Topic 10: Psychologists and Community

INTRODUCTION

As discussed in Topic 9, counselling in a multicultural context can be

challenging because clients who come from diverse cultural groups may
have different counselling needs. In most collectivist societies or cultures,
community plays an important role in the psychological growth and
development of a client.

Therefore, psychologists and other mental health professionals should be

knowledgeable about the do’s and don’ts’ in doing community work based
on ethical standards, community law and regulations.

This topic discusses community psychologists’ work, with a focus on

ethical issues in community work. It begins by defining some key terms
associated with community mental health services. The role of a
psychologist is then discussed.

This topic also investigates the current focus in community counselling in

order to be consistent with the rights and regulations of the community.
This topic includes a practical approach to solving a community-based
case scenario to ensure that psychologists have a better understanding of
community work.

10.1 PSYCHOLOGISTS’ RESPONSIBILITY TO COMMUNITY

Homan (2008, as cited in Corey et al., 2010) defines the term community
as follows:

A community is a number of people who share a distinct location, belief,

interest, activity, or other characteristics that clearly identify their
commonality and differentiate them from those not sharing it.

Corey et al. (2010, p. 511) further define the term community agency as
follows:

Community agency means to “include any institution – public or private,

nonprofit or for-profit – designed to provide a wide range of social and
psychological services to the community” (p. 511).

Now, let us look at the meaning of community workers.

Community workers include, but are not limited to, a diverse pool of
human-service workers such as psychologists, social workers,
psychiatrists, counsellors, couples and family therapists, community
developers, among many others whose primary duties include providing
services to individuals within the community.

Working in a community requires specific competencies because the:

• nature of work;

• prospective clients; and

• community contexts are all inter-connected.

The standards for counselling clients in a community setting have been

endorsed in most codes of ethics (e.g., Australian Psychological Society
Ethical Guidelines).

This will be discussed further in the next subtopic. Therefore, mental

health professionals such as psychologists and counsellors must know
their multiple roles and be aware which role is appropriate for a certain
case or client.

10.1.1 Ethical Practice in Community Work

In many codes of ethics, there are guidelines for providing counselling or

psychological services to individuals in a community.

For example, the PERKAMA Code of Ethics (1994) have documented

several responsibilities of a counsellor towards a community. These
include:

• Understanding and respecting the socio-cultural aspects of the

community where he or she works; and

• Complying with laws and performing work in accordance with the

respective laws.

The ACA Code of Ethics (2005) provides examples of counsellors’

responsibilities when working in a community:

Examples of potentially beneficial interactions include, but are not limited

to, attending a formal ceremony (e.g., a wedding/commitment ceremony
or graduation); purchasing a service or product provided by a client or
former client (excepting unrestricted bartering); hospital visits to an ill
family member; mutual membership in a professional association,
organization, or community. (See A.5.c.)

In Australia, the APS has prepared specific guidelines for psychological

practice in rural and remote settings to assist psychologists with an
interest in psychological practice outside the major capital cities and
regional centres of Australia (Australian Psychological Society, 2009). The
guidelines acknowledge several dimensions of difference between rural
and urban practice in psychology.

It was stated in the guideline that the four most commonly cited ethical
issues confronting rural and remote practitioners are (APS, 2009):
Four Most Commonly Cited Ethical Issues Confronting Rural and Remote
Practitioners

 Limits to competence in a broad range of domains, especially when

working with indigenous clients
 Boundary management
 Confidentiality
 Professional (as well as personal) isolation

In most developed countries such as the United States, Australia, and

Britain; community counselling is widely recognised and practised for
quite some time (Loewenthal & Rogers, 2004; Lewis, Lewis, Daniels &
D’Andrea, 2003).

The American scholars define the term “community counselling” as

follows:

Community counselling is a comprehensive helping framework of

intervention strategies and services that promotes the personal
development and well-being of all individuals and communities. (Lewis et
al., 2003)

There are four facets of comprehensive community counselling

programmes offered in the United States context.

Four Facets of Comprehensive Community Counselling Programmes

 Direct community services: Preventive education

 Indirect community services: Influencing policymakers
 Direct client services: Focuses on outreach activities
 Indirect client services: Client advocacy

This variety of services and focuses indicate that community counselling

has become a specialised area of practice in the American context.

