 hour per week contract, she stayed on the reserve for many more hours. i Kelly: I showed up at all their ceremonies and I did their rituals with them. And so, I showed them I was open and respectful of their teachings and I found that they were able to teach me too. I mean, I just sat and listened. And I just didn’t do my thing and then disappear. I circulated and I went on field trips with them and I went to potlatches and I went to dinners. Dale said, he finds this strategy is particularly helpful when he finds himself overburdened by the complexity of the issues facing these clients. He described how in his frustration he sometimes loses sight of the underlying problems that have led his client to their present position. The change of location allows him to maintain a more complete picture of their reality. Subsequently he finds he does not push his need to get to “work” on only one aspect of their problems, such as drinking, while neglecting to consider the interconnection between drinking, social isolation and economic hardship. Dale provided a clear example of how his personal perceptions sometimes hinder the counselling process. And although he acknowledges their effectiveness for solving his own issues, he realizes he needs to remain constantly alert for these same perceptions skewing his view of what will be effective for others. Dale: But sometimes I’ll also catch myself feeling quite critical. For example, over the whole issue of residential schools and its, I sometimes say, well maybe the syndrome won’t be such a problem, this is what’s going on in my own head, if 99 you didn’t drink. Why don’t we deal with the drinking. But I realize then that I’m bringing my own judgments to their own. It’s some old stuff that has served me, that has in some respects, served me well in the past. Getting to work on things and getting them to work for you. But I can jump very quickly to that and forget that there’s all kinds of stuff behind the drinking. All sorts of issues that are really going make it develop, there sort of going to have to go hand in hand. We won’t get at some of them, while the drinking is going on and won’t deal with them if their drinking until they get some of that. I recognize that I can sometimes... when I get tired, and I have to stop myself. And when I get tired its, um, a constant vigilant to not make those simple judgments. Not only does Dale recognize his bias, but he is also aware when these perceptions have the most potential to unconsciously slip into his counselling relationship and affect the process. Again, changing the environment seems to heighten his own awareness of personal issues and help him to more clearly see the client’s world. Mary also talked about the benefits of changing the location of her counselling sessions. She said that, over the years, she has gained awareness of how important it is to be flexible with regards to counselling process. Mary stated, a change in venue allows her to build trust and establish rapport with a client more quickly then in an office. This occurs, according to Mary, because it allows the client to see her in a less authoritative and less threatening position. Similarly to Dale’s statements, Mary said it allows her to see the client’s situation and issues as contexually based and as not individually based. 100 Mary: Yea, like I wouldn’t do that before, like I will do different things with the sessions. Like go out for coffee with a client or go for a drive for a session, instead of sitting in an office or visiting them at their house. And I’ve sometimes reached the point with some people where I’m so connected that I don’t recognize the other things in their lives. And I recognize that the really productive work is in the other places, in the last five minutes. And so next time, we spend an hour or half an hour in the car or whatever the change of setting is. Similarly, Kelly talked about how the utilization of alternate strategies is helpful in reducing the power imbalance between her First Nations clients and herself. With regards to the barrier of these clients as seeing her as a white upper-middle class female, Kelly stated, her use of humor and role flexibility were very effective. Kelly: Well that’s where I met them on their own level. And I was willing to, maybe, play with our roles. And I used a lot of humor with the clients.... particularly with the group session at the treatment center. And I’d have maybe 14 people, all ages. They would have the kids, if they were 12 or older, they could attend the adult sessions. And so I would have parents and kids in there. And I remember one session I did, where I said, “Oh boy Oh boy, and you kind of put on this act, and you just BAMP, got his button, didn’t you?” And they would start laughing at themselves. And I would have kids come in and say, “Can we sit in today, you’re the funny lady, aren’t you?” But its’ in those sessions, I find myself sort of acting, sometimes. But having fun doing that. So being a wide variety of things. 101 Although, Mary, Dale and Kelly all stated they were explicit about role boundaries, they remained open and flexible in other areas of counselling process. Mary stated, she sets clear role expectations, but has found that the establishment of a counselling relationship can occur in many different settings. Flexibility in process was also evident when Kelly talked about changes she would like to implement in her practice. Though she is not completely comfortable with role-playing as a technique for practicing new behaviors, she acknowledges its value. She accepts her responsibility to develop this as an alternate strategy in counselling and will work toward “getting over her own stuff and having fun with it”. Within this theme, Kelly, Jan and Dale talked about how reading various new books on different cultures and strategies for working with people of difference helped them to maintain a wider and more complete picture. They also enroll in counselling courses and attend training workshops. Another strategy discussed by some of the participants was self-reflective questioning process in a journal after each session. According to Dale, this strategy was helpful to him because it pushed him to critically explore his actions with his clients. Dale stated that this strategy gave him the opportunity to pause and wonder about this counselling sessions. He talked about the kinds of questions he wrote in his journals and attempted to answer. For example, “where is this going from here?” or, “what the heck was happening there?” In addition, not only has this type of self-reflection helped him gain more awareness of the basis of his attitudes and beliefs but it has also helped him to sort out 102 which of these are helpful or not helpful to