Relational Cultural Theory
Discussion
Applications
Think about someone who contributed positively to your growth... How did that person make a difference?
- 5 Good Things of RCT:
- desire to move into more relationships, due to positive experiences
- a sense of energy
- increased knowledge of self and others
- desire to take action in the growth of a relationship
- increased sense of worth
In what ways can you incorporate Relational Cultural Theory to your practice? While maintaining an authentic relationship with yourself and the client/student?
RCT can assist with:
- Substance Abuse
- Trauma
- Eating Disorders
- Career Counseling
- Transgender Identity
Think about a time you contributed to the growth of another person....What did you do to make a difference?
Limitations
- Time Constraints
- limited literature on implementation of RCT in a brief context
- Gender Issues
- possible issues when counselor and client identify as different genders
- Calls for very careful supervision
- relationship is key
Limitations
- Unlikely a stand alone theory
- likely needs to be combined with other techniques
- Difficult to Practice
- Counselors need to be:
- highly attentive
- aware
- humble
- present
- Foundation: Radical Respect
- Alters the way coping mechanisms are seen
- Self-Empathy
- Awareness of personal social, cultural, and developmental ideas
- "Power over" vs. "Power with"
- Maintain connection as best as you can
Key Ideas
Main Point
- Mutual empowerment and mutual empathy
- Authenticity is essential to foster true relationships
- Results in productivity, greater sense of self-worth, and desire for more relationships
Discrepant Relational Images
"Connection, along with love and belonging, is why we are here, and it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. Shame is the fear of disconnection--it's the fear that something we've done or failed to do, an ideal that we've not lived up to, or a goal that we've not accomplished, makes us unworthy of connection." - Brene Brown
Strategies of Disconnection
- Disconnection can occur at a social, cultural and systemic level.
- Chronic Disconnection takes place when there are repeated disconnections in the context of relationship.
- Ex. Connected to power within the relationship
- Leads to strategies to twist and fit into a disconnected relationship
Theoretical Development
Focus
Humans grow through and toward connection throughout the lifespan. Culture has a huge impact on that relationship.
- Roots of RCT:
- Gilligan, Chodorow, as well as Miller and her colleagues.
- Began to ask if the way women’s development and identity was accurate
- Gilligan response to Kohlberg’s theory of Moral Development
- She maintained the theory presented women as deficient
- Chodorow reexamined Object Relations Theory to note that women and girls had profoundly different relational expectations with mothers than boys and men. Thus leading to differences in identity and developmental expectations.
Theoretical
Development
Often, relational-cultural theory is aligned with the Feminist and or Multicultural Movements in Psychology. In fact, RCT embraces many social justice aspects from these movements.
•Towards a New Psychology of Women (1976) written by Jean Baker Miller
•Suggested that women develop through relationships
•Stated that the model of self-sufficiency did not match the strengths or experiences of women
Disconnection
Strategies of Disconnection are methods used to protect relationships but avoid authenticity.
Destinee James, Paula Votendahl, Juan Gonzalez