Counselor Privilege: Awareness and Reduction Professional Experience Article
Full disclosure: I am a white, middle-class male who grew up in a middle-class suburbia family with divorced parents and the youngest sibling of 5. I imagine all kinds of conclusions can be drawn from that information and would most likely be considered counselor privilege. And this is precisely the reason this topic has interested me for so long. But it hadn’t touched me so deeply until this year's FMHCA conference when a presenter talked about diversity in counseling services. I was struck (again) by the lack of diversity in therapy and therapists and how that could affect counselor privilege. Definitions could help to level the understanding field of these two words before moving forward: Counselor- a reoccurring theme that came from research about a definition included listening and giving advice or advices. I was struck by the listening part as it relates to counselor privilege and how that might reduce it if I am to listen. Instead of interrupt, evaluate, or even advise. Privilege- one explanation that struck me was how it was described as the opposite of privilege, “disadvantage, disbenefit, handicap (a word used less these days), and drawback”. I wondered if these words could describe sometimes how the client might feel if I am imposing counselor privilege, unknowingly of course. For our purposes here to combine with the definition of counselor privilege is, “a special right or advantage granted only to a particular person or group” (Merriam Dict) So, combining these definitions into a working model going forward in my own words it could be; a person who listens/advises others from a place of privilege or advantage that appears to exclude others. While there are many understood, and not so understood, types of privilege I want to narrow that down to some of the areas that apply to counseling; race, color, gender, culture, identity, education, and spirituality. Many others include visible and invisible privilege but for the purpose of our time here I am interested in awareness and reduction. What do I mean by that? Awareness is how I respond to my surroundings, both physically and humanly. This is a skill that constantly needs attention and FMHCA.org | InSession- July 2022 | 11
