Case Study 2:

Ariel is a twenty- seven-year-old woman. She identifies as straight and has been living with her parents for the last 7 years while she has completed university. Prior to this, she lived with family members as her parent's addictions were such that it would not be safe for her to live with them. Ariel is of lower income and has received a subsidy to see you. She is also in a larger body due to several health conditions. She has experienced classism in counselling before, in the sense that people have been unkind to her because of her social status, and she has felt judged by practitioners in the past. She's feeling nervous about coming to see you because she has been called lazy in the past by therapists. This is because they have made assumptions that she doesn't "want" to work on health issues when the fact is her health conditions make her quite tired and she has limited financial resources to do so. Provide a definition of classism . State why you believe counselling can be impacted by classism. How would you speak to Ariel about what her goals for counselling are?

1. How would you address the concerns she has about being seen as lazy because of difficulties she faces when it comes to taking care of her health concerns?
2. Despite the fact that Ariel's sessions are being paid for by a stipend, she feels nervous about being judged for being of lower income. How would you support her and show that she can be comfortable?
3. What else do you think you would need to know about Ariel in order to be an effective counsellor?