«Cultural Diversity and Special Population» - Free Essay Paper

Invidious Comparison

People differ from each other, yet, most of the time, they compare themselves with others. It is in human nature. Sometimes, it helps people to learn different lessons from their peers such as decision making and improving lifestyles. However, if it reinforces a negative or an unrealistic self-image, it can become an unhealthy habit to get into a comparison in day-to-day life. Invidious comparison can create inferiority complex, depression and frustrations (Bloom, 2003).

Thinking about my personal life, I can remember that I used to compare myself with one of my classmates. He was good in studies. So, most of the time, I used to compare my achievements with his. Such comparisons made me stressed and depressed. Thus, I started to find some solutions to improve my lifestyle. I have learned that it is possible to stop invidious comparison by learning some step by step methods of self-improvement. However, first of all, people should understand that comparing themselves with others is a bad habit that must be avoided. Secondly, they must realize that every person is unique, because of his/her heredity, race, culture, society and personality. Thirdly, one should not be ashamed of himself/herself due to his/her skin color, religion, race, sexual orientation or gender. Fourthly, people should try to forgive others and learn from their mistakes. They must learn to deal with changes and try to enjoy doing things that make them happy (Bloom 2003).

Strategies to Avoid Vicarious Traumatization

Currently, I use different strategies to avoid vicarious traumatization. I have understood that it is a form of debilitating physiological and emotional stress on the human body. It is caused by the traumatic and disturbing life events. People can experience immense anxiety, depression and health problems as a result of vicarious trauma. I have used different professional and cultural strategies to avoid vicarious traumatization. As a human service worker, I think people should develop professional and personal strategies to avoid vicarious traumatization. They must focus on both environmental and individual methods. Environmental approaches are divided between the business or organizational setting and social strategies while, individual approaches encompass physical, personal, social and mental health of a person (Queensland Government, 2013).

Professional Strategies

Currently, in my professional life, I use a few strategies to avoid vicarious traumatization. I believe that a human service worker should understand the effects of trauma on him/her and the others. If a person has extreme workload or stress, then he/she should seek consultation on difficult cases. He/she should attempt to diversify or monitor caseload. Moreover, people should take breaks during workdays to relieve stress. They should get supervision from someone who understands the treatment and dynamics of vicarious traumatization. Also, they should realize that they are not alone in facing stress at work. Workers should use a team for support in difficult moments to avoid extreme workloads. Senior executives should avoid the strategies of isolating the employees from each other. They must maintain a work team to confront personal stress (Bloom, 2003).

Cultural Strategies

I believe that employees should create a culture to counteract the effects of traumatization. They must develop clarity about personal guidelines and job tasks. They must establish a clear value system in the organization. Also, the directors and CEOs of the companies should encourage the democratic process in conflict resolution and decision-making. They must view problems that affect the entire group and find solutions without blaming the employees (Bloom, 2003).

Application of Strategies

Basically, I use different techniques to avoid vicarious traumatization. These techniques may include psychological, physical, social and moral methods. Human service workers should apply their strategies in different forms to avoid vicarious traumatization.

Physical Application

Human service workers should engage the patients in self-care behaviors such as proper sleep and diet. They must encourage patients to undertake physical activities such as yoga and exercise (Bloom, 2003).

Psychological Application

Human service workers must identify the main reasons of vicarious traumatization and provide personal therapies. They must organize seminars with patients to help them to understand their limitations and boundaries of achievements. Also, people should improve their mental health by understanding their own levels of tolerance. They should engage in recreational activities, such as reading books, listening to music or spending time in nature. They must modify their work schedule to fit it in their personal lives (Bloom, 2003).

Social Application

People should engage themselves in social out-of-work activities such as volunteering, charity and non-profit organizations. In addition, they should get emotional support from colleagues, friends and families (Bloom, 2003).

Moral Application

People should adopt a religious or philosophical outlook of life. They should realize that they cannot take responsibility for the client’s healing, but they can work as a guide, mentor, midwife or a coach. Also, people should clarify their own sense and purpose of life. They should connect with different sociopolitical activities and improve their social activism techniques and skills. All these strategies have helped me to avoid vicarious traumatization.

Development of Strategies

It is possible to develop particular strategies to avoid vicarious traumatization. I use some strategies to reduce the trauma and stress in my day to day life. According to these strategies, people should discuss any work-related issues with peer support officers, line managers and colleagues. Employees should be aware that there are typical emotional reactions to the work of the department. Therefore, they must take responsibility for their self-cares, personal lives and balance work demands. They should access professional supervision forums and networks. Also, they should challenge themselves to work on the variety of cases. They should create a plan of professional higher education by becoming a part of professional networks (Queensland Government, 2013).