 Projective tests are used to assess and analyze human behavior occurring on a subconscious level – to include a person’s innermost thoughts, fears, inhibitions, repressed memories, and feelings. I embrace the efficacy of projective tests being used in the assessment phase of clinical treatment, but with some reservations. Before getting into what I don’t like about projective tests, I must say this. I believe that most behavior happens on a subconscious level, much like what we see in human communication.
It is a widely accepted and validated belief that over 90% of communication is non-verbal and is expressed in the way we say things (i.e. rate of speech, tone of voice) as opposed to what is actually being said. This is to say that the messages in our communication are mainly conveyed through our non-verbal body language which stems from the subconscious mind, rather than the conscious mind – which has a filter that is able to cognitively decipher between what is morally acceptable and what is not. So a person who is angry, but is concerned about what others may think may say verbally through words, “I am not angry,” yet could be boiling with anger inside as evidenced by their non-verbal language typified by an elevated voice, sweaty palms, dilated pupils, and a slammed closet door. The unique thing about non-verbal language is that it often reveals the true meaning behind the words that a person utters from their mouth. So even in silence a person speaks. The connection that I am attempting to make here is that the subconscious mind can reveal a lot about a person, not only through non-verbal communication, in the form of body language, but also within the context of a clinical assessment through the use of projective tests. Before I share the drawbacks of projective tests, I must make it clear that I do understand and support the efficacious use of projective tests in therapy. I think they lend some credible information to the clinician who wants to confirm a questionable or uncertain diagnosis. For instance, if through a clinical interview, self-reports, and questionnaires, a clinician finds that their client meets the criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and the clinician wants to get a third opinion (so to speak) to validate his provisional diagnosis, a projective test (like the House Tree Person) could be administered. It provides an objective, unbiased appraisal of the client’s symptoms, something that a clinical interview and self-reports alone may lack. However, one must be careful to not rely on the use of projective tests like the HTP alone, as the results can be misleading. Let’s say a person who presents with some symptoms of psychosis, depression, or anxiety, tries to impress the clinician, picks up a pen and paper and draws a very pretty picture to show off his artistic ability and the picture that he draws is reflective of something you may see in a Disney coloring book or the back of a cereal box. Consequently, the interpretation of the projective tests would not reflect an accurate representation of what the client is feeling on the inside because the drawing lacks the subconscious motivation and took place on a conscious and cognitive level, skewed by the client’s intention to impress the clinician. The same can be said if the opposite were true for a client who is mentally and emotionally healthy but is inspired by “dark art” that depicts death, dying, and the underworld – characteristics that would typically be indicative of a client’s drawings who presents with symptoms of depression or suicidal ideation. So clinicians should be mindful of these limitations when administering projective tests. Copyright 2015 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved
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 There are many different factors that influence relationships, but of all the contributing factors, I would like to say that cultural diversity is the most impactful. Before we are born, we are affected by our culture. Down to what a mother eats, the music she listens to, where she lives, if she is married or single, and even what she thinks, feels, and believes. Culture is what shapes us. We wouldn't be who we are without culture. Some things in our culture are biologically rooted in our DNA and can't be changed or controlled. This includes things like your birthdate, your race, and place of birth. On the bright side, some things within a person's culture are within a person's control and may have a significant impact on their relationships, who they choose to mate and marry, and include things like a person's religion, language, food, music, and clothing preferences. It doesn't matter whether or not these factors can be controlled or changed, what matters is the hidden interrelationship these factors have among the people who we choose to make a part of our everyday lives.
When looking at the impact of cultural diversity on relationships, it is important to note that not all cultures are the same, but all cultures share in their ability to change the way we live, love, and relate to other people. Because culture is such a flexible and multi-systemic construct of what makes a group of people unique, understanding its meaning and impact on our lives can seem challenging. And it is. There are so many different ways to look at culture, as explained in the introductory paragraph. Almost any person, place, or thing can be viewed as a social construct mainly because of its function on human behavior. Culture can divide us but what makes it beautiful is it's profound ability to unite us. What makes us the same is the very thing that sets us apart. Asian Americans are different than African-Americans, but is only by the classification of phenotype that puts a common people who share a certain type of physical characteristic in one group versus another. It is by a self-serving political agenda that one would divide and conquer a group of people by placing one group of people over another based on race or physical characteristics. So that European Americans, who are placed higher on the social class pyramid are viewed as more important than the lower class African-Americans and Mexicans who remain at the bottom. For those at the bottom of the totem pole, it is cultural diversity that has a negative impact on the way in which they are treated by their superior counterparts. In dating relationships, the cultural and social construct of race plays a major role. Despite common trends of interracial dating, people still usually tend to date within their race. Not surprisingly, people gravitate towards people who look, sound, and act like them. A Jewish woman may be seen as making a disrespectful act if she dates a Muslim or someone of a different faith – much like a European American young woman may receive huge criticism from her father if she brings home a Black Haitian man. Although the grass is greener on the other side soliloquy may apply to comparison between a person's property versus someone else's; it doesn't seem to translate when it comes to preference in choosing a mate. That's not to say that individuals aren't curious as to what it's like to date someone from a different racial background than their own – because it happens. But when it comes to general marriage and mating behavior, eagles usually mate other eagles, and pigeons with other pigeons. Can the same be said for the culture of religion, language, food, and fashion? Most certainly. If race determines who we choose to marry, so does religion, language, food, fashion, and most other cultural factors within or outside our control. Minus the few exceptions of those of us who like to venture out and try something different, for the most part, we choose our mate the same way we choose our friends – it's because they are a mirror reflection of who we are. A pairing of a couple based on similar cultural characteristics