his clients. In the following example, Dale explains that during a session he had found himself becoming increasing argumentative with a specific male client. When he reflected on it later and asked himself some of the above questions, he found the residue of his personal issues. Thus he stated, Dale: It helped me become aware that uh, there is, I think we’re all vulnerable to being sucked into other situations and other clients. In therapeutic relationships that it gets in the way. I think it helped my awareness of that. There’s all kind of things that can get in the way with, even any notion of succeeding or failing. That’s kind of sort of a control thing, that the therapist can bring into the room from someplace else. It doesn’t belong there. It is interesting that Dale identified, not only the negative effects on the counselling process, but the issue of the counsellor/client relationship in which control played some sort of an influential role. The use of peer consultation was another helpful strategy identified by Mark, Tom, Mary, Jan and Kelly. These participants regularly attended meetings with other professionals in their field. They all stressed the benefit of having others to consult with about various issues and to ensure ethical practice . Mary described one of the most important benefits for her was that it reduced her own sense of isolation. Moreover, these meetings give her the opportunity to obtain input from other practitioners and to feel like a part of a “loose team”. Mary: Having the ability to meet regularly and talk about what you need to have in place as far as standards of practice is helpful. And also the feedback, you 103 know, in case review. The team meets twice a year. And that really helps me just being able to talk about the clients and what I’m doing. And I try to do that with the other people working with me as well. There’s these checks and balances. Both Mark and Tom talked about the usefulness of peer consultation, however, the value for them was that it also operated like a referral system. Mark stated that knowing there was always someone he could refer a client to if necessary, allowed him to counsel within his personal and system limitations. Mark: Now I think that I’ve realized, in the process, sometimes that you can’t be all to all people. I do not have a problem with referring a client to another person if I felt I was not in the position to deal with the issues. The other thing is that, in this type of counselling, we try to put a time limit on how long we see people. We are not here, in terms of a long term process. There is an excellent referral system and so we use that. Tom seemed to concur with Mark and further acknowledged his peer as a valuable resource in terms of an accessible knowledge base and support system. Although Dale did not participate in regular meetings with other counsellors, he acknowledged it’s importance as an effective way of maintaining an ethical and effective practice. He expressed his desire to establish this process in his practice. In addition to discussing strategies helpful for encouraging a non-judgmental stance towards clients, Kelly talked about the importance of creating an egalitarian relationship with colleagues. She said this was particularly important when she worked in First Nations communities. 104 Kelly: With the staff, who were yes, on an equal level, but still saw me as being the authoritarian and that I had more power than they did. I would meet them on their level and we would talk as equals. Or I would share resource materials. You know, I would say, “I found this and thought you would find it useful” and they really appreciated that kind of stuff. SM: So sharing the information and sharing your background with them? Kelly: Yes, rather than keeping to myself. Like going, I’m the teacher and I’m going to show you. I would just give them the stuff and say, “What do you think about this?” Kelly’s recognition regarding the impact of her race and class on her colleagues and her actions to deal with it may have decreased the power imbalance between them. This in turn may have increased the likelihood for an egalitarian relationship based on mutual respect and trust. A final helpful strategy for maintaining a multidimensional view was the involvement in institutional development of policy and procedures. Tom said his involvement in these activities had multiple benefits. First, it enables him to have input at the ground level of policies that directly impact the clients he serves. Secondly, he stated, it gives him the “opportunity to maintain credibility within the institution”. In essence, he becomes more visible to instructors and administrators, thus, they see him as acting on behalf of the students. Finally, it, encourages greater understanding of the issues facing both students and staff in the institution. More importantly, it pushes the counsellor out of a traditional helper role and into the social action role of advocacy. 105 Pinderhughes (1991) has agreed and stressed that counsellors involvement in planning and administration is critical because it can help to validate different cultural experiences. Counsellors have the potential to influence policies that encourage diversity in terms of cultural identities and social roles. In my own experience this appears to ring true. Although administration and management have well-meaning intentions, such as cost-cutting strategies, they may inadvertently discriminate against a specific group of individuals. An example of this was a policy to raise fees in a college operated daycare. Though this strategy seemed to have direct economic benefits for the college, the increase in fees had a negative effect on many lower income single parents who were already in financial hardship. In this case, the counsellor’s personal experience with clients who expressed financial difficulties as a major issue, was utilized to examine the impact of the fee increase from a multi- dimensional point of view. In summary of the participants’ statements within the theme of Maintenance of a Multi-Dimensional Perspective, it appears that they are aware of some of the perceptual limitations. For the most part, these participants seem to understand the importance of adjusting their positions and process for various populations. They are applying “checks and balances” to help encourage ethical practice. They are also attempting to reduce the power imbalance between themselves and their clients of difference through the change of counselling environment. However, I am cautious in assuming that these changes are sufficient. This is because, given our total dialogue, it appears that most of the participants are practicing from conventional counselling approaches which are immersed