The following characteristics are some of the basic characteristics or

competencies needed for practitioners to excel in community counselling
(outlined by Corey et al., 2010):

(a) Familiar with resources within the community that they can refer
clients to, when necessary.

(b) Have basic knowledge of the cultural background of their clients.

(c) Possess skills that can be used as needed by clients.

(d) Have the ability to balance various roles as professionals.

(e) Are able to identify and work with professionals and non-professionals
in the community who have the ability to be agents of change in the
community.

(f) Willing to be advocates for policy changes in the community.

(g) Have the ability to connect with the community and connect
community members with each other.

Community counselling in Malaysia is still in its early stages of

development. It was first introduced by a variety of non-profit
organisations such as The Befrienders and Agape Counselling Center but
has started receiving considerable attention from the Malaysian Board of
Counsellors and the government (See & Ng, 2010).

The types of community counselling services currently available in

Malaysia are:

• telephone counselling;

• face-to-face counselling;

• support groups; and

• recently, online counselling has gained popularity due to the onset of

the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Most of these services are conducted by para professionals but recently

there has been a growth in the number of licensed practitioners or service
providers working in community settings (See & Ng, 2010). This shows
that the importance of community counselling is now visible among local
communities in Malaysia.

With this development, professionals have to be well-prepared and

competent to perform their duties based on their multiple roles. This will
be further discussed in the next subtopic.

10.1.2 Psychologists’ Professional Responsibility: Social Justice and

Advocacy

The APS Guidelines for Psychological Practice in Rural and Remote

Settings state:

Research and anecdotal evidence from Australia and overseas suggest

that residing and working in small communities can present both
opportunities and challenges. Psychologists working in rural and remote
communities are likely to operate as generalist practitioners with the
potential to offer holistic, lifespan support to community members.
However, the lack of anonymity in small communities where everyone
may know, or know of, everyone else, can challenge professional practice
in ways not commonly encountered in urban settings (Guideline 2.1).

In light of the above excerpt, standard B.3. professional responsibility of

the APS Code of Ethics (2007) still applies to community psychologists and
counsellors in the Australian context:

B.3. Psychologists provide psychology services in a responsible manner.

Regarding the nature of the psychology services they are providing,
psychologists should:

(a) Act with the care and skill expected of a competent psychologist;

(b) Take responsibility for the reasonably foreseeable consequences of

their conduct;

(c) Take reasonable steps to prevent harm occuring as a result of their

conduct;

(d) Provide psychology service only for the period when those services are
necessary to the client;

(e) Are personally responsible for the professional decisions they make;

(f) Take reasonable steps to ensure that their services and products are
used appropriately and responsibly;

(g) Are aware of, and take steps to establish and maintain proper
professional boundaries with clients and colleagues; and

(h) Regularly review the contractual arrangements with clients and, where
circumstances change, make relevant modifications when necessary with
the informed consent of the client.

Based on the Code, the psychologist’s own attitude and intent are
critically important to ethical decision-making in complex situations most
likely to be encountered in small communities. Therefore, rural and
remote practitioners need to have a clear understanding regarding their
community work and should always cross-check their intent and
application with the Code and the Guidelines.

Psychologists’ roles are dependent on the focuses in the community

mental health work. These focuses can be viewed from two perspectives:

• social justice

• advocacy

The underlying assumption for the social justice movement lies in the
notion that everyone has a right to equitable treatment and fair allocation
of societal resources, including decision making (Corey et al., 2010). The
social justice perspective has now become a focus in multicultural
counselling literature because it involves thinking about the therapeutic
process and ethics beyond a traditional framework.

Meanwhile the traditional framework of counselling views counselling as:

• a one-to-one;

• in the office setting; and

• the assumption that the problems a client presents to counselling

originate within him or her only.

Now, let us learn about advocacy.

Advocacy is a behavioural outcome of a social justice perspective. It is

defined as a professional practice intended to identify and intervene in
social policies and practices which have a negative influence on the
mental health of disadvantaged or marginalised clients on the basis of
social status.