would seemingly be the necessary ingredients for a long-lasting care-free relationship, but unfortunately, with over 50% of marriages ending in divorce, that's not the case. The reality is shameful. Although we are afforded the freedom to choose who we marry, we forfeit the ability to choose who we fall in love with. Chances are, it is the little thing we call culture that chooses our mate for us. Though we are directly impacted by cultural factors like race, gender, language, and religion, the main outside driving force that influences the immediate factors is the predominate influence of society – which itself can also be viewed as a form of culture. Society is the part of culture that has the most impact on an individual's behavior because it is the most powerful. Society is made up of systems that influence and control human behavior on a larger scale. These systems are as follows: education, government/politics, media, healthcare, and even religion. It's impossible to look at an individual and not be able to tell what facets of society he is being controlled by. If you are a good observer, you can peel off the cultural layers that make every person who they are. Communication and Problem-Solving in Relationships The interesting thing about communication is that it is learned behavior. The way in which we speak to one another is what we over time have been taught. Before a baby is born, he is able to learn language. When he hears his mother's voice from inside the womb, connections are being made in his brain. So whatever language a baby's caretaker speaks is the language he will naturally adopt and begin to speak. The phonetic sounds, he will eventually become accustomed to and say with ease. The style in which he speaks, slow vs fast, with high or low pitch, will all be influenced by what he hears through the voices of the people around him. Understanding communication, as a learned behavior can be a rewarding thing, but also discouraging. If we can learn positive ways to speak, then that means we can also learn and adapt to negative forms of communicating. When a young child is sitting and listening to his two parents argue by using elevated tones of speech and threatening gestures, on a consistent basis, he then learns that this type of communication is the norm. The same is true for when adults watch expressions of violence and maladaptive forms of communication via television and movie programs. Embedded in their subconscious mind is a set of rules for expressing oneself, so this is what becomes the standard procedure for how they resolve relationship and marital conflicts. Relationships in the Past vs the Present Relationships in the past were much different than they are today. Over 60-70 years ago, Blacks were not marrying Whites. Blacks were not even allowed to congregate with Whites, let alone drink from the same water fountain, eat at the same table, or marry. But times have changed, as people are doing away with their racial prejudices. Whites and Blacks, Asians and Blacks, Mexicans and Whites, and Jews and Christians are joining hands and allowing their hearts to guide them versus a set of brainwashed beliefs. Not only has who a person marries changed, but also how they get married. Before when I was growing up, I was always taught that a woman should wait until marriage to have a baby and that having a baby out of wedlock was considered a sin. Growing up Christian, it has always been shunned upon for a woman to conceive and have children unmarried. Nowadays, women have no shame. They flaunt their pregnancies and brag to other women about who got them pregnant, then run down to the court to put their child's father on child support. Before, men had a greater responsibility – not only to himself as a man, but also to his family and whole community to be an upright man and take care of his home (i.e. wife and kids). This is not expected today. Few women hold men to this standard anymore. Just as few women hold a man to the standard of waiting til marriage to engage in unprotected sex, open doors, or simply take control in the relationship and be a man. Personal Relationship Values In a relationship, I value trust, honesty, commitment, longevity, interdependence, and intimacy. Usually, if I'm in a relationship and it's lacking one of my main values, there is a problem. To avoid any problems, I usually am very vocal about my expectations, beliefs, and value system at the start of a relationship. I make it clear the things that I accept and the things that will most certainly turn me off and cause me to end the relationship. I've ended past relationships because my partner wasn't willing to understand or respect my values. I've always believed and held true to the statement that if a person doesn't respect what you value, then they don't respect you. I've never tried to force my values onto anyone. It's not my job. Once a person shows me that they can accept, appreciate, and respect my values, it lets me know that they care about me and are worth my time and commitment. I don't see how any relationship could function well without a mutual respect of each other's values. Because we all have very different values based on differences in our culture, it's what makes finding the right partner a special experience. Copyright 2015 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved  This article contains my review and outline of the podcast: SUICIDE ASSESSMENT: SHARPEN YOUR CLINICAL SKILLS by Jason McGlothlin
In the past, I’ve worked as a crisis counselor of a 24-hour crisis hotline where we received calls from persons throughout the state of Florida who were contemplating suicide. As with most social service agencies who work with clients who are suicidal, there was a protocol we used to assess suicidality in our callers and get them the help that they needed. The way in which they answered our questions determined the necessary steps we would take in responding appropriately to the caller’s needs. We would generally ask the client a set of 10-15 questions to gauge the immediacy of the client’s needs. Typically we asked questions like, “Do you have a plan” and scaling questions like, “On a scale from 1-10, how likely are you to carry out your plan?” Depending on how the client would answer and the quality of their answers, we would either refer them to outside resources (i.e. inpatient and outpatient clinics) that could help. More recently, I took an internship at a social service agency in Brooklyn who serves clients in the community living with dual diagnoses. Most of the work done within the agency is case management where we assess the client’s needs for social service and connect them with help they need. Because the focus is on home health care, and many of the clients within the program have a serious medical condition, many of the assessment questions pertain to housing placements, medication management, nutrition, exercise, and physical health related content. There is less of a concern for the client’s mental and emotional well-being, so suicidality isn’t a focal point of screening. In comparing the SIMPLE STEPS Model created by Dr. Jason McGlothlin to previous methods I’ve used in the past, I would have to say that his model is the best model to use. It’s thorough, simple, and easy to use. It gives the clinician a better sense of the client’s mental and emotional picture, lessoning the chances that a client presenting with suicidal ideation could slip through the cracks. I agree wholeheartedly with his approach and adverse opinion towards triage assessment of suicidality. Suicide is a serious issue. As professionally trained clinicians who wear the badge of integrity and boast that we care for our patients, it is our duty to be sensitive to client’s concerns and demonstrate a keen understanding and application of efficient and thorough research driven techniques and practice when working with clients who are mentally ill. Of all the steps outlined in this model, I am very impressed by the Perturbation step. Assessing how much pain a client is enduring is very important to measuring how likely he or she is able to cope and safely manage their stress. Usually, pain is tied to an isolated event; so in this step, it allows the clinician to explore with the client past experiences that may have been very painful for the client to endure. Perhaps the client has never had the chance to talk these painful experiences out with someone before and this is his or her first chance to get it off their chest. During this stage in the suicide assessment process, it is important that the clinician is very sensitive and attentive to the client’s emotions. Pain is one of the few emotions that takes time to heal from. So demonstrating a caring and supportive attitude and expressing empathy towards the client is paramount. Copyright 7/1/2015 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved  Published: April 6, 2015