in white-middle class values and ideals. Therefore, my concern is that changing the 106 location of practice or adding a new technique does not address the monocultural nature of the practice nor its patriarchal and White western underpinnings. This concern has been raised by other Feminist counselling theorists such as Rave (1990) and Brown (1994). Rave has stated, that not only should counsellors/therapists remain open to alternative approaches and strategies as valuable means for encouraging effective counselling, they should also fully examine the connection between these changes and their implicit cultural values and agendas. Brown ( 1 994) suggested that if the goal of therapy is empowerment and the reduction of oppression, then counsellors must include a vision of themselves and their daily privilege of being white, middle class. According to Brown, it is not sufficient to offer similar service to people of difference. It is the intermingling of the service, the philosophy of service and the persons delivering the service that needs to be unraveled to ensure complete emancipation. On the other hand, I believe that these interviews served an important function of providing the opportunity to dialogue about the complex dimensions of participants daily lives and practice. E) Unexamined Assumptions The final and fifth category I have called “Unexamined Assumptions”. Included here, are thematic statements regarding issues of race, gender, class or culture when participants stated they had not given any or little consideration. Statements that minimized the importance of these issues as impacting their counselling practice were also included. 107 Dale seemed to make at least two statements that fit into this theme. In the first statement, the novelty of the question was clearly evident. In addition, he minimizes the underlying reasons for the establishment of rapport. Dale: Well I’ve certainly had many experiences where there is a more immediate [ rapport with the client. And other times it feels like its harder work. But you know, I’ve never really sat and thought about it why is it easier and why sometimes is it harder. I’ve never really thought too much about that. It appears, then, Dale operates from an assumption that the establishment of rapport is inherent in the counselling process. Molinaro and Richardson’s(1996) review of the literature on white counsellor self-awareness has suggested that a counsellor’s self¬ understanding has a direct effect on the establishment of rapport. They point out, the counsellor’s lack of examination of his or her assumptions may lead to ineffective therapy and may, albeit unintentionally, harm the client. The second group of statements focuses on the potential impact of gender on the counselling relationship. Again, instead of acknowledging the potential for power imbalance Dale remains silent about his role in the process. Dale: Clients, clients are pretty good at self-selecting. “It’s uh, I’m going to be comfortable working with a male counsellor, or I’m going to be more comfortable with a female.” If I’m aware that’s happened before, then I would go over it as well. If, the presenting problem is something um that involves a male, a male’s abusive behavior towards a woman, then I have to say, “how does this influence 108 working with a male? “Is that going to be a helpful thing or an unhelpful thing?” The fact that I’m a male.” Sometimes it can help. This second statement seems to frame a general myth about client self-selection of their counsellors. It is difficult to believe that all his female clients have the understanding of the benefits and limitations of having a male or a female counsellor, particularly in small mid-provincial communities where selection is severely limited. Similarly, Mark’s statements about client self-referral seems to minimize the reality of available counsellors for many people. Mark’s statements rely an assumption of confidence in himself and the counselling process because clients are coming with prior knowledge about him. He not only assumes he does not have to spend time on the establishment of rapport, he also assumes his race, class and gender are inconsequential to the effectiveness of their relationship. Mark: Well I think that one of the ways is that, I mean, the establishment of rapport. I probably don’t spend as much time. And I think you had mentioned about connection, and I guess for me, a lot of times now, that’s an automatic. You’re connected or you’re not. I think I feel more confident in what you’re doing. You know a lot of times people are coming to you with that confidence now. Whether they’re self-referred or they seem to know who you are before they get into the office and have some expectation of what it is that you do. So that whole establishment of being a counsellor has given a position over a period of time. I don’t think it takes as long, in terms, of rapport. 109 More importantly, Mark appears to assume that the duration of his position of counsellor is, in itself, an adequate substitute for the establishment of effective relationships with each client. Jan’s statement reflects a similar position to Dale’s and Mark, although her reasons for her assumptions are different. She said, because her theoretical basis positions her as the non-expert, her gender does not interfere. She also talked about deliberately curtailing alignment with a female client that may be based on gender. Jan: And if I did fall into believing that I was the expert, and that you know, that my gender had a huge role and my background had a huge role, then I think I would discount the client’s own potency. And their own ability to influence what goes on. Now that isn’t to say that transference and countertransference doesn’t take place. But I think that those issues, psychologically, for me, take place in a climate where they maintain their own independence And if the client does slip into a place where I am invited to give answers or invited to respond, then I would challenge that game. And would say, that I don’t know. And somebody might say, “Well, you’re a woman, you understand”. In fact I still do not consider my gender is necessarily going to help understand the woman sitting across from me because they come from a whole set of places and influences that I’ve never been. Thus, Jan adheres to the assumption that the therapist must remain distant and not reveal who she is as a person or as a female. It almost appears that a non-expert position, for Jan, coincides with non-person. 