Counseling with Deaf Clients: The need for Culturally and Linguistically Sensitive Interventions

Many counselors and therapists who work with culturally Deaf clients have had the unfortunate experience of trying to use what they consider to be an appropriate intervention, only to see it elicit a response of silence and puzzlement from the client. At other times the clinician may become creative and use an intervention that seems to propel the session forward. Why is it that certain types of interventions tend to work better with Deaf clients? Why is it that some interventions seem inappropriate? Are there certain types of interventions that are best suited for use within a visual/gestural mode of communication? The two premises being put forth in this paper are: some interventions are, in fact, better suited for work with Deaf individuals; and, the natural language of Deaf people, namely American Sign Language (ASL)as well as factors pertaining to Deaf culture, should be considered essential criteria for determining which interventions are appropriate. This paper is not meant as a how to document but, rather, as an invitation to counselors who work with Deaf clients to examine the extent to which their interventions complement the linguistic and cultural needs of their clients. Three examples of culturally and linguistically sensitive interventions will be examined in this paper and then applied to a case example