Analysis: A Paradigm Shift In Counseling Philosophy

A Paradigm Shift in counseling Philosophy Upon reading the article, A Paradigm Shift in Counseling Philosophy, I learned that the word culture can take on a different meaning. A culture is normally referred to as a part of a race, how individuals within this culture act and what these individuals believe collectively. I found that culture is also a proper term to use for groups of individuals who exude the same interest, share commonalities and do not have to be of a particular race. For example, motorcycle groups, educators, counselors, teenagers and various other groups are representation of how a culture looks, act and what they believe to be important to them. As a part of this paper I will describe the paradigm shift, address how
the author felt this shift affected counseling philosophy and contributed to social constructivism. Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. The article, A Paradigm Shift in Counseling, addresses the paradigm shift as a direct result to counseling and the changes that originated in the counseling world. According to Cottone (2016), the first paradigm shift is referred to as “social systems theory” therapy which focused on interrelationships between individuals, groups, and institutions. According to Cottone (2016), the second paradigm shift is denoted as “social constructivism” and the core of this shift references relationships. His thought is that the counseling field experienced these shifts of a manner in which the movement flowed from “psychological, to systemic-relational, and social constructivism”. Evidence of the changes that took place were penned by professionals in the field to support what took place through book writing, seminars, lectures and political venues. As a result of this change, a philosophical foundation was acknowledged which impacted the political and professional world. Remarkably, in doing so it helped to shape this movement. The social constructivism movement can be thought of as a new canvas to capture different elements of treatment that may arise and are owned by a group instead of an individual.
In defining the new movement, Cottone himself, created a social constructivism model of ethical decision making. This process he laid out contends that there is no free will and the decisions we make are influenced heavily by our culture. Likewise, he goes on to say that there is no individual conscience but he believes there is a collective conscience. Our collective conscience, is developed in part from the cultural ethics we have been exposed to in life. I agree that free will isn’t totally free. My thought is that we are impacted by our morals, beliefs, and religion prior to exercising free will. Before we make a decision, we process what we know then sway towards what will be the best decision for us. Now, I will say that the choice we arrive at is ultimately our own but it isn’t free of having some
bias. What stands out to me in this article are the ideas of consensualities.
According to Cottone (2016), consensualities are the absolute truths of a community. In explaining the community he speaks more of religion, and compares the absolute truths of a community to his concept of how these truths are incorporated whether a person religious or not. The commonality is that if you are an outsider to a group or community it is going to be difficult for one to understand the ways or communication style of this group/race. Why? Because the concept is foreign to the counselor, but significant to the group. This significance originates from how they live, customs and morals, religion and beliefs. Who we are, what we believe and who we interact with affects all of our
relationships. According to Cottone (2016), he believes absolute truths are the root to problems and consensualities are the gateway to understanding social constructivism in the counseling field. It is critical for therapist in this field to identify relationships of influence around an issue indicated as important to counseling. Examination of these levels of agreements and disagreements would be performed during this therapy. Values, such as people in an individuals’ life are their beliefs would be imperative for this type of counseling. Differences of opinions would equate to clash of consensualities, and each case would need to be treated successfully when possible. Naturally, the therapist would be tasked with the goal of constructing common experiences of how to reach an agreement, which leads to positive interaction. An example would be in the culture or group of individuals who use e cigarettes to stop smoking. Telling them to stop using this device because it is prone to exploding in peoples’ hands, pockets are when it is sitting idle in an improper environment. This tool which helps get rid of and satisfy the urge of smokers isn’t being easily dismissed because of the benefits derived from its usage. It isn’t nicotine it is a vapor, it can reduce the number of tangible cigarettes that are consumed in a day. There aren’t any studies that indicate the e-cigarette causes cancer. The benefits for the smokers outweigh the risk even if it means catching on fire and exposing yourself to eminent danger. This idea doesn’t make sense to non-smokers, nor the patient family because it against their religious belief to smoke or smoking is just a detestable habit to a clients’ family. Importantly, the counselor would be tasked with finding a resolve to the smokers’ problem. The counselor and the client would have to reach an agreement on other ways to combat smoking leading to a healthier environment for the client and a therapeutic relationship with the counselor. I would try this in therapy, it seems as if it is geared toward linking commonalities across race and culture as well as within race and culture. The idea is to find common experiences around which agreements can be reached. It would be interesting to implement this therapy in school settings as well as in professional environments to see how effective social constructivism can be with regard to solving problems we as humans face on a daily basis.