110 Similarly Tom’s statements regarding his position in the counselling relationship seem to minimize his influence as a white male counsellor. Instead of acknowledging his whiteness as a contributing factor to his client’s resolution of issues, he focuses on the client as their own major reason for success. Tom: In some sense, I suppose its like being something like a cheerleader, to help them to believe that, yes, there is a path they can follow. Yes, there are options they can pursue. So to help them achieve what they want to achieve. Then it becomes apparent that they are the primary resource, that they’re going to be the one to make it happen, that they have the resources to be successful, to make it happen. In these statements, Tom’s denial of himself in the relationship is apparent. He neglects to acknowledge the impact of his white middle-class male position on a young male student. Anyone who has ever played for a team and heard the encouragement of the cheerleaders, understands the transfer of energy, excitement and expectation of success . Inherent in the encouragement is an awareness of the cheerleader’s gender, class and his or her social position in relation to the player. Therefore, if an effective relationship in counselling has been established, the gender, class and race of the counsellor cannot be removed, it becomes entangled in the cheering. In contrast to the above statements, Kelly acknowledges her gender, race, class and religion as directly impacting her counselling practice with young children. Kelly: When you talk about class. I mean I was brought up in a home that was Catholic background and very rigid. And there wasn’t any swearing allowed or Ill any of that. So that’s not in my nature. You know, I can do it, but it’s not where I come from. And I think somehow people pick up on that. And they’re more aware of how they’ll talked. Cause I’ve had that kind of feedback. SM: So there’s something about you, something about who you are? Kelly: Yes, demeanor. That they protect me. I’ve had kids protect me from, “You know, we wouldn’t tell you that because you wouldn’t like it”. Kelly seems to be aware of herself as a white female from a strict Catholic background and how she cannot separate herself from her socialization. She also acknowledges the effect it has on her clients. The need to protect their counsellor because her race and class was noted in McLeod’s (1994) study of a feminist therapy center in Britain. Clients, who identified themselves as lesbian and working class, stated that they often would leave out some personal experiences of their lives. According to these clients, this was because they believed these experiences would not be approved of or understood in context, given the counsellor’s self-presentation as a white middle-class heterosexual female. In summary, it appears that for the majority of the participants, it is difficult to remain aware of the impact of their white privilege. It may be, as pointed out by McIntosh, (1988) Pinderhughes, (1989) Roger (1994) and Swigonski, (1996) that these elements become invisible to those who have them because they are embedded and central to daily life. However, Swigonski (1996) has stated, a Black male’s or Hispanic female’s race is never invisible. Their race and/or class is a constant reminder of their marginal status, in terms of access to power resources and money. With regards to my own white privilege, I have found it to be a constant and continual vigil. I also recognize 112 the difficulty with bringing it out in the open because, like most of the participants, I was raised in a historical environment where competition was encouraged. This was a social time when gaining “advantage” through unspoken means, in the pursuit of success was considered to be “natural”. Moreover, within one’s pursuit to win, you did not “give away” or “give up” any advantage that you had acquired along the way. Analysis of the Data In order to facilitate a greater understanding of these themes, I will present an analysis of my results in the framework of my underlying research questions. Briefly, the I questions I posed were to elicit the practicing counsellor’s views about the importance of his or her theoretical philosophy and background in the development of the counselling relationship. More specifically, counsellors were asked to determine the degree to which his or her, racial, economic, cultural, gender and abilities experiences influenced his or her understanding of the power imbalances within the counselling relationship. In addition, counsellors were asked to comment on how they attempt to deal with power imbalances. The results of my study seem to suggest that the counsellor’s theoretical philosophy, education and socialization all play a role in how these participants develop their counselling relationship. The majority of the participants emphasized a congruency between their personal values and beliefs and their choice of theoretical approach. Some, such as Jan, Mark and Kelly talked about how their counselling approach “fit” with who they are as a person. More specifically, Dale clearly described the interconnection between his values and beliefs, his memories of past experiences and his behaviors, 113 thoughts and feelings in his counselling practice. These participants appeared to be strongly aligned with some primary values of white culture. The dominant values discussed were; hard work brings success, (re) gaining control over one’s environment, goal setting, personal responsibility for problems, adherence to rigid time schedules, objective linear thinking and a belief in Christianity. Although the participant’s explanations and experience of these values seemed to differ between them, these basic values were upheld in their counselling practice. More importantly, all of the participants f placed a great deal of emphasis on the individual as the primary focus for counselling. In turn, they all talked about creating an environment where their individual client has independence, freedom to make decisions and can take personal responsibility for the resolution of their issues. Most of the participants acknowledged the influence of these values and beliefs on the development of a counselling relationship with their clients. Dale, Kelly and Mary all discussed how, through the years, they have become more aware of the interconnection between their values and the values of conventional counselling theories. Jan seemed to be the exception. This was evident because she continually stressed how her theoretical basis did not allow her biases to impact her practice. She did not talk about the underlying values of Transactional Analysis or the population of clients it was designed to “fit”. This was interesting because she said that the theory of Transactional Analysis “fit” with her belief system. She also stated that her training period with T.A. was like “coming home”. Mark also made reference to the connection between his graduate training