Individuals who are in training to become mental health professionals are well aware of the need for diversity education. However, in our training programs, diversity usually pertains to culture and ethnicity. Most of us do not think of individuals with disabilities as a sector of that diversity training. Counseling individuals with disabilites does require ethical and practical considerations in order to provide the best possible treatment.
Mental health professionals have the ethical responsibility to serve the deaf and hearing impaired population responsibly. There are many things to consider. The use of interpreters who are experienced in the mental health field is crucial in order to avoid miscommunication and misdiagnosis. The use of appropriate psychological tests must also be considered. The Draw a Person Test, for example is highly used with this population becasue, through a qualified interpreter, the mental health professional and client can discuss the drawing. The mental health professional may have to be creative in providing services. New techniques may have to be formulated that utilize the client's world view and system. Only in learning about the Deaf culture and community can mental health professional appropriately serve the population. The Deaf community has had a long withstanding distrust of hearing people because the majority group often views them as being sickly and in need of a cure. Throughout a deaf person's life they are being probed by individuals who have no sense of the deaf culture. Thus, deaf people are wary of hearing mental health professionals. The Deaf community uses storytelling as an art form. Mental health professionals may want the client to be factual and straight to the point and often misinterpret storytelling as unnecessary drama. Along with story telling is the use of facial expressions and body language. The deaf client using American Sign Language will use his or her whole body in order to speak. A counselor who does not understand the Deaf culture may construe the facial and bodily distortions as being a symptom of a disorder. These illustrations show how necessary it is for a mental health professional to be sensitive and aware of all dimensions of the Deaf culture in order to create rapport and establish a trusting therapeutic relationship.
Just as with any client, the counselor must involve the deaf client in setting goals and understanding all implications of treatment strategies. The counselor must remember that the goals must be formulated from the perspective of the client. New tecniques and counseling models utilize the cllient's family and communication style and incorporate them into therapy. Counselors need to reach out to the deaf community so that individuals are aware that there are services available. It is the responsibility of the counselor to become educated regarding he or her deaf client in order to ethically and responsibly provide the best mental health service. Counselors must remember not to generalize the deaf community as one culture and make any assumptions about what the client wants but to remember to ask the client in order to provide the proper services.
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