Written by: Danielle Leach Treating individuals with alcoholism can be a lengthy and challenging process. Counseling families where there is chemical dependency is a much more complicated and extensive process that requires an intimate look – not only at the relationship an individual has with a substance, but also a deeper look into the impact the substance has on the entire family system. From my research, I have learned several eye-opening facts about alcohol and the detrimental impact it can have on an individual and subsequently the children of the individual with alcoholism that I explore within the context of this article. These revelatory truths are pertinent for any clinician working with recovering alcoholics, especially mental health counselors and it’s important to first dispel the myths concerning addiction recovery, beginning with the assumption that once an alcoholic becomes sober, the rest of the family will get better automatically. It goes without saying that what affects one person affects those around them. In the context of addictions counseling, this anecdote rings true. When a husband leaves work and stops at a Seven Eleven to pick up a 12 pack of beer, goes home, flops down on the couch and immediately cracks open one can after another until the whole pack of beer is no more, it will inevitably raise a concern. His wife, who is clean and sober and expects her husband to have enough ego strength to resist temptation and deal more effectively and responsibly with the stress from his workplace, ignores her husband’s behavior and goes into the other room to watch TV. Their three year old son and one year old daughter trail behind the mother, hollering and screaming. After chugging the last can of beer, the husband yells, “Honey, get in here.” The wife, while in the other room, sighs and wipes a tear from her eyes and kisses her son and daughter on their foreheads. The husband stands up, bumps the table, knocking half of the cans onto the floor and pushes open the bedroom door and screams, “Bitch, didn’t I tell you to get in here!” The wife, tells her son and daughter to go into their bedroom and then bows her head. The next 10 minutes, the husband spends yanking his wife by the hair and punching her in the face. Familiar with her husband’s uncontrollable behavior, the wife stands up from the bed, goes into the bathroom and washes the tears from her face. Looking into the mirror, she notices a purple patch around her eye and a busted lip. She pulls her scrunchie out of her hair and notices a chunk of her hair missing from the front. She turns off the light, walks silently into her kitchen and pours her a glass of wine. Her husband snatches up his keys from the table, and before stumbling out of the house says, “Be back babe. I’m going to the store for another pack of beer.” After the keys are in the ignition and the sound of the engine vibrates through the front door, their son and daughter run outside of their room, jump on the couch with koolaid smiles plastered across their faces and ask, “Mommy, where is daddy?” “He’ll be back,” the mother sighs while sipping her glass of wine. Although this scenario is a fictional story I made up, it is the reality for many families living across America and serves as a template for explaining the dynamics of the impact alcoholism can have on an entire family system. So if what affects one person affects everyone around them; in theory, when one becomes sober, it should not be assumed that the rest of the family will magically and automatically go back to normality. It is important for those working with people of addictions to understand how addiction not only affects the user/abuser, but also how it affects everyone around them. Nevertheless, understanding the “why” of addiction can shed some light in understanding the “how” of treatment. As Dr. Tian Dayton so eloquently put, “People who use drugs and alcohol are often times attempting to numb disturbing emotional and psychological pain that they don’t want to feel” (2010). So typically, the more a person drinks, the more pain they’re trying to cover up and heal from. As in the above scenario, on the surface, the husband’s drinking can be attributed to work related stress. But if a skilled psychologist or psychotherapist were to take a deeper look, he/she may find that there is some childhood trauma in the husband’s history that has impacted his ability to cope and deal effectively with stress. In her article, “The Hidden Pain of Addiction,” Dr. Tian Dayton explains how trauma leads to addiction: “Addiction engenders trauma symptoms and trauma symptoms engender addiction.” So that a person who experiences some type of trauma is at an increased risk for developing an addiction. If he or she doesn’t become addicted to alcohol, he or she will seek out other forms of self-medicating (i.e. food, sex, money, or a hybrid combination of the three) (Dayton, 2010). Considering the above scenario, based on statistical analysis of families with alcoholism (as it relates to the cycle of addiction), the son and daughter are at an increased risk of developing an addiction. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, more than 78 million Americans or roughly 43 % of the adult population has been exposed to alcoholism in the family (Gold, Mark). 26.8 million of them are children (Weintraub, P, 2007). With numbers as staggering as these, it is apparent that there is a dysfunctional cycle of abuse at work within families of alcoholism that needs to be interrupted at the earliest stage possible. If the numbers aren’t enough to make you raise an eyebrow and scratch your head, take a look at the effects of what life is like for many adults who grew up with an alcoholic parent. Janet Geringer Woititz created a list of 13 characteristics of adult children of alcoholics. Here are several I found to be quite alarming: difficulty with intimate relationships; overacting to changes over which they have no control; are either responsible or super irresponsible (there’s no middle ground); are extremely loyal, even in the face of evidence that the loyalty is undeserved; are impulsive (they tend to lock themselves into a course of action without giving serious consideration to alternative behaviors or possible consequences. This impulsivity leads to confusion, self-loathing and loss of control over their environment. Then they spend an excessive amount of energy cleaning up the mess) (Weintraub, P, 2007). On AdultChildren.org’s website, you can find a laundry list of 14 traits of an adult child of an alcoholic. I have listed several here:
 Neffeteria Pugh, better known as “Neffe” has seen and done it all. Most people remember her as the co-star from the hit reality TV show, “Keyshia Cole-The Way It Is” where she stripped herself bare and revealed some of her deepest and most shameful secrets from her past failed marriage. “We had threesomes… we broke ALL the vowels” Neffe openly admits in an episode from the show. “But the first step to change is realizing that you need to change right? Change is good,” Neffe states after leaving behind the drama and mistakes of her past and moving to the city of Atlanta, GA to reconnect and live with her sister and R&B star, Keyshia Cole. Neffe adds, “Moving to Atlanta was the best thing that could have happened to me. I was able to get away from all of the stuff that kept bringing me down, down, down.” Although her move to Atlanta offered a ray of hope and the promise of a better future, Neffe still found herself repeating the same mistakes and experiencing the same cycle of alcohol abuse and struggling to survive. In her new book, “The Price I Paid,” she takes you on a behind the scenes look into what her life was like when the cameras were not rolling. I had a chance to meet and talk to Neffe at her book release party at Tag’s Boutique in downtown Atlanta over the weekend and here’s what she had to say: “People think that somehow being on TV is going to make you famous. But baby, let me tell you, that is not always the case. People think they know me, but they have no idea. I’ve read the blogs and heard the rumors about me and my sister not getting along and I just want to set things straight that this NOT true. God apparently has her going down one path and has me going down another. That’s all.” Despite the rumors and the mistakes she has made in her past, Neffe still is determined to win. When asked what her plans are for the future, she shared that she wanted to start her own reality TV show and become an actor. Life teaches us many lessons every day. The thing I admire most about Neffe is her will to fight and overcome any obstacles that may stand in her way. Her life is such an inspiration to anyone who is striving hard to succeed and achieve their dreams. If you believe in yourself and work hard at whatever you set in your heart to do, you will succeed. Your destiny is yours. No one can take it away from you. by Danielle Leach, author of American Dreamer Copyright 11.12.2012 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved  I'm not much of a big fan of television, but there are a few shows that grab my attention. Keyshia Cole, an African-American R&B singer, whose life has been everything but normal decided to air her personal life story in a reality TV show in 2006 entitled, Keyshia Cole – The Way it Is. The show highlighted her experiences of being a platinum selling R&B artist and what life was like for her growing up as an orphan without a mother and father. Her biological mother, Frankie abandoned her when she was a toddler and left her in the hands of a close family friend, Yvonne, who would be her primary caretaker from age three through her adult years. Keyshia's mother Frankie, who has six other children, all from different men, struggled to find her way on the streets of Oakland, California. Since Keyshia Cole was born, Frankie has battled with her addiction to cocaine – a substance that she feels has destroyed not only her life but her ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships with her seven children. To support her addiction, Frankie took to the streets of Oakland, California, selling her body for any amount of money that could support her crack habit.
Meanwhile, Keyshia Cole had her odds stacked up in her favor, being raised by Yvonne – a woman of strong faith and determination. It was Keyshia's close attachment to her adoptive mother and loving support of her adoptive family while growing up that nurtured a multi-million dollar earning star. After two seasons of her first show, The Way it Is, Keyshia Cole parted ways with her family to start a family of her own. In the second stage of the Family Life Cycle, referred to as “Coupling,” Keyshia met, who she thought was her true love, Daniel Gibson (a former NBA basketball player). They took to the traditional approach and got married, then gave birth to a healthy baby boy who Keyshia named after her husband, Daniel Gibson. With all positive intentions, Keyshia and her husband Daniel decided to go public with their marriage and created a TV show entitled, Family First (2012) which only ran for one season before getting canceled. Tension surrounding Keyshia Cole and her husband Daniel’s wedding began to surface rapidly. Her close sister, Neffe, who also had a feature role in Keyshia’s first reality TV show entitled, “The Way it Is” did not show up to Keyshia’s wedding. Keyshia, being the youngest child in her family, also considered the “golden child” because of her rise to fame, grew very angry and distant toward her sister for not accepting her wedding invitation. Keyshia, who is used to the spontaneity of booking flights at last minutes’ notice for shows and performances across the country sent an invite to Neffe and her husband, who are raising five children of their own, only a few days before the wedding. With little time to make travel reservations, it became obvious why Neffe and her family did not show up. But fans of Keyshia Cole, like myself, would venture to say that it was more than just a late wedding invitation that caused a divide between Keyshia and her biological sister Neffe. When you look back at the second season of Keyshia’s first show, The Way it Is, you will see that Keyshia Cole took on a motherly role by inviting her mother Frankie, her sister Neffe, and Neffe’s four children at the time, to move in and live with her. After months of living under the same roof, the tide began to turn and Keyshia, not wanting to put up with the stress from being the hero of the family decided to evict her sister and her four children. As an alternative, Keyshia Cole provided her younger sister, Elite with a brand new house, paid for in full. Fast forward several years to the present day and you will see Keyshia Cole starring in yet another reality TV show, self-titled, Keyshia Cole: All In. Only six episodes into the first season, and you see a family that is dysfunctionally functional. It’s a group of people with their own personalities enmeshed together trying to create a prototype of the ideal family, yet struggling with their own insecurities, fears, and life challenges. In the show, Keyshia Cole and Daniel are divorced and are co-parenting an attention seeking and needy toddler. Her mother, Frankie, is a recovering alcoholic, but is still using cocaine. What appears to be the story of a successful R&B star turns out to be an uncovering of a woman who is still struggling to find her own identity and happiness within the context of a family who is highly dependent on her for their own success and happiness. The show is a picture perfect idea of what a family looks like that has suffered generations of dysfunction for so long that it’s almost invisible to their own naked eye. I will continue to tune in and watch the outcome of Keyshia’s story as it is one that many young women and men across America can identify with. Copyright 2015 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved  Gender stereotypes are derived from gender roles or expectations that we construct as a society and culture about what a man and woman should or shouldn't do. It's the summation of what it means to be male and female, implemented through social learning and cultural shaping. From a very early age, girls are taught that they should sit with their legs crossed; young girls are taught that it's ok to cry and to express yourself; young women are taught that it's better to be seen and not heard. In childhood, boys are taught to play with action figure toys and trucks. As boys grow into teenagers, they are pushed into playing sports like football, basketball, and soccer. When teen boys become men, they are encouraged to explore their sexuality by having sex with multiple women. Such social learning is what separates the two species and make us unique.
