LGBT Issues
There have been many misconceptions about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual population. The worst of it is when being part of this population is regarded as a mental disorder. No research has directly linked either of LGBT populations to mental illness. However, this population, regardless of the many guidelines enacted to protect them, they have continued to face rejection in society. This paper, therefore, discusses the critical issues facing this population and a crisis worker’s approach to handling the problems through the use of Albert Ellis’s ABC model.
As a result of the rejection from society, LGBT populations tend to be aggressive, with behaviors that suggest anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. With continued exposure to public scorn, these behaviors actualize and hence, placing the LGBT populations at risk of excess mental distress and disorder as a result of social stress (Harcourt, 2013). A crisis worker has to understand the vulnerability of these populations with respect to social pressure and step in with an appropriate tool to alleviate the stress and instill mental health.
The appropriate tool to alleviate issues of LGBT is Albert Ellis’s ABC model of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. The model helps the victims anticipate the social stress factors in a positive way (Kanel, 2014). According to the model, the stressful emotions we feel are not as a result of external events but as a result of our own beliefs, irrational beliefs for that matter.
A stand for Activating event which is external
B stands for Beliefs
C stands for Consequences
The interpretation of the model is that life events (A) do not influence our emotions and behavior (C), but how these events are cognitively interpreted does (B). Therefore, a crisis worker has to make the LGBT victim of social stress learn how to positively process what life events present to them (Kanel, 2014). They keep positive beliefs about themselves, which will boost their self-esteem, and hence help them avoid anxiety and depression.