You are a counselor in a small community mental health clinic in California, where you’ve been working for about 18 months with your client, Yoon, who is a 23-year-old woman of Korean-American heritage. Yoon came to you as a recent college graduate, and she hoped to find some resolution to some issues going on in her family. Yoon graduated with a degree in business from the local college and was offered a very well-paying job in New York City upon graduation. She declined the job offer in favor of helping her father to run the family business and had some regrets about that decision.
She reported to you that she felt very ‘stuck’ between the family’s pressure to keep her in California running the business, where both parents work, and her desire to expand her horizons in New York. She feels quite guilty for even wanting to leave the family, and at first, she refused to even discuss that job offer with her family.
After 18 months of intensive individual work and several sessions with the family, Yoon ultimately decides to pursue a job in New York and move across the country. Her grandmother joins her for her last session with you and presents you with a beautiful, handmade quilt that she created in gratitude for the support you’ve shown the family.
Briefly describe any relevant cultural issues at play in this scenario, and their implications for the counseling relationship. How might culture play a role in Yoon’s decision-making process here?
In light of the attitudes, beliefs, and values addressed in Module 1, briefly describe any issues of justice, fidelity, autonomy, veracity, beneficence, and nonmaleficence that might influence your ongoing work with Yoon and her family.
What potential cultural pitfalls might you experience in your work with Yoon and her family, and how might you avoid them?
Your agency has a policy against accepting personal gifts from clients. How might you respond to the quilt that Yoon’s grandmother brought to you in light of this policy, keeping both culture and agency policy in mind?
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