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17. As a hearing person who is interested in counseling Deaf people, how can I best prepare myself to enter the field?
If you have had a chance to read through the Alternative Solutions Center (ASC) website or view some of our vlogs at ASC on the Couch (www.ascdeaf.com/blog), you may already know that ASC’s philosophy is to empower Deaf clients by pairing them with Deaf therapists. We feel strongly that this type of therapeutic relationship offers many benefits for clients, not the least of which is the opportunity to do therapy with a professional who "understands" the Deaf experience and who shares the language and culture with the client. The clients who see us tend to be clients who are specifically looking for a Deaf therapist. One of the first things they share with us is an immense relief at being able to let go of Deaf-hearing emotional baggage when they step into our offices and start the therapy process on an "equal" footing with a Deaf therapist. Please know that our philosophy is not intended to be "anti-hearing" in any way - all of us at ASC have many wonderful and cherished hearing family members, friends, and neighbors. We also have the greatest respect for our hearing colleagues who have already been in the field for some time and who were there for the Deaf community when there were almost no Deaf therapists available anywhere. To them, we accord a "grandfathering" status. Our position advocating Deaf therapists today is simply based on the fact that we see too many Deaf-hearing issues and power imbalances - political and personal, systematic and individual - tangled up in many Deaf people's lives, all of which can affect the therapeutic relationship, directly or indirectly. In the same way that African American people may seek African American therapists, or women may seek women therapists, or lesbian/gay people may seek lesbian/gay therapists, as Deaf therapists, our philosophy is for Deaf people to work with Deaf therapists. When it comes to Deaf children in therapy, in particular, it is especially important for them to have access to Deaf therapists who are fluent native signers and able to understand the slight nuances in children's signing and communication. Instead of going into the counseling field to work with Deaf people, we strongly encourage hearing people who want to work within the Deaf community, to become interpreters and allies. There is a serious shortage of interpreters all over the US. Hearing people can be great allies by educating their agencies and schools about the value of hiring Deaf therapists or referring Deaf clients to Deaf therapists. |