and becoming more comfortable with the “nature of himself’. He said that, he 114 had always valued efficiency and efficacy and his training had “forced him to really take an inner look at how he delivered services”. Katz (1985) and Pinderhughes (1989) have both raised concerns about the influence of white culture on traditional counselling theories. Katz has warned that “the continued use of this theory base predicated on one world view, one set of assumptions and one set of values concerning mental health has limited (counsellors) our abilities to be effective cross-culturally” (p. 619). It is important to note that all of the participants in my study stated they have culturally diverse clients. Brown (1994) and Rave (1990) have explored the impact of the daily on-going white privilege and whiteness on their work with clients. They have suggested that power imbalances in counselling relationships are inevitable given the white counsellor’s theoretical and social background. Within the theme of Underlying Explanations and Experiences, it is evident that some the participants were struggling with this issue. For example, Kelly acknowledged that when she counselled at a Treatment Center, some First Nations people viewed her as the “white female bitch”. Mary also talked about how her older client base was distrustful and afraid of “all professionals who were in positions of authority”. In the theme of Maintenance of a Multi-Dimensional Perspective, both Mary and Kelly talked about the changes in their approach to these clients as attempts to deal with the power differences. Pinderhughes (1989) has stated that a critical step for all counsellors who hope to create a more egalitarian relationship with their clients is to, first, identify the interactive effect of their whiteness (i.e. race, class, gender sexual orientation and ability) 115 on their counselling practice and second, to develop an awareness of the negative and positive aspects of these effects. More specifically, it seems that Pinderhughes (1989), Rave (1990) and Brown (1994) may be asking counsellors to become, as succinctly stated by one of the participants, more comfortable with the nature of ourselves. Therefore, in terms of my results addressing the underlying question, about the extent to which the participants’ perceptions of their whiteness influenced how they make sense of power imbalances, there appears to be some variation among their statements. For example, Mary’s awareness of herself as white, middle class female from a strict Catholic background, with conventional behavioral counselling training, influenced her dealing with the power differentials in counselling very differently than some of the other participants. Moreover, Mary stated that she works hard to remain alert to her potential to want to influence significant life decisions for her clients. She also talked about the importance of not essentializing her role. Although she was involved in her clients lives for long periods of time, she positioned herself as a subsidiary member of a team. In contrast to Mary’s self-perceptions, Mark and Tom’s self-perceptions seemed to impact the power imbalances in their counselling relationships somewhat differently. Mark described how, over time, as his comfort with himself grew, his need to establish rapport and time to get to the client’s issues decreased. Tom stated he had not previously considered the influence of his whiteness on his counselling practice and only discussed how his counselling approach addressed differences between himself and the client. Although both men seemed to be aware of when they were “not connecting” and/or “off track” with their clients, they appeared to minimize their influence as white, male, middle 116 class professionals. On the other hand, Dale and Kelly, through past childhood and crosscultural experiences clearly recognized their positions as white, gendered and privileged members of a dominant group in society. It seemed that these experiences and the meanings they placed on them, increased Dale and Kelly’s awareness of their own power as well as the power or lack of power of other groups in society. I Thus, most of the participants of my study appear to be attempting to reduce the power imbalances within their counselling relationships. This was most evident in the theme, “Maintenance of Multi-Dimensional Perspectives”. Participants described various ways that they have developed to “keep themselves in check”. In summary, these attempts focused on self-reflective questioning, flexibility, in terms of their counselling environment and techniques, ongoing training and participation in, both, peer consultation and administrative planning. Rave (1990) stated that continual involvement in a self-reflective process that promotes a critical analysis of one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors is crucial for maintaining an anti-racist stance in counselling. However, although Korin (1994) and Swan (1994) agreed with the necessity of using self-reflection as a way of dealing with power imbalances, they suggest it is not enough. More specifically, in Swan’s interview with Karl Tomm regarding power and politics in counselling/therapeutic practice, Tomm stresses the need for counsellors to adopt advocacy positions outside their practice. According to Tomm, if empowerment is the goal of counselling, it must be promoted in the counsellors’ cultural communities. Korin (1994) concurred and advocates for the counsellor’s acknowledgment of social, racial and class injustices within their counselling environment but also for their 117 involvement in social action activities. In essence, these authors propose that counsellors embrace the power of their role, and use it to open spaces for the acceptance of multiple realities and cultural identities in larger society. Finally with regards to the theme of “Unexamined Assumptions” I believe that although I did not ask any specific questions in this area, this is an important finding. Before analyzing this theme, it may be valuable to re-introduce the definition of the various types of privilege experienced by certain individuals and groups in society. According to Swigonski, (1996) it is “those conditions of daily experience that are taken for granted as normal, neutral and universally available to everybody...those daily interactions with individuals and society that help individuals experience themselves in the center of their world” (p. 1 54). Swigonski stated that it is at the center where people find access to power, money and resources to ensure their success in Western society. Given this definition and the context of some of the participant’s experiences, their assumptions regarding their gender and class are not surprising. It seems apparent that both Mark and Tom practice in large white middle class institutions where only certain groups of individuals typically enter and are successful. Their clients are typically white middle-class people who are academically adept and have the skill to articulate their needs and goals. Tom and Mark’s role tends to more of a supportive encourager for individuals who have temporarily slipped from their life path. Therefore, their perception of their influence may be somewhat skewed. Similarly, Jan’s training has created a reality for her that does not consider the influence of the therapist as negative, only as a professional accredited facilitator. 