Culturally Affirmative Psychotherapy With Deaf Persons by Glickman, Neil S.; Harvey, Michael A.;

Short description:

The impetus for this volume is the growing awareness within the mental health and larger community of a culturally affirmative model for understanding and assisting deaf people. In contrast to the "medical-pathological" model which treats deafness as a disability, the "cultural" model guides us to view deaf persons in relation to the deaf community--a group of people with a common language, culture, and collective identity. A primary tenant of culturally affirmative psychotherapy is to understand and respect such differences, not to eradicate them.

The contributors to this volume present a practical and realistic model of providing culturally affirmative counseling and psychotherapy for deaf people. The three dimensions of this model have been delineated by the multicultural counseling literature. These dimensions assert that culturally affirmative psychotherapy with deaf persons requires therapist self-awareness, knowledge of the deaf community/culture, and understanding of culturally-syntonic therapeutic interventions.

The first to exhaustively delineate the implications of the cultural model of deafness for counseling deaf people, this book is essential reading for anyone who works in an educational or counseling capacity with the deaf. This audience includes not only psychotherapists, but also vocational, guidance and residence counselors, teachers, independent living skills specialists, interpreters, and administrators of programs for the deaf.

Long description:

The impetus for this volume is the growing awareness within the mental health and larger community of a culturally affirmative model for understanding and assisting deaf people. In contrast to the "medical-pathological" model which treats deafness as a disability, the "cultural" model guides us to view deaf persons in relation to the deaf community--a group of people with a common language, culture, and collective identity. A primary tenant of culturally affirmative psychotherapy is to understand and respect such differences, not to eradicate them.

The contributors to this volume present a practical and realistic model of providing culturally affirmative counseling and psychotherapy for deaf people. The three dimensions of this model have been delineated by the multicultural counseling literature. These dimensions assert that culturally affirmative psychotherapy with deaf persons requires therapist self-awareness, knowledge of the deaf community/culture, and understanding of culturally-syntonic therapeutic interventions.

The first to exhaustively delineate the implications of the cultural model of deafness for counseling deaf people, this book is essential reading for anyone who works in an educational or counseling capacity with the deaf. This audience includes not only psychotherapists, but also vocational, guidance and residence counselors, teachers, independent living skills specialists, interpreters, and administrators of programs for the deaf.

"The book provides a valuable combination of theory and practical tips. Strongly recommended for mental health professionals, educators, interpreters, rehabilitation counselors, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, upper-division undergraduates, and graduate students in deafness-related fields." - CHOICE

"Until now, psychologists and other mental health professionals in the deafness field as well as cross-cultural psychologists have had a conspicuous characteristic in common: a general disinterest in each other's work. Since these two subdisciplines actually confront several of the same basic issues, Glickman and Harvey's book has finally brought much-needed attention to the cultural differentness of the Deaf community and a more germane approach to the mental health treatment of its members." - Barbara A. Brauer, Ph.D. and Allen E. Sussman, Ph.D., Community Counseling & Mental Health Clinic, Gallaudet University

"As one who's practiced and taught `culturally affirmative psychotherapy' with Deaf individuals for years (though we didn't have a name for it), this volume provides a welcome elucidation of its value and specific characteristics. The content and message of this important volume is one of liberation for the thousands of Deaf people who endure inappropriate or ineffective care at the hands of mental health practitioners who view, assess, or treat them as persons who are deficient, handicapped, pitiful or inferior. From theoretical to practical, this book contains a smorgasbord of wisdom. It's a `must have' volume for seasoned practitioners as well as for students and clinicians who are new to serving the Deaf population." - Robert Pollard, Ph.D. Founder, Program for Deaf Trainees, Department of Psychiatry, University of Roch

Table of Contents:

Contents: Preface. N.S. Glickman, What Is Culturally Affirmative Psychotherapy? H. Lane, Cultural Self-Awareness in Hearing People. R. Hoffmeister, M.A. Harvey, Is There a Psychology of the Hearing? T. Humphries, Of Deaf-mutes, the Strange, and the Modern Deaf Self. N.S. Glickman, The Development of Culturally Deaf Identities. M.A. Harvey, Utilization of Traumatic Transference by a Hearing Therapist. G. Isenberg, Storytelling and Use of Culturally Appropriate Metaphors in Psychotherapy With Deaf People. S. Zitter, Report From the Front Lines: Balancing Multiple Roles of a Deafness Therapist. T.M. Wax, Mental Health Service and the Deaf Community: Deaf Leaders as Culture Brokers. L.R. Lytle, J.W. Lewis, Deaf Therapists, Deaf Clients, and the Therapeutic Relationship. N.S. Glickman, M.A. Harvey, Concluding Thoughts.