Perpetuating Oppression: Does the Current Counseling Discourse Neutralize Social Action?

Abstract

The counseling profession, by virtue of research, dialogue, and the evolution of professional ideology, continues to uphold the viewpoint that psychological distress and disorders emanate from innate or biologically based factors. Consequently, the social reality that counseling partially defines through this discourse may inadvertently constrain the very movement that can most affect change through social action and engagement. Counseling professionals may unwittingly undercut attempts by oppressed individuals, groups, and their allies to create a more equitable and just society through civil disobedience and concerted social action. This article discusses how the current discourse on social justice may neutralize social action by reviewing discourse theory and presentation of a case study that offers strategies to operational discourse theory and support social action and engagement.

Counselor–Advocate–Scholar Model: Changing the Dominant Discourse in Counseling

“…M uch has been written over the last decade highlighting the need to encourage and help professional counselors and psychologists embrace the role of social change agent and become advocates for social justice. A growing body of scholarly literature supports this important (Baluch, Pieterse, & Bolden, ; Greenleaf & Bryant, ) but often overlooked counseling component: advocating for social change. The research in this area grew from a greater awareness of how oppression can affect human development and lead directly to the psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems clients present within the counseling dynamic (Baum, Garofalo, & Yali, ; Dohrenwend, ; DuBois, Burk‐Braxton, Swenson, Tevendale, & Hardesty, ; Perlow, Danoff‐Burg, Swenson, & Pulgiano, ).…”

“…The fact still remains, however, that few counseling professionals consider social justice advocacy a critical function in their everyday work. Greenleaf and Bryant () proposed that a major reason why social justice advocacy has failed to make significant inroads into the counseling practice has to do with the constraining effects of its dominant language, or discourse. That is, the popular discursive frameworks (i.e., theories, models, and constructs) used by counselors today invariably lead to viewing the causes behind clients’ problems as uniquely intrapsychic, or internal.…”

Medical Neoliberalism in Rape Crisis Center Counseling: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Clinicians’ Understandings of Survivor Distress

“…This can hinder recovery, as a recent study found that depression and PTSD symptomatology do not decrease as significantly during the first 3 years postassault for bisexual, and especially Black bisexual women, compared to heterosexual women (Sigurvinsdottir & Ullman, ). Because of this, current counseling frameworks that focus on intrapsychic problems can inadvertently maintain oppressive social structures (Greenleaf & Bryant, ). Articulated in Fine's () therapeutic hegemony paradox , marginalized individuals with little control over the oppressive systems that are often at the root of their problems are provided with individualized psychological approaches that ignore sociopolitical factors.…”

Awareness of Counselor Trainees on Clients’ Social Barriers

“…professional counselors pay little attention to the influence of oppressive social factors in their clients' environment (e.g., Albee & Joffe, 2004;Greenleaf & Williams, 2009;Ivey & Ivey, 2005;Ratts, 2009). Greenleaf and Bryan (2012) argued that the intrapsychic perspective locates clients' problems internally, and consequently, a thorough assessment of the client's context for the purposes of understanding the underlying causes behind clients' issues is seen as being largely irrelevant and even outside the professional purview of professional counselors. In recent years, a number of scholars (e.g., Lee, 2007;Ratts & Pederson, 2014;Williams & Greenleaf, 2012) have argued that professional counselors are obligated to be social justice advocates of clients from diverse cultural groups.…”