Social Class And Classism In The Helping Professions

This is a supplementary text that is intended for courses in multicultural counselling/prejudice. The book provides a thorough overview of mental health and social class and how social class and classism affect mental health and seeking treatment.

In this text author William Ming Liu presents theory and research on the impact of classism and social class on mental health. He provides an original framework—the Social Class Worldview Model—for exploring each person's individual and subjective life experiences. These experiences form a perspective that is unique to the individual. The author then helps the reader integrate this realization into the study of poverty, economic inequality, wealth, and the often overlooked implications of greed, materialism, and consumerism for a more complete understanding of social class and classism. Liu's original Social Class Worldview Model–Revised provides a theoretical framework for integrating each individual's reaction to social class and classism experiences and addressing that worldview within counseling and psychology work. Readers receive guidance in additional ways to act as advocates for their clients—regardless of affluence—through a study of privilege, social justice, empowerment, and competence.

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the intersection of social class and the helping professions, including examinations of the role of social class in American culture, classism, social class and mental health, and the American Dream. It will be a valuable tool for practitioners in a variety of mental health professions, providing a clearer understanding of social class as it relates to themselves and their clients. The first section contains an introduction to the global, historical, and sociological aspects of class and an in-depth look at urban and rural poverty, the middle class, and the upper class and economic privilege. The reader will find not only an examination of these social constructs, but also an opportunity to examine their own experience with social class. The next section brings the reader into the world of their clients in more specific ways, examining the role social class plays in mental health and mental health counseling, in the family structure and in counseling families, and in the experiences people have throughout the educational process and in schools. Finally, the last section of the book discusses specific techniques and models to use in the reader’s clinical practice, including how to assess clients’ experiences of class and classism and how these experiences have shaped their worldview and view of the self. Case studies throughout demonstrate fair and accurate diagnosis, assessment, and treatment.

First Published in 2012. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book summarizes and synthesizes the available research on social class and classism around counseling practice and research. The authors offer interesting and provocative applications of social class and classism to varied practice and research settings, and provide suggestions toward education, training, and practice.

Social class is a pervasive facet of all lives, regardless of one's own social class and status. One would think its ubiquity would make it necessary for all helping professionals to understand social class and discuss it in therapy and research. Yet social class and classism are one of the most confusing and difficult concepts to understand and integrate into research and counseling practice--mostly due to the relative lack of psychological theories, research, and quantitative data. Fulfiling this need, this handbook summarizes and synthesizes available research on social class and classism in counseling practice and research areas. The 32 chapters included offer up-to-date, fascinating, and provocative applications of social class and classism, as seasoned chapter authors provide an overview of theories related to social class and classism and its application toward research, education, training, and practice. Chapters include comprehensive coverage of: - lifespan issues related to social class, such as unique aspects of social class and classism in the lives of children, adolescents, and older adults - how social class is studied and empirically understood through research, assessment, and practice - implications of social class in career counseling, psychological assessment and diagnosis, and the therapy relationship - how social class is implicated in positive psychology, career and work psychology, and health psychology - social class and classism and its connection to whiteness, racism, sexual orientation, religion and spirituality, and social justice This book offers the first compendium of counseling related resources on social class and classism and will be a comprehensive, must-have reference for professionals and academics in counseling psychology and related fields for years to come.

This book argues that the current structure of student affairs work is not sustainable, as it depends on the notion that employees are available to work non-stop without any outside responsibilities, that is, the Ideal Worker Norm. The field places inordinate burdens on staff to respond to the needs of students, often at the expense of their own families and well-being. Student affairs professionals can meet the needs of their students without being overworked. The problem, however, is that ideal worker norms pervade higher education and student affairs work, thus providing little incentive for institutions to change. The authors in this book use ideal worker norms in conjunction with other theories to interrogate the impact on student affairs staff across functional areas, institutional types, career stage, and identity groups. The book is divided into three sections; chapters in the first section of the book examine various facets of the structure of work in student affairs, including the impact of institutional type and different functional areas on employees’ work-lives. Chapters in the second section examine the personal toll that working in student affairs can take, including emotional labor’s impact on well-being. The final section of the book narrows the focus to explore how different identity groups, including mothers, fathers, and people of color, navigate work/life issues. Challenging ideal worker norms, all chapters offer implications for practice for both individuals and institutions.

Employs the framework of anti-oppressive “Liberation Counseling The first multicultural counseling book to use a strengths-based perspective, this innovative text emphasizes culture and diversity as an asset to be nurtured and approached with humility, empathy, and culturally responsive interventions. The book is also unique in its consideration of marginalized experiences not limited to ethnicity, race, or poverty, but those that also include polyamory, gamers, immigrants, refugees, people with disabilities, and other marginalized populations. Separate sections consider the particular situations of more than 20 distinct populations to foster treatment that is imbued with sensitivity and understanding. The book calls for counselors to deeply examine their own beliefs, attitudes, and judgments to ensure they have productive work with diverse clients. Distinct chapters explore the counselor’s worldview, the client's worldview, and include demonstrations of how to apply multicultural counseling by addressing race and culture; providing culturally responsive assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning; and designing a culturally sensitive workplace. Content is enhanced by self-reflection questions, end-of-chapter discussion questions, and multifaceted clinical case scenarios providing an in-depth look at the lived reality of marginalized people. Key Features: Emphasizes cultural considerations in treating more than 20 different marginalized populations Engages counselors to deeply examine their own values and beliefs so they don't adversely impact treatment of different populations Written by counselor educators and other subject matter experts with expertise in treating varied populations Uses multifaceted case studies to illustrate content and apply concepts Provides podcast interviews with members of diverse groups Each chapter includes learning objectives, key terms, chapter summary, and discussion questions Delivers robust instructor ancillaries, including an Instructor's Manual that maps to CACREP standards