On the same token, gender differences can also account for the disparity between men and women on factors such as income, advancement in the workplace, prison incarceration, and involvement in politics. Although many efforts have been made to level the playing field for women and men through the women's rights movement, statistics show that on average, men still make more money than women, hold more upper level positions in corporate America than women, have a greater involvement in politics than women, and are unfortunately more frequently incarcerated than women. But what would the world be without gender stereotypes? It would merely consist of a species of people who are not defined, segregated, or typecast by their gender. Our society would be one big salad bowl of cultures where men and women are united and don't experience conflict on the basis of a social construct such as gender. Since men and women would be considered equal, there would be no need for gender discrimination, sexism, or gender equality. This change would most likely eliminate or reduce the occurrences of domestic violence related criminal cases within the judicial system. Unfortunately, we don't live in a utopian society. And as it stands, gender stereotypes are here to stay. As an undergrad, I remember taking a Race, Class, and Gender course at Florida State University where we learned about the influence of race, class, and gender on individuals and on our society as a whole. Before someone learns someone's name, they are already making an assumption about that person based on the way they look, which is mainly a function of that person's race, class, and gender. Within our society, there are many stereotypes that exist concerning these three social constructs. For example, women are viewed as emotional creatures who are nurturing, sensitive, and weak, while men are viewed as competent, strong, and goal-oriented. Racism in our country is influenced by racial stereotypes, such as Blacks are ignorant, lazy, and poor, Whites are smart, rich, and happy, Chinese are hard-working and good fighters, Asians are good at math and science, Mexicans are poor and will work for cheap, and Hispanics are loud, violent, and argumentative. When these stereotypes are perpetrated across the media within television, radio, magazines, and movies, it heightens people's perceptions, thus reinforcing such beliefs and perpetuating the cycle of racism. When we succumb to a society that has certain expectations concerning how men and women are to behave, yet promotes the opposite by telling people it's ok to be an individual and express themselves however they choose, we end up with a culture fixated on gender issues. Men are wanting to dress up and become women, while women want to shave their heads, wear jeans and boots, and work in jobs like construction, an industry that is typically dominated by men. Meanwhile, there's a whole group of people who presume to be perfect who sit back in the stands and are either entertained by this transgender/transsexual frenzy, or deeply disturbed and turned off. Those who are offended or bothered by transgender/transexual individuals are usually the ones creating the problems, stigmatizing the act, thus making those in the LGBT feel inadequate and undervalued. What I find to be most interesting about the whole topic of Gender Issues, is the role that genetics and biology play. The general consensus would say that homosexuality and other behaviors practiced within the LGBT community are strictly learned behaviors – that is to say that individuals who practice homosexuality choose to because of their own sexual preference and are not influenced by genetics. Yet what the research shows is the complete opposite. Which brings up the question, can a person really be born gay or with a homosexual predisposition? When taking into account prenatal differentiation and how the internal and genital structures form during prenatal development, I am led to believe that we all have a natural propensity to “swing the other way.” Perhaps, it's only social learning and cultural shaping of gender roles that guide and direct us to form romantic relationships with the opposite sex for the purpose of procreation. If religion and these social norms, rules, and expectations weren't shoved down our throats and never existed, how many of us would still be heterosexual? That is to say if homosexuality wasn't stigmatized and was socially accepted by everyone, including the church, how many of us would still choose to deny our homosexual urges and choose to be with the opposite sex? Atypical prenatal differentiation and abnormal levels of sex hormones resulting in improper brain differentiation can significantly impact an individual's development and sexuality, thus causing them to display what is considered to be abnormal attitudes and behaviors regarding sexual preferences. For example, a fetally androgenized female who is born with 46 chromosomes, yet possess ambiguous external genitalia may prefer to undergo a sex change and hormone therapy to become a male because she experiences a significant level of dissatisfaction with the female gender. The same can be said for a male who is born with DHT deficiency and possess undescended testes at birth. Men who DHT deficiencies are typically sterile and do not have the ability to produce children, usually assume the traditional male identity at puberty. Whether a person's homosexuality is influenced by nature or nurture, it is highly important for us as counselors to display a positive, non-judgmental attitude and unconditional positive regard towards our clients who come to therapy with gender or sex-related issues. I also think that as counselors, we should take an active role in advocating for LGBT youth and adults across media platforms by spreading messages that do not promote or reinforce the typical sex-related gender stereotypes as seen across the media and that were displayed in the Youtube video, Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes. Promoting messages that go against common gender stereotypes, such as ads that show women engaging in non-domestic activities like mowing the lawn, changing the oil, or playing sports; and ads that show men engaging in activities that are usually portrayed by women, such as feeding and taking care of the baby, cooking, and teaching a classroom of students. Taking such steps towards advocating for change, will not only benefit the LGBT, but could also benefit society at large because it breaks the old traditional way of thinking and introduces a new approach to understanding gender and human sexuality that hasn't been fully accepted or understood before. Copyright 2015 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved  When I was first introduced to the DSM-IV TR back in 2004, I felt very excited about my career path as a therapist turned clinical psychologist, knowing that there was a manual that existed that described every mental illness imaginable. I thought it was very crafty and genius that a bunch of researchers, doctors, and scientists from various disciplines could come together and exchange ideas that would lead to a general consensus concerning an individual’s mental state of being. The idea that there was a classification system that had already been tried and tested over many years used by other clinicians in the field was reassuring and motivating because it would soon become the book that I would be trained to use in the months to come.