118 In constrast to Tom, Mark and Jan’s self-perceptions, Kelly, Mary and Dale, through past personal and cross cultural experiences, have had some of their assumptions challenged. It appears, their perspective of their influence has been widened due to the meaning they have attached to these experiences. Kelly, Mary and Dale were able to discuss specific experiences where they either personally felt the impact of discrimination and/or marginalization and how they utilized those experiences in their daily practice. In conclusion, the individual and thematic statements included in this analysis seems to suggest that these participants have some awareness of themselves in their counselling relationship. Most of the participants acknowledged the influence of their values, beliefs and attitudes regarding class, race, gender and abilities on their counselling practice. However, the degree of importance that they placed on these issues was somewhat varied in terms of depth and extent. Again, this may be due to the “taken for granted’ position supported by most of their theoretical philosophies and until this position is challenged and/or taken away it remains simultaneously elusive and comfortable. 119 CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS In my study, six individual semi-structured interviews, based on Korin’s “mutual dialogue” approach were used to explore the critical reflective process of white counsellor’s perceptions with respect to the interactive factors which influence the construction of their position within the counselling relationship. Further, this qualitative methodology examined how counsellors make sense of the impact of their personal cultural, racial, gender and class background within the development of their counselling dialogue” approach were used to explore the critical reflective process of white counsellor’s perceptions with respect to the interactive factors which influence the construction of their position within the counselling relationship. Further, this qualitative methodology examined how counsellors make sense of the impact of their personal cultural, racial, gender and class background within the development of their counselling practice. Research from many multicultural and feminist theorists has stressed the need for the utilization of qualitative methods as a means to widen our understanding of counsellor’s role. This discussion begins with a brief review of the theoretical underpinnings of my study to help provide a clear framework for the reader of my context. I then present a concluding view of major themes that emerged from the study. These five themes are: “Values, Beliefs and Attitudes Influencing Practice”, “Underlying Explanations and Experiences”, “Expectations”, “Maintenance of a Multi-Dimensional Perspective” and “Unexamined Assumptions”. Following this is a discussion of the implications for counsellors and counselling education. Lastly, some of the limitations and recommendations for future research are presented. 120 A post-modern feminist view of reality has provided the framework for my study. Implicit in this perspective is the necessity not only to acknowledge the interconnectedness of daily realities and practice but to also critically examine one’s socio-racial and cultural history. It is through this multi-dimensional view of the counsellor’s identity that we may be able to make visible the complex factors that serve to perpetuate the counsellor’s position of power within the counselling relationship. With regards to my central research question that framed my study, it seems that, for the most part, the participants did acknowledge the many interactive issues which impact their counselling relationships with their clients. However, their view of these issues varied in depth, clarity and importance. Some of the participants seemed to be keenly aware of the multiple dimensions of themselves with regards to culture, race, class and abilities. Their awareness of the socio-historical and political influences on their values and beliefs and daily counselling practice was also evident. For example, the majority of Mary’s statements about the development of her counselling approach were framed in a historical “over time” context. Similarly, Kelly and Dale’s statements seemed to be encased in a socio- historical racial framework. Frankenburg (1993) has stressed the importance of attending to determinants of one’s position in society. This is because she believes that this attention is what is needed to transform not only the meaning of whiteness but to change race, gender and class relations in general. Several researchers (Brown, 1994; Pedersen, 1995; Rave, 1990; Roger, 1995; & Swan, 1994) have emphasized the counsellor’s need for understanding the effects of white privilege and its inherent power. And, although the participants in 121 my study have benevolent intentions of reducing client’s stress and anxiety through the teaching of coping and decision-making strategies, they are using approaches that are primarily devoid an awarenesss of the daily cultural realities of power relations. Moreover, Pedersen (1995) has stated that good intentions are not enough. Unintentional racism, classism and sexism will continue until counsellors view themselves in the totality of their experience. However, my view of Mary’s statements within the major themes, is that many of her perceptions are the result of her constant interaction with a marginal population. It appears that Mary’s view of reality has been continually challenged. When interacting with people of marginal status, it is difficult to become complacent about one’s advantage or to adopt a view of normalcy for any length of time. Mary’s view, which was probably similar to that of the other participants when she began counselling, has been widened in scope and depth. She had been fortunate to have been given the latitude in her counselling style to be able to adjust and re-position herself as her clients’ ally, advocate, teacher and counsellor. According to Brown (1994), Swan (1994) this is a position where