You are the administrator of a counseling practice. Branden, an African American male, is a client who was recently diagnosed as having Bipolar I. Branden came to the counseling practice today because he was experiencing a manic episode and needed support. His agitation increased when, upon arriving to the counseling practice, he learned that his regular therapist had to leave suddenly due to a personal emergency. For this visit, Branden was assigned to a male Caucasian therapist, Steve, who Branden perceived as being very opinionated and having a passive-aggressive approach. During the session, as Branden explained his challenges, he felt that Steve was dismissive and appeared to be uninterested in what Branden had to say. He thought that Steve focused more on his personal opinion of Branden rather than listening to Branden’s perspective. Immediately following the session, Branden talked to the case manager, Jill, who is also African American. Branden said that, as an African American man, he didn’t feel like Steve was sensitive to his needs. Branden said, “My session was horrible! It seemed to me that Steve wanted to only hear himself and was not very interested in my actual challenges!”
Jill thanked Branden for reporting his experience, apologized, and assured him this would not happen again. Jill, who communicates with a very direct approach, addressed Branden’s concerns with Steve. Steve felt attacked and became defensive. You overhear Steve say, “I was only trying to tell Branden that he should stop focusing on stuff that doesn’t matter and get on with life!” Jill, the case manager, quickly retorted with “You see, that is a major problem! It’s not about you; it’s about Branden and what he is experiencing from his perspective only!” Before this continued to escalate, you shut down the communication between them and ask them to please meet you in the conference room to resolve this matter. In your opinion, the main goal should always be to meet the needs of the client which ultimately did not happen in this case.
Instructions
Do not write with personal pronouns of I, me, we, they, them, their, us, etc.
Analyze aspects of the communication in the scenario that were influenced by the personal identities of the people involved.
Analyze your perspective on this situation based on your personal identity.
Recommend strategies the case manager and the therapist could use to improve communication.
Describe how you might change your communication strategies if you were in a similar situation.