While in my master’s program at the University of North Florida, I was trained on how to assess and diagnose clients using the DSM-IV TR and when I moved to New York City in 2014 to complete my master’s degree, my training continued with the new upgrade, the DSM 5. So I have experience in using the DSM IV-TR with the axes classification as well as applicable experience with the new version of the DSM 5 that has adopted the new ICD 10 codes. In working with the DSM 5 that has the ICD 10 codes, I’ve found that there is not much difference given that the population I was working with (adults with dual diagnoses) at the time did not change. However, I do see where there would be some differential diagnoses across the two different versions when assessing women and children (for Depression and Autism) respectively. In assessing women who present with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, it is important to rule out Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, as many of the symptoms that are present in the Depression and Anxiety Disorders overlap with PDD. When assessing autism in children, improvements in the DSM have made it possible for children who present with milder symptoms to receive a diagnosis that is lower on the spectrum. The same can be said for almost any other diagnosis as the new DSM 5 edition has given clinicians the opportunity to rule out other serious disorders such as Schizophrenia by appropriating labels that are less stigmatizing in nature (i.e. Depression with psychotic features). The benefit of having a classification system such as the DSM is that it helps streamlines the process and makes communication between clinicians and other helping professionals much easier. When a client in Delaware is assigned a diagnosis of 309.81 and is treated for several weeks but then picks up and moves to Nevada, a psychologist, doctor, nurse, or therapist would know exactly what the diagnosis is and be able to form a case conceptualization of the client based on his previous diagnosis and treatment record. Another benefit that a diagnosis serves to aid in the therapeutic process is that it gives the client a sense of control and power, being able to identify what’s causing him/her distress and then put a name on it. When a client knows that what he/she has been experiencing is a common occurrence in society, it lessens the opportunity for them to feel isolated and increases the chances that they will be able to get the help and support that they need. On the contrary, knowing can be just as harmful as not knowing. When a client is assigned a label, it creates the opportunity for him/her to use the label as a crutch. When I was working as a counselor at a residential treatment facility in Florida with a group of sexually reactive young boys, I remember hearing one of them tell a staff member, “I’m bipolar and I can’t control my moods.” It made me question the efficacy of the diagnostic system and take a closer look at its harrowing effects. I witnessed day-by-day, kids getting fed schedule 1 drugs in the name of treatment, which appeared to only have temporary soothing effects for the moment, but with prolonged use have been proven to have some serious adverse psychological and health effects. So as a clinician who embodies a more holistic approach to mental health, the challenge for me would be incorporating the DSM into a practice that empowers the client and supports an environment of true healing and change as opposed to the traditional protocol that many licensed clinicians find themselves accustomed to in the diagnosis to medication management pipeline. My philosophy is that there is no one-size fits all approach to treating clients of various cultural identities; every individual deserves to be custom treated from the inside out. Copyright 2016. Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved  I find it very interesting the way in which racism has been defined and talked about in our country. Some see it as some vile and inhumane act perpetrated by one race against another while others see it as a necessary role or function of American society. In the media, we’ve seen countless instances where a White male cop pulls over an African-American driver in a traffic stop and approaches the driver’s car with a drawn loaded gun in his hand. Even more recently, there have been several cases surfaced in the news where the driver of the car was a Black female. No matter the gender of the person, I always thought it was strange the way cops treated African-Americans. There could be just as much crime and illegal activity occurring in predominantly White neighborhoods, yet the presence of police in Black neighborhoods far exceeds that of a majority White community.