visions of non-dominance and tolerance occurs. The results of Peavy’s (1994) study on the needs of First Nations youth in Southern British Columbia seem to echo this stance. This was clearly evident in thematic statements provided by First Nations community members, students, elders, school counsellors and private counsellors regarding a profile of an effective multi-cultural counsellor. Most important to my study are the statements which describe a counsellor who has an informal flexible approach and who believes that relationship development is 122 primary and problem solving is secondary. This counsellor would be available on a drop- in basis and would participate in social, recreational, cultural and political activities in the community. In addition, Peavy found that the First Nations people desired a counsellor who could act as a guide and liaison to and from Aboriginal communities. These perceptions of the counsellor’s role are somewhat different then the roles described by most of the participants in my study. But, I believe with the continued openings for dialogue about our positions in counselling and in society, we may be able to meet the needs of our changing population. Implications for counselling Due to the qualitative nature of my study, it helps to gain an more in-depth understanding of the counsellor’s experience from his or her perspective. Richardson and Molinaro, (1996) and Sabani et al. (1991) seems to agree in their recommendations for the undertaking of creative research projects to explore the interaction between daily counselling practice and counsellors’ attitudes, beliefs and values. Also, my study helps to disrupt previously held assumptions regarding the counsellor’s perceptions of their influence on counselling relationship. This is because most counsellors are immersed in their own culture and often take for granted their daily practice and its underlying philosophy. Sue and Sue (1990) and Richardson and Molinaro (1996) have all pointed out the importance of the counsellor’s self-awareness in a comprehensive understanding of his or her influence in the counselling relationship. Sue and Sue (1990) have stated that one of the biggest problems with most of the multi¬ cultural approaches is that they are not linked to the daily realities of the counsellor’s 123 world and his or her views. Pedersen (1995) has also stated there is a need to facilitate counsellors to explore their unexamined assumptions of how many factors, such as socialization, may be interacting with their theoretical philosophy and daily practice. According to Pedersen, if this does not occur, the result may be a serious minimization of the power within their positions. The questions posed in my study could provide a framework for individual practicing counsellors to challenge their way of viewing the world and enable the counsellor to see the multiple dimensions of his or her position. More importantly, the results may allow the counsellor to consider how his or her role contributes to the maintenance of the status quo and the oppression of a select few. Finally and most significantly, I believe my study adds to the literature on white counsellor self-awareness as an important factor in the development of multicultural counsellor competence. As our society continues to change and acknowledge difference, counsellor education must include a wider vision of reality and encourage all of its students to take a look within. Moreover, in Sue, Arrenodo and McDavis’(1992) recommendations to the American Psychological Association in 1 992, they stressed that all counselling education programs include a multi-cultural course not as an add on or an optional elective but as a core component to all required courses. These authors clearly outlined that an essential element of multi-cultural competence is the facilitation of self- awareness activities that included a thorough examination of the practicing counsellor’s attitudes, values and beliefs regarding race, class, gender, and culture. Therefore, while enrolled in counsellor education and training, instructors could utilize various activities that would encourage students to challenge the underpinnings of their socialization. 124 Limitations Due to the fact that I was looking at subjective experience, not objective observation, my results will contain personal bias. This is because a participant’s perceptions of his or her actions may, in reality, be very different than his or her actions in practice or how these actions are interpreted by the client. Another limitation was that I could not control variables, such as time, which may have impacted counsellor’s responses. For example, two of the interviews were completed at 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. The responses given, and depth of responses was limited due to both participants having counselling appointments scheduled immediately after each interview. Alternatively, other participants stated that time was not a factor and were willing to talk about each issue for at least 10-15 minutes. Also, I only interviewed each participant on one occasion, therefore, it was possible that their responses were not indicative of their complete perceptions. If I had returned for a second interview, I would have been able to more fully explore tentative themes that were suggested in the initial interview. The depth of discussion in the individual interviews was also limited because of the time needed to establish rapport and comfort between myself and the participant. Participants may have been reluctant to discuss the specifics of sensitive questions due to anonymity being more of an issue than I anticipated. In addition, because of my personal idiosyncratic mannerisms, participants may have picked up verbal and non-verbal cues for their responses. I believe this limitation had a significant effect on the comfort level of each participant and his or her willingness to discuss the topics. In order to reach 125 under the surface of these discussions and increase the level of comfort between myself and each participant, it would have been helpful to meet with each of them on at least two more occasions. Recommendations for Future Research An extension of this research could be to re-interview each participant for a second and third interview to have them clarify the meanings of their transcribed statements. In addition, it would be interesting to allow the participants to identify their own themes in the transcribed interview. Finally a modified Q-sort method could be utilized to allow each participant to prioritize each theme in terms of importance. Another extension of this research could be to use a similar methodology and simultaneously interview clients about their perceptions of the counsellors’ role. In addition, the questions could be re-designed to elicit more direct perceptions about the meaning of power and power relations in the counselling relationship. Questions, such as those utilized by Swan’s (1994) interviews of Karl Tomm and Gary Sanders, could increase the focus of this type of study. 