Relational-Cultural Therapy

Explore your reactions to the readings and to what you have learned about RCT. Discuss in what ways the readings have changed your ideas about the therapeutic relationship.

ANSWER

Relational-Cultural Therapy

From the article, the number of female juvenile offenders increases. This is because, lately, many minor offenders reported that most of them are females in their adolescent years. Despite the rise of female juvenile offenders, both men and females receive similar rehabilitative programming with slight social adjustments. Due to this, there is a massive urge for counseling to these females, hence developing Relational-Cultural Therapy programs (RCT). These programs ensure that rehabilitative structures have systems that promote conducive social-relational rehabilitation that benefits females. RCT offers several therapeutic intervention strategies for female adolescents involved with justice systems (Lenz et al., 2012). These intervention strategies include family-focused therapy that consists of the participation of family members in developing treatments and offering counseling and cognitive-behavioral therapies that address social skills, self-management, and relational skills. According to the study, RCT helps promote engagement, relational empowerment, and cultural fit for the people being served.

I have learned from the readings that therapeutic relationships are essential and should be taken seriously. Therapeutic relationships should not be biased, and women should also be considered, especially the young adolescent females in the correctional centers (Böhm, 2021). Males and females should not be put under the same rehabilitative programming since they have different social adjustments (Anderson et al., 2019). Programs like RCT should be encouraged since they are more sensitive to the development of women. Women have the right to be accepted for who they are and whatever they bring regardless of their actions. Counselors should implement RCT program initiatives by providing opportunities that prepare females to interact with one another and the community after serving their sentences. Therapeutic relationships help clients recover through interactive and caring relationships, and the therapy client relationship should be good, of confidentiality and trust.

References

Anderson, V. R., Walerych, B. M., Campbell, N. A., Barnes, A. R., Davidson, W. S., Campbell, C. A., Onifade, E., & Petersen, J. L. (2019). Gender-Responsive Intervention for Female Juvenile Offenders: A Quasi-Experimental Outcome Evaluation. Feminist Criminology, 14(1), 24–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085116677749

Böhm, A. (2021). Basic Principles for Therapeutic Relationship and Practice in Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy. Gestalt Theory, 43(1), 69–86. https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2021-0001

Lenz, A. S., Speciale, M., & Aguilar, J. V. (2012). Relational-Cultural Therapy Intervention With Incarcerated Adolescents: A Single-Case Effectiveness Design. Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation, 3(1), 17–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/2150137811435233