As these instances of police brutality towards Black members of the community increase across our nation, it makes you think back to a time in our country during the 60s, 70s, and 80s when police brutality in the Black community was at an all-time high. There would be innocent children and men being beaten, shot, and killed followed by a sequence of peaceful protests just for the police to come in with their high powered water hoses and toxic bombs to shut things down. An organization that is supposed to serve and protect the Black community has manifested into a gang whose mission is to kill and destroy the Black community. When you take a bird’s eye look at the state of our nation, it becomes apparent that these random police shootings are a direct effect of the system of White Supremacy that has nurtured and promoted negative attitudes within mainstream America against people of color. Its roots have been traced back to the system of slavery where Blacks were taken, stripped of their natural identity, denied human rights, and treated worse than animals. The racial oppression we witness and experience today stems from a strategic system that has been enforced for hundreds of years. During the period of slavery in the United States, racial oppression served a very important role – to keep Whites in power and to keep Blacks (or Negroes as they were called at the time) disempowered. The slave masters used many techniques to keep their slaves in line; the most dehumanizing of them all was beating them when they disobeyed or broke the rules. The beatings were so gruesome and frightening to the point where Blacks attempted to escape the harsh treatment of their masters by running away. If they were caught, they suffered beatings and sometimes death by hanging. The slaves were given one main job, which was to pick cotton and work the land. During this time, agricultural farming was how they worked, lived, and survived, so to the slave masters, having someone to work the land and tend to the crops was necessary to their existence. The system of slavery served a purpose greater than just to oppress a group of people. It was the mechanism by which America was established and developed. It’s often said that the pilgrims couldn’t find any other people who were as strong as the Africans to work the land so they chose us. So through a hopeful lens, one can view racial oppression as a byproduct of White Supremacy, as opposed to it being a cause of it. On the other hand, one can view racial oppression quite differently and see Whites who support the system of slavery and White Supremacy as evil, heartless human beings. Because Blacks have forgiven the former slave masters for what they did to our ancestors and have accepted the fact that maybe, just maybe slavery served its purpose and was rightly abolished, but yet there still seems to be many traces of discrimination and oppression fueled by racism and values of White Supremacy. According to the law and what’s written on the books, slavery is illegal and does not exist, therefore we live in a post-racial society. Meanwhile, Blacks are still experiencing the residual effects of a system of slavery that was abolished over 100 years ago. Some would like to refer to this pain and suffering as Post Traumatic Slavery Disorder, which would hold some weight if we weren’t constantly reliving it day-to-day and we lived in a post-racial, post slavery society. The reality is, what we are experiencing today is only a modern day form of slavery where Blacks are being targeted and mistreated because of a system of White Supremacy. If you were to talk to Blacks who lived during the period right after the abolishment of slavery and talk to Blacks living today, you would learn that much of their experience is still the same. Blacks are still being racially profiled, arrested, and thrown into jail; Blacks are still being pre-judged and looked down upon by Whites; Blacks are still viewed as inferior, weak, uneducated, and powerless by mainstream society; Black children still struggle with getting a proper education in school; Black women and men still are discriminated against in the workforce and are held back from getting certain jobs. I know this, because I am a victim of it and see it happening every day. Despite laws and rules written to make America a country that’s equal and free, the reality of what Blacks are experiencing is the complete opposite. It makes you wonder, with so many years since slavery being abolished and things are still the same way they were, what kind of changes have been really made to eliminate racism? And are the efforts and changes that have been made being offset by other practices to further keep Blacks oppressed? So that you have a group of Americans who are truly against the system of White Supremacy and racial oppression working to bring about healing for this country and unite the races, while there still exists an overarching system of White Supremacy maintained by proponents of racism. It reminds me of the game of tug of war where you have a team of people on one end trying to pull the rope from the team on the other side. The team that usually wins is the side with the most people or the most manpower. So essentially, what we have in America is a game of tug of war – a team of conservatives who are in favor of keeping their power, therefore being proponents of the system of White Supremacy versus the other team who is fighting to gain power, meanwhile trying so hard to pull the rope from this other group who is much more stronger and powerful. If one group wins the game of tug-of-war, it’s at the expense of the other group who gives up their power by letting go of the rope. Many African-Americans have let go of the rope and given up on trying to regain the power that we once had as a race when were were living in Africa as kings and queens. Many African-Americans have accepted the system and are comfortable with the way things are. Some of us don’t see that there is a problem of racial oppression that exists, as many of us claim to not be oppressed – though they have been victims of racism and discrimination and are indirectly and directly impacted by the system of White Supremacy. Many African-Americans hold views, beliefs, and values that further perpetuate their oppression and the system of White Supremacy by buying into it, sometimes at no fault of their ow; it’s how they have learned to survive. Many African-Americans will revere Caucasians as smart, educated, and strong, meanwhile turn to another fellow African-American and call them a “Dumb Nigga.” Some African-Americans are offended when a White person calls them a racial slur, but will glory in the idea of being called a “real nigga” or a “bad bitch” by another Black person. Many of us don’t see ourselves as intelligent, strong, and powerful, so when you do see a Black person “make it out of the hood” and go on to become successful, it’s almost always assumed that they got there by luck or by affiliation with White people, instead of by their own strength, intelligence, and power. There have been instances where I’ve experienced racial oppression and also have been the culprit of it towards my own peers and family through microaggressions and talking in a condescending fashion. It’s much easier to point towards another person of a different race who is being racist towards us, and much more difficult to acknowledge moments when our own beliefs, attitudes, and values are racist in nature. It’s also very difficult to accurately attribute my experiences of feeling depressed and oppressed as a byproduct of racism when I have been conditioned to believe that we live in a post-racist society and have encountered experiences that were inconsistent or contradictory to the system of White Supremacy (i.e. being a successful entrepreneur and having the ability to network with people from different racial backgrounds to achieve my goals and dreams). For the sake of keeping one’s sanity, turning a blind eye to the racial injustices in America is much easier than looking it dead in the face. Moving forward, it’s important to take a look at racism and see whether negative experiences Black people encounter are a function of racial oppression, individual choice, or common human experience. Because race is such a salient factor in our society, it’s very easy to point every problem that exists back to racial inequality and the system of slavery and White Supremacy. While we know that negative stereotypes, attitudes and beliefs concerning Black people do exist within the minds of both White and Black people alike, and that those beliefs permeate through all facets of our society, including government, education, health care, parenting, media, and religion, it is equally important to be mindful of one’s own racial biases and prejudices that serve to maintain this system of White Supremacy. For me, I’ve made an effort to be conscious of my own identity and change the way in which I see myself. It’s often said, “It doesn’t matter how others see you, it only matters how you see yourself.” I prefer to believe that it does matter how others see you, but more importantly, how you see yourself. When I came to an acceptance of who I was as a Black woman and what that meant in a White racial society, I knew that I was on the right track to restoring my sense of self. So many African-Americans have become alienated and separated from their true selves. We’ve become acculturated into mainstream culture and have adopted a different way of thinking about ourselves that is different than who we were before we were brought to America. We have been made to think of ourselves as inferior because inferiority is what we’ve been taught and a state of mind we have been conditioned to live in. As long as we are not too loud, too outspoken, and too intelligent, we are safe in the presence of White people. But the moment we become educated, verbally expressive, and resistant to the status quo, we become even a bigger threat. So it’s like, we’re damned if we do and we’re damned if we don’t. I would rather be damned for being the person I was born to be than damned for being anything less. Copyright June 7, 2016 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved  When I first read, “Internalized Racism: One More Piece of the Puzzle” by Suzette L Speight, I felt that it was the most depressing thing I’ve read in a very long time. In the article, she talks about the negative short-term and long-term psychological consequences of racism and analyzes ways in which African-Americans are oppressed. She refers to these as conditions which can help psychologists understand the various functions of racism. They include exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, systemic violence, and cultural imperialism, which she describes as the “conduit through which subordinate groups come to internalize their oppression” by accepting the racial oppression as the norm. In describing the first four conditions, it felt easy as an African-American to digest the well-known types of racial oppression as it points the finger back to the main culprit and perpetrator – the system of White Supremacy. Although exploitation, marginalization and systemic violence are all very terrifying facets of the African-American experience, they are what we as African-Americans have been accustomed to and have lived with all of our lives while on American soil. We’re used to seeing Blacks exploited on television, marginalized, beaten, killed, disempowered, and taken advantage of. We have become used to this system of White Supremacy and racial oppression almost to the point that those external factors don’t have an impact on us hardly anymore – at least not on a level that moves us to bring about real lasting change.