To ethically and effectively perform social justice advocacy requires a set

of competencies. These competencies are needed to serve clients at three
levels of advocacy interventions.

Three Levels of Advocacy Interventions

i. The individual client/student level

ii. The community/school level
iii. The public/societal level

This means that the focus of advocacy is providing a supportive

environment for the client, which directly contributes to his or her
psychological growth.

10.1.3 Psychologist Role in a Community Setting

When working in a community setting, a psychologist’s role is broadened

to include six alternative roles.

Six Alternative Roles in a Community Setting

 Facilitator of indigenous support systems

 Advocate
 Change agent
 Consultant
 Adviser
Community counselling practitioners also have certain duties and these
involve the following (Corey et al., 2010):

• ability to support community needs;

• develop partnerships in creation and delivery of services;

• promote community organisation and development of activities;

• outreach;

• develop strategies to empower the community;

• consultation with community agencies;

• evaluating human services programmes;

• advocate and assist with initiatives; and

• develop and build community assets.

We have learnt about psychologists’ responsibilities to community and

these responsibilities are quite diverse to suit the needs of various groups
of people.

Therefore, community counsellors and psychologists must be well

prepared and confident to deal with a diverse population in a specific
community setting. They must know the community’s rights too. So, the
following subtopic discusses community rights in detail.

10.2 COMMUNITY’S RIGHTS

You have been given a glimpse of client rights in a community counselling

centre in the United States.

In Australia, community rights and responsibilities (as stated in the official

website of the Department of Health and Ageing, Australia) are briefly but
clearly expressed. The excerpt is as follows:

(a) The community has the right to be informed and educated so that
public awareness of mental health issues will be enhanced; and

(b) The community has the right to be protected from severe harassment
or undue intrusion by people who have mental health problems or mental
disorders.

In line with the principles of social justice the community has a

responsibility to:

(a) Treat people who have a mental health problem or mental disorder
with dignity and respect; and
(b) Accept community-based programmes of care, treatment,
rehabilitation, employment, and accommodation for people who have
mental health problem or mental disorder.

Source: Mental health: statements of rights and responsibilities, retrieved

from
[Link]
mental-pubs-m-rights-toc~mental-pubs-m-rights-com on August 22, 2011

So, clients receiving community counselling services have the right to be

informed before consenting to education on care, treatment, and
rehabilitation approaches, and to be protected from any harm and
mistreatment.

10.2.1 Rights for Advocacy

There are a wide range of advocacy services that a community can access
from any community counselling centre. For example, the main services
may include the following:

Eight Main Services

i) Community legal advice and assistance

• Legal advice regarding domestic violence.
ii) Tenancy support
 Community services for homeless people.
iii) Financial advice
• Emergency relief.
• Possible government assistance.
iv) Job seeking assistance
• Writing resume.
• Preparing for job interviews.
v) Multicultural support
• Community education.
• The Family Friends programme.
vi) Individual and family support
• Family links.
• Family mental health care.
• Family relationships, education, and skills training.
vii) Alcohol and other drug support services
• Community drug service team.
viii) Youth support
• Youth Development Holiday programme.
• Youth Employment and Life Skills programme.
• Parent teen link.

Advocacy services are more attractive to:

• clients in a rural community;

• clients from minority ethnic groups;

• clients from disadvantaged, marginalised or oppressed groups; and

• clients from disabled and elderly groups.

Therefore, community psychologists or counsellors need to be aware and

knowledgeable of their needs for advocacy, and be able to provide
advocacy services to suit their clients’ needs. Sometimes, after the clients
have received advice and assistance through advocacy services, they may
feel the need for a more personalised service such as counselling. This is
further discussed in the next subtopic.

10.2.2 Rights for Counselling

Individuals have the right to counselling as a community to improve their

mental health and well-being. However, because of societal stereotypes
about mental disorders and those suffering from mental health issues,
community counselling practitioners must be creative and proactive in
order to attract clients from their community.

As a result, community counsellors, for example, must:

• use a reach-out strategy rather than a wait-and-see approach;

• educate clients about the need for and benefits of counselling for
individual growth and functioning rather than simply assuming that
everyone in the community is mentally literate; and

• promote counselling services through various media rather than doing

nothing.

