Question

Advocacy Competency Domains -ARTICLE FOR DISCUSSION

Introduction

As a counselor, you will sometimes be in the role of advocate. An advocate is someone who acts on behalf of someone else, or who empowers someone to become a self-advocate

Advocates can act on behalf of individual clients. They can also advocate for issues within an organization, and sometimes for issues within the public arena.

Advocates often engage with social and political issues. This may be surprising, because most people are drawn to counseling because they want to help individuals. However, it’s important to understand that individuals are affected in powerful ways by social, political, economic, and cultural factors. Members of marginalized groups sometimes are oppressed in both overt and implicit ways. Counselors need to understand societal factors in order to effectively advocate for individuals.

Different kinds of advocacy are appropriate for different situations. Read on to see some different ways that a counselor might choose to advocate for a client.

Advocacy Competency Domains Chart

The Advocacy Competency Domains chart shows ways that a counselor might advocate for a client. There are three broad domains in this advocacy competency chart: client/student, school/community, and public arena.

The diagram is divided into two rows: The top row represents how counselors can work with an individual or group to makes changes. The second row represents how professional counselors act on behalf of clients to deal with the various barriers they are facing. Whether acting with or acting on behalf, the impact may be at the micro or macro level (Erford, 2014).

Let’s see how this chart applies to a specific client.

Applications

This is Jasmine, a 23-year-old graduate student. Jasmine feels pressure to excel in her program, especially because she is the only African American student. Jasmine has always been unhappy with her body. She compares herself unfavorably against her Caucasian mother, a former professional dancer who is petite and blonde.

This past year, Jasmine has lost a good deal of weight, and her body mass index is approaching the official categorization for anorexia. She has heard from various people throughout her life that “black girls don’t get eating disorders.” When she recently met with an elderly male counselor at her college, he was skeptical that an African American woman could be anorexic.

Jasmine is confused—and scared because she’s been feeling faint and is having trouble concentrating on her studies.

This is Stacey, Jasmine’s counselor. Stacey wants to be an advocate for Jasmine. Here are some possible ways she can do this.

Client/Student Empowerment

The Client/Student Empowerment level is about helping clients to contextualize their situations within a societal context and empowering clients to self-advocate. If Stacey were to choose this level of advocacy, she would begin by discussing with Jasmine how gender roles and racial issues have affected her negative self-image. Then she would help Jasmine come up with an action plan to address her eating disorder and her negative self-talk. She would work with Jasmine to find appropriate resources.

Client/Student Advocacy

The Client/Student Advocacy level involves counselors acting on behalf of clients to negotiate issues related to societal factors. If Stacey were to choose this level of advocacy, she would begin by discussing with Jasmine how gender roles, racial issues, and other issues related to social systems have impacted her negative self-image. Additional discussion regarding her social systems would be important as well, including discussions about her family and her academic self-expectations. Then she would help Jasmine come up with an action plan to address her eating disorder and her negative self-talk. She would work with Jasmine to find appropriate resources.

Community Collaboration

The Community Collaboration level involves working with others in a community to make changes that positively impact clients.

If Stacey were to choose this level of advocacy, she might locate groups on Jasmine’s campus that are working to promote change related to eating disorders and form alliances with these groups. She would share her knowledge with these groups, including her understanding of the special needs of women of color with eating disorders.

Systems Advocacy

The Systems Advocacy level is about understanding and smaller systems (like families) and larger systems (like communities) work—and about advocating for change within these communities.

If Stacey were to choose this level of advocacy, she might work with the university counseling department to identify gaps in their ability to help students with eating disorders. She might help them develop a step-by-step plan to improve their treatment. In addition, she might involve Jasmine’s family in her treatment as a way to better understand the situation.

Public Information

The Public Information level involves distributing information and building awareness about issues across disciplines and settings.

If Stacey were to choose this level of advocacy, she might give a presentation on Jasmine’s campus about women of color, body image, and eating disorders. She might also write an editorial for a local paper about these issues or start a blog.

