Assignment task:
Culture and interpersonal relationships with John's parents, siblings, partner, children and work colleagues are some of the social factors identified in John's case. An important next step as John's counsellor will be to explore his worldview. Inquiring about views on child rearing, family dynamics, values and importance of spirituality or religion (Shebib, 2020) will be vital in understanding how John and his partner align and differ. John has stated that his partner identifies as Chinese, indicating there may be differences in cultural and religious views within the relationship. Additionally, understanding John's worldview in relation to his parents and siblings will be important in understanding John's sense of self and possibly provide some insight into why he feels he chose the 'wrong sex' to be with.
In building rapport with John it will be essential to be culturally sensitive and mindful of personal biases or oppression that may be his present reality. Demonstrating to John about my comfortability with and acceptance of his lifestyle will support John to feel safe and not judged (Slay-Westbrook, 2017). Some ways in which I can share my ally-ship with John include using inclusive language in printed materials and through oral discussions, displaying the rainbow flag on my website and in my office space and modelling language and terms used by John (Government of Alberta).