Making an abortion can be a decision that will influence a woman’s life, and the role of a counselor, in this case, can hardly be overestimated. Outlining the difficulties the woman might face if she decides to keep the baby and her health problems if she chooses an abortion, the counselor shows his client two possible courses of action. The role of a counselor in this situation is not to instruct the woman on a preferable decision but to show all pros and cons of the situation (Jace Mavuso, 2021). From the legal viewpoint, abortions are allowed; from the ethical side, they can be seen as equal to murder by some people. The counselor’s personal beliefs may color his advice in that, being in favor of a particular course of action, he may make this option sound better than the other (Mavuso & Macleod, 2020). In this case, the woman may be influenced by a counselor’s position and make a decision she will later regret.
Counseling a man convicted of domestic abuse can be tricky, since sometimes these people may see themselves as victims of the system and deny their fault. In this case, the role of a counselor is to help a person understand where he went wrong and, more importantly, to help improve relations within the family (Abolakale, 2019). People convicted of domestic abuse may see their family as an enemy, especially if their relatives or a wife called the police (Ekwe, 2021). From the legal viewpoint, domestic violence constitutes a crime; from the ethical side, it is condemned by society. However, if the counselor himself has a propensity for violence, he may unintentionally attribute some fault for the situation to a man’s relatives, making it harder for the client to mend bridges with his family.
Counseling an interracial couple on the subject of marriage, the counselor should outline the misunderstanding such an alliance may face on the part of both respective communities and the ways to minimize it (De Hart, 2017). Parents and friends may be against such a marriage, seeing it as unequal; the cultural gap may cause all sorts of trouble. The counselor’s judgment may color his advice in that he may exaggerate negative sides such as alliance, forcing the couple to think twice about the marriage.
References
Abolakale, M. S. (2019). Patterns of domestic violence among married adults in Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria: Implication for counselling. Covenant International Journal of Psychology, 4(1), 55-70. Web.
De Hart, B. (2017). Protecting Dutch girls from the harem: Premarital counselling for mixed marriages with Muslim men. Journal of Migration History, 3(1), 78-103. Web.
Ekwe, C. N. (2021). Family crisis counselling with domestic violence undertone. International Journal For Psychotherapy In Africa, 6(1), 98-109. Web.
Mavuso, J. M. J. (2021). Understanding the violation of directive anti-abortion counselling [and cisnormativity]: Obstruction to access or reproductive violence? Agenda, 1-13. Web.
Mavuso, J. M. J. & Macleod, C. I. (2020). Contradictions in womenās experiences of preāabortion counselling in South Africa: Implications for clientācentred practice. Nursing Inquiry, 27(2). Web.