Social/Political Advocacy

The Social/Political advocacy level involves advocating for public policy or possible legislative change.

If Stacey were to choose this level of advocacy, she might join a national women’s organization and get involved with an organizational committee that addresses eating disorders. As a member of this national organization, Stacey might petition the Department of Education to get more actively engaged in the issue of women of color and eating disorders.

As you can see, there are many different ways that a counselor can choose to be an advocate. Keep these methods of advocacy in mind as you develop your own sense of who you want to be as a counselor, and think about the ways that you might see yourself acting as an advocate.

Review the media presentation, "Advocacy Competency Domains," SEE ABOVE

In this discussion, you will present a plan for collaborating with other professionals and advocating on behalf of a client.

For this case, assume that the client has signed a consent for treatment that included permission to consult with other experts on an as-needed basis. Consider and reference your assigned readings when building your plan for how to collaborate and advocate for your client.

Case 1

Parents have contacted you about counseling for their teenager. The family immigrated to the US when their child was two years old. Despite some challenges, they feel their family has made a positive adjustment to a new culture. They contacted you because they are concerned about their teen's poor academic performance, which has plummeted since the beginning of 9th grade. They are also distressed because a beloved grandmother who lived with the family recently passed away; this happened about the same time their teen's grades began to drop. Their teen has also withdrawn from friends and usual social activities and has expressed self-consciousness about being "different." The parents are concerned but are not sure how to proceed. They hope that you can speak to the school counselor because they feel intimidated about going to their teenager's school themselves.

Answer 1

*Caveat: The response below may follow spelling and grammatical rules of UK English as opposed to US English. Please copy the response on MS Word and correct any differences if necessary.

(Answer) As an advocate who is faced with the above case, there are a few methods that one could adopt.

Client/Student Advocacy: The reason why this is one of the most appropriate methods for this situation is that it keeps things discrete. There is nothing shameful about grieving. However, since the child has recently lost her grandmother and probably is a minority in her social milieu, the teen may feel overwhelmed to openly express herself/himself initially.

Adopting a technique like ‘Social/Political advocacy’, ‘Public Information’ or ‘Community Collaboration’ may cause the teen who already feels withdrawn, to retreat further.

The effective way to help this teen address what is bothering him/her would be first, to create a safe environment where they feel comfortable to talk about their personal issues. Such an environment is not always in the presence of a community.

Moreover, this case is an issue of a micro and not a macro impact. Therefore it would be best to let it be a personal advocacy.

Implementation: It is important to remember that, a child immigrant already has a different psyche than a regular domicile child. Therefore it would be prudent to prepare a counselling method that would consider the child’s past and the impact certain major events have had on the child. Since the parents have consented to allow additional help, it would be wise to hire a psychologist. A psychologist could help pinpoint what exactly is causing the teen to withdraw and grieve more than the other family members.

Once the psychologist begins to outline a sharper image of the case, an advocate would be able to better plan and implement. The advocate should then discuss the society’s expectations of her. The teen is probably expected to be social and participating like every other teen. However, this environment is different from the one the teen faces at home. The teen would have to adapt to a different cultural environment in school and at home with her family. Such a situation is confusing even to non-grieving immigrant teens. Surely, it would be just as challenging for a grieving teen. This is probably the teen has decided to withdraw from society as opposed to taking up the challenge of adapting well to both worlds. In this way, the advocate would be able to address certain societal expectations that encumber the teen.

It is evident that the teen’s grades and social life has met a low point since the demise of the grandmother. Assuming that this is the immediate cause, the teen should be able to meet with other grieving teens her age so as to not feel too isolated. Keeping in mind that the teen has chosen to withdraw, it would be prudent to make sure this is a low-key grief counselling session. It would become easier for the teen to attain a sense of purpose simply by sharing in the grief of another and building each other up.

The Client/Student Advocacy method allows for the student to be in the comfort zone of discretion and gradually be a participating member of society. That is one of the main reasons why this would be one of the most appropriate methods for the case above.