Assessed Unit 4: An academic paper which examines the meaning and implications of anti-discriminatory practice in counselling psychology

Abstract

You should situate yourself in relation to the issues discussed and the paper should focus on one area of discrimination and be illustrated by specific examples.Corker (2003) describes counselling as a potentially oppressive process. Given the recent launch of the large scale voluntary sector-led Moving People Programme (MPP) which aims to reduce stigmatisation experienced by people with mental health difficulties (Mind,2007), as well as the fact that the cost of stigmatisation is estimated to be vast (Mason et al., 2001), it seems timely to consider how mental health professionals might be contributing to the process of discrimination. In an attempt to address the marginalisation of people with a diagnosis of personality disorder, the Department of Health issued two specific documents in 2003: ‘Personality disorder: No longer a diagnosis of exclusion’, and ‘The personality disorder capabilities framework – Breaking the cycle of rejection’. The former has meant increased numbers of people with personality disorder being seen within mental health services while the latter acknowledges that better understanding of personality disorder is required in order to interrupt the cycle of rejection often experienced by people with personality disorders due to negative attitudes and practices within agencies. My experience of working in the NHS is that the single most vilified population of service users are those with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). This paper aims to consider how and why discrimination towards people with a diagnosis of BPD is so endemic and argues for the importance of the central humanist orientation of counselling psychology in ameliorating stigmatisation in practice. The paper concludes with some research implications and suggestions for potential ways forward.