Of course, you have your occasional police shootings of unarmed Black men and women followed by protests and riots in an effort to bring about justice, but aside from that, Blacks have become complacent in this harsh reality and comfortable with the way things are. Few Blacks are taking a stand against being exploited, marginalized, or subjected to feelings of powerlessness and inferiority as we do when an innocent Black man, woman, or child is killed. Perhaps it could be because we have grown blind to these other forms of racial oppression and have come to accept things for the way they are. How many Black individuals or organizations are making a big deal about African-Americans living in poverty and being denied access to equal opportunities? Well there was a time during the Civil Rights era where we felt a need to come together and fight for equality and against racial oppression and discrimination, but given the context we live in now, where African-Americans are going to college, becoming doctors, owning businesses, and taking luxurious vacations, many Blacks feel that there isn’t a need to scream and cry, “unequal opportunities or racial discrimination or oppression” – when on the surface everything appears to be fair for everyone no matter one’s race or ethnic background. This false assumption brings us back to the topic of the article, Internalized Racism. The more we try to deny and escape this truth, the bigger a problem it gets. Ironically, as an African-American woman who is driven to bring about change within the African-American community, I can admit that it was very difficult for me to digest the last condition of Internalized Racism that Suzette talks about in her article. Why? Because it points the finger back at us. It says that although there’s a system designed to keep us oppressed, exploited, powerless, and hopeless, there still remains a percentage of responsibility and blame that rests on the shoulders of every African-American who has become a victim of this system. It’s a catch 22. On one hand, we are victims, and on the other hand, we are told that our victimization is what’s keeping us oppressed. The author of this article talks about psychological outcomes of the oppression and how the wounds of oppression could possibly stem from two main sources – the first being shame and the second being acceptance of the oppression. In reading her explanation, I could not resist feeling even more depressed and hopeless concerning the situation. Here’s why. As counselors and psychologists, we understand that the feeling of shame is only a response to an adverse situation – in this case racial oppression. We also know that accepting the status quo is a form of adaptation to the dominant structure. So for many African-Americans, it’s not that we agree with this system of White Supremacy, we have come to realize that in order to survive and make it in America, one must learn to adapt very quickly to the way things are. Foreign immigrants looking to live and work in America, learn this harsh truth very quickly when they first step foot on American soil. So to bring people’s attention to a form of racial oppression that acknowledges the main source but attributes partial responsibility to the victim in describing their painful experience as a factor of their own internalization of negative stereotypes and beliefs about their own identity by accepting the dominant group’s system of oppression, exploitation, and degradation creates an added layer of stress for the African-American looking to escape the problem. Essentially, this notion says, yes you’re a victim, now it’s your responsibility to let go of that victim mentality and do something about it. On one hand, this way of conceptualizing the problem can be alleviating and empowering in knowing that part of the power still rests in the hands and minds of Blacks who are oppressed; but meanwhile it makes Blacks feel burdened, implying that in order for things to change, we need to change. It assumes that if we all let go of these negative internalized beliefs and did not further perpetuate the system, then things would somehow get better and the system of White Supremacy and racial oppression will go away. I am the first to say that is so far from the truth it’s ridiculous. When we trace the origin of racism, when Blacks were snatched away from their homeland and forced into cattle slavery, we can see that Blacks did not have these internalized beliefs of inferiority – they were forcefed to our ancestors who became slaves and then passed down through many generations. Conscious African-Americans know that we did not always have this warped sense of inferiority, shame, and self-hatred when we were a powerful dynasty in Africa during ancient times. It wasn’t until one group of people felt a need to invade our territory, enslave us, and rob us of our dignity that we were broken down and made into ¾ of a human being. However, in conceptualizing the origins of racism and dissecting how we got to this point, I am forced to face the reality that part of the problem is our acceptance of the problem. It’s hard to admit, but it is. As African-Americans, we go on and on, pointing the finger back at the racists culprits of White Supremacy without ever taking a step back to take an honest look at the role we play in manufacturing and sustaining the system. So in race relation discussions, you see this game of hot potato where each group tosses this hot potato of responsibility back to the other team to avoid having to handle the heated pressure of fixing the problem. In looking back, I can appreciate this article for what it’s worth because it provides a good snapshot of an ugly picture no one wants to look at. It teaches us that there is no one group or person responsible for the problem of racial oppression, but that we all play an equal part in keeping it alive. Therefore, we all should step up and play an equal part in eradicating this system of White Supremacy. The only thing stopping us is the comfortability we all have with the way things are. Copyright November 2016 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved |
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