Abstract
In this article we will show how a relational approach provides a conceptual framework that shapes and informs culturally sensitive practice with a severely disturbed client. We argue that a relational approach facilitates therapeutic action through the intense focus on countertransference, the close attention to enactments, and the therapist's authenticity and self-disclosure. Additionally, we emphasize that a therapeutic matrix that includes the cultural, racial, socioeconomic, and institutional factors, increases the likelihood clinicians will attend to what Perez-Foster calls their “dissociated and disavowed personal values.” We present a case that had a less than satisfactory outcome where the therapist found herself in a “sea of trouble.” The case illustrates how a relational approach enhanced the therapist's understanding of the case and allowed her to continue to work with a difficult and challenging client. We conclude by suggesting that our conceptual understanding of this case exemplifies a necessary and appropriate focus for future social work research and practice.
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Ganzer, C., Ornstein, E.D. A Sea of Trouble: A Relational Approach to the Culturally Sensitive Treatment of a Severely Disturbed Client. Clinical Social Work Journal 30, 127–144 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015289327398
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015289327398