There is a wide range of counselling services available at community

counselling centres and these include the following:

Five Counselling Services

i. Family counselling
ii. Drought counselling
iii. Financial counselling
iv. Counselling for children
v. Adolescent counselling

However, the following case study describes a situation encountered by

Swee Lian, a community counsellor in Malaysia (Aga Mohd Jaladin, 2011).
The case involved a single mother client who needed financial advocacy
and counselling services. The following is the transcript of the dialogue
with Swee Lian:
The Case of Swee Lian

But that particular kind of client also a Chinese but she mixed. Her parents
are a mixture. OK. But she is not Bumiputra. She talks a lot. Yeah, she
talks a lot about her non-satisfaction about the government and politics. I
deal with her fine. She talked about her children you know which got
straight As but couldn’t enter the university the local university. Couldn’t
get anything you know. Then, she’s a single mum. She has to really
“gadai” (pawn) or whatever just to get her son go to the university
overseas. It’s quite terrible for her.

I understand that. But, I help her to understand that ... I have to accept
her frustrations. I just let her release her emotions. I help her to release
her emotions and a shoulder to cry on. How difficult she has worked for
her son – her son first, her daughter next. Then, her core issues – of
course she can complain a lot about the educational, the quote, whatever
the quota or whatever – but, the basic issue is, it is not easy to cope as a
single mother. Her children’s educations are all overseas, you know.
“Pandai belajar” (clever) some more.

Her unability (inability) to cope maybe couple with her unability (inability)
to ask for help. Ha, yes. Yes. I help her to set up [pause] acknowledge her
support system where she can get help. So, finally, one day she came to
me after I think we ended our sessions many years ago. After I think two
or three years later, oh! No, No. After one and a half year later, she called
me during Chinese New Year and said, I got help you know and what a
surprise!

She got help from one of the government agencies. You know. I asked her
out of curiosity, do you really hate the government? “No. No, I don’t”
Then, it really tested my theory. It was not about the country. Really! It’s
about how ... I think everybody got a fair chance. You just need to work
harder when you are not having that special status, you need to work
harder and look for the right link, then you get help.

A close examination of this example reveals a complex reality of having

multiple social identities (mixed-race, non-Bumiputra, female, a single
mother, and poor) which intersect with individuals, organisations, and
society in the socio-political context of Malaysia because power
imbalances are associated with not only race/ethnicity but also gender,
socioeconomic status, and life experiences.

To be able to effectively respond to power differential issues due to these

multiple social identities, the counsellor in this example had to use several
culturally-sensitive skills and strategies such as the following:
(a) Demonstrating her cultural empathy by using active listening skills
because she was aware of her multicultural upbringing and personal life
experience as a non-Bumiputra during her schooling years, who was also
being discriminated by her own ethnic group because her father was a
government servant:

Yes. I’m not saying that you know because my dad is the government
servant, then I got – not a scholarship – I got the – not sponsorship – it’s
the scholarship, I mean the loan lah from JPA, not because of that. But,
well, my dad served his service. He also worked hard but not many
Chinese wanted to become the army and you (the Chinese) look down at
my father, I mean during my years.

(b) Having cultural knowledge and deep understanding of the client’s

background and her presenting problems;

(c) Having background knowledge on available government services and

agencies to meet the client’s needs;

(d) Constructively confronting the client’s personal biases and political

beliefs to help the client understand the “real” problem better; and

(e) Becoming a culturally-skilled helper because she used her cultural

background and knowledge to re-educate her client regarding ethnic
politics and to help her client set up her support system.

The counsellor’s qualities, self-awareness, knowledge, understanding,

background experience, and cultural skills have an impact in her
counselling approach, hence contribute to her multicultural competence.

Overall, this topic has discussed some issues involving psychologists’ work
with communities. Psychologists have a number of professional
responsibilities towards their clients, both as an individual as well as a
community member.

So, community psychologists and counsellors, especially those who are

working in rural or remote settings, have to be aware of community
issues.

They also need to have:

• a wide base knowledge regarding ethics; and

• a mature and reflective understanding of specific ethical guidelines and

specialised skills to work well with members of a community in specific
cultural contexts.