JOURNAL 7 " Obstacles and Challenges experienced working effectively with LGBT clients?"

Experiences and challenges faced in working effectively with LGBT clients is working with their sexual minority status. As a social workers I need to be prepared to address concerns such as internalized homophobia. In lots of cases their status is not shared by family or environment. So it is very important that I understand personality theory and identity development of the self in relation to others. It is important for all human growth and development to grow simultaneously independently and cohesively. Independent growth is learning to be alone and responsible, and it is also a growth for self esteem and self care. Cohesive development is getting support and emotional nuturance from persons family, social network and community, this provides opportunities for developing real self. In learning to be cohesive you learn to be for the purpose of learning to be intimate and self transcendent. LGBT clients may be forced to find support for his or her identified self only in immediate peer networks or in the gay and lesbian community, and later the individual may find it difficult to manifest aspects of the real self that do not fit the norms or expectations of the gay and lesbian community.

It is important to realize that the LGBT population share the same concerns as heterosexual persons for mental health, physical health, and personal well being. It is important for me as a social worker not to make the mistake to see all clients problems as a reaction to his or her sexual orientation.

It is important for me to work through my sexual identity on issues of homophobia and attitudes I may have toward the LGBT persons and to be open and honest and acknowledge transference and counter transference are conditions necessary for effective helping relationships.

Finally it is important in cross cultural social work practice with LGBT clients for me to understand that the referral resources the worker usually trusts and utilizes during network intervention with heterosexual clients may not be as useful for gay and lesbian client. Homophobic attitudes of individuals in the social workers referral network may interfere with service delivery.