126 References Almeida, R. V. 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Norton. 135 Appendix A Demographic Information Please answer the following questions about yourself, by CHECKING (®) the statement that best describes you (unless otherwise indicated). You may check more than one statement. Your responses will only be seen by the researcher and research supervisor. NOTE: Please do not put your name on this form. 1. What is your age? 2. What is your gender? Female 3. To which cultural group(s) do you most strongly identify with? (You may Male Other check more than one.) Western European ( ) Eastern European ( ) Central European ( ) First Nations ( ) Caucasian ( ) Indo-Canadian ( ) Asian ( ) Middle Eastern ( ) African ( ) Other 4. ( ) (Please specify, i.e., French Canadian, Scandinavian,) How long have you been a counsellor? 136 5. 0-2 years ( ) more than 2 years but less than 5 ( ) more than 5 years but less than 10 ( ) 10 or more years ( ) What is your level of education? presently enrolled in Masters level program in counselling or related discipline ( ) completed a Masters degree in counselling or related discipline (Please specify): counselling education , counselling psychology clinical social work , other . , enrolled in Doctorate level program in counselling or related discipline ( ) completed a Doctorate degree in counselling or related discipline ( ) Other relevant courses or degrees not included in the above 6. ( ) What is your approximate combined family income level? less than $25,000 ( ) more than $25,000 but less than $50,000 ( ) more than $50,000 but less than $75,000 ( ) more than $75,000 but less than $100,000 ( ) more than $100,000 ( ) 137 Appendix B Facilitating white counsellor self-awareness Counsellor Information and Consent Form Dear Counsellor: A study on white counsellors’ perceptions of the factors which influence counselling relationships is being conducted by a Masters of counselling education student from the University of Northern British Columbia. Sharon Munk will use this research for her M.Ed. thesis in the Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Education Program. The counsellor volunteers will be asked to share their perceptions of their present and past experiences and comment on how these may impact their daily counselling practice. The discussion will be completed through individual one-to-one, semi- structured interviews. Participants will meet for one occasion at their preferred location for approximately 60-90 minutes. These discussions will be audio-taped. Your participation is purely voluntary and strict confidentiality will be maintained throughout this study. This means that you are not required to participate and will only do so if you consent by signing the bottom of this form. You may choose to completely or partially withdraw from this study at any time without penalty. You will not be required to disclose your name on the audiotape or identify yourself in any other way during this study. Should you have any questions about the research, you may call either Dr. Ron Lehr (250-960-5572) at UNBC, or Sharon Munk (250-398-8451). CONSENT FORM I, have read the above information and I understand the procedures to be used in this study. I also understand that my participation in this study is purely voluntary and can be fully or partially withdrawn at any time upon my request without penalty. My signature below certifies that I agree to participate in this study and I acknowledge receipt of a copy of this consent form. Name Signature Date 138 Appendix C Interview Questions Warm-up questions 1.) Describe your counselling approach. a) Tell me something about the philosophy behind your approach. Mutual Dialogue questions (How and What) 2.) What do you expect to occur in a counselling relationship? a) How do you think your education, culture, class or gender has influenced your expectations of yourself and your client? b) How have your expectations changed and developed throughout your practice? Critical reflection questions 3.) What are you thoughts about why are some counsellors comfortable with counselling people of difference (class, race, sex, ethnicity, disability) and others are not? Social action questions 4.) When working in a mainstream institution and/or system, how do you maintain and encourage a multicultural and multi-dimensional stance? 5.) Describe the ways in which you have developed to deal with this issue in your counselling practice? Final probe: ( to sum up) If I were to observing you in your counselling practice, what would I see, hear and experience that would show me your beliefs about these issues? 139 Appendix D Guideline for introduction of self in interviews First, I would like to thank you again for taking the time to be interviewed. Before we get started I would just like you to know abit about the topic of my thesis and how I became interested in it. I have been interested in the topic of the counsellor’s role in the counselling relationship for many years but did not see it as a topic for a thesis until about two years when I attended a presentation at a conference, which was called The RE- Construction of the Counsellor’s Role in the Counselling Relationship. The focus of this presentation was the how the relationship in counselling was influenced by the multi-dimensions of the counsellor as a person in society, and not on the techniques, strategies or theories of which he or she aligned themselves. This presentation was the catalyst that has motivated me to research this area. My biggest surprise when I looked at the research was the lack of in-depth interviewing of the counsellors themselves expressing their own perceptions about the factors influencing the counselling relationship. Most of the research has focused on the client, who he or she was and how he or she perceived the counsellor and their relationship. Recently, some theories about the importance of the counsellor’s identity in the development of the counselling relationship have been put forth. But few have explored this issue with practicing counsellors and how their past and present experience impact who they are in their counselling sessions. Thus I have designed a study to allow an open dialogue between two interested parties which will explore the importance of the practicing counsellor’s identity and the influences which contribute to its’ development, change and growth in the counselling relationship.