Sexual Orientation

A therapist will face problems, issues and client troubles everyday. The professional must understand how their client relates to the world around them. These feelings and ideas affect how the client sees the problem and how they respond to their situation. Their actions, in turn, have bearing on individual thoughts, needs, and emotions. The therapist must be aware of the client's history, values, and culture in order to provide effective therapy. This paper will outline and provide information as to the importance of cultural competence and diversity in family therapy.

One of the strongest arguments in favor of the biological base of the homosexuality is the fact that according to the statistics every group of people, irrespectively of their nationality, social conditions and other factors includes certain percentage of gay members, approximately 6-10% (Chalabi, 2013). According to Jacques Balthazart (2011) multiple scientific twin researches prove that the changes of orientation are caused by hormonal disbalance during the prenatal period and as a result several genes of the gays are changed, also in the course of such researches the scientists found out the “region of the brain that was smaller in gay men” (Vincent, 2014).

One theory that many psychologist and scientist are trying to prove is that homosexuality has a fundamental biological basis. Similar to most mammalian species, humans at conception are females (McKnight 22). Toward the end of the first trimester is when the babies with a “male genetic message” begin to have small doses of two hormones, chorionic gonadotropin and luteinizing hormone, which start the altering process of the gonads into testes (McKnight 22). The hormones two jobs are to control the sexual development and control their function (McKnight 22). When the brain starts to develop masculine characteristics and lose the feminine characteristics, the processes are separate and occur at different

A pattern emerges where the scholarly literature exploring this topic is largely focused on males. Reason being is that it appears that males are the sex who are predominantly homosexual in their orientation (LeVay & Baldwin, 2012). However, the sensitivity within the discourse of sexual orientation arises when it is debated upon whether one 's sexual preference is innate at birth, hence a force of nature or biology, or if it is a result of culture, nurture or environmental factors (Emmanuele et al., 2010). Furthermore, an experimental design will be proposed to further examine this topic. Comparing the three chosen studies, it is evident that a biological and endocrinological perspective does account for sexual orientation (Kraemer et al., 2006; Manning et al., 2007; Miller et al., 2008). Of the studies that currently exist on this topic, data shows that prenatal testosterone levels are indicative of sexual orientation (Kraemer et al., 2006; Manning et al., 2007; Miller et al., 2008). This paper addresses a topic that is relevant in today 's society; a topic that has, for the most part, been written off as having any scientific roots (Emmanuele et al., 2010). This paper counters that belief and in reading this essay, it will be evident that biology and endocrinology have a much stronger influence on sexual orientation than previously thought.

There are three core goals leading a counselor to become culturally competent, which include awareness of personal biases, understanding and acknowledging the worldviews of individuals from all cultures, and developing appropriate techniques and interventions by using specific skills and strategies. Becoming aware of ones own biases is essential for changing ones perspective. Being aware of Ones of biases allows the individual to rewire their thinking patterns and unattached previous assumptions. A cultural competent counselor will actively understand the worldviews of all individuals from different cultures. Research is a key fundamental when educating ones self about culture. A culturally competent counselor will accept clients for who they are and perceive them without judgment. Cultural competent counselors will create innovative techniques and interventions depending upon the client’s culture. Counselors must function with clients as a team to optimize growth and development of the client. Together, the counselor and the client can find new strategies and interventions that work effectively. Becoming culturally competent is an important goal for counselors and throughout the profession counselors will strive to achieve

Women’s’ heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate all continue to normal following an orgasm in both men and women. Both male and female may become relaxed and have a feeling of satisfaction. A major difference in men from women in this phase is that men enter a refractory period or a time when they are not responsive to further sexual stimulation. During this period the male cannot experience another orgasm or ejaculate. The amount of time that the refractory period lasts depends greatly on the age of the male. In young males the period may last only a few minutes, in males that are 50 or older the period may last from a few minutes to an entire day. Women do not experience this refractory period and can become quickly aroused again to the point of having repeated or multiple orgasms if they so desire and if they continue to receive sexual stimulation.

The male during the excitement phase experiences an increased heart rate, as well as breathing. The male’s penis usually becomes erect during this stage, as it prepares for coitus. However, the male’s penis could lose and regain its erection several times during the excitement phase. In addition, the males testicles drawn up towards the perineum. The male’s scrotum

The research article suggests a structure within the human brain and a genetic link indicate the biological factor for male homosexuality. The journal investigates an experiment about the role of male genetics in sexual orientation by analysing the hypothalamus in autopsy specimens from homosexual and heterosexual men. Increased possibilities of same-sex orientation were discovered in the maternal male cousins and uncles of the participants, instead of their father or parental relatives. Also, the researchers discovered a brain cell group ‘INAH’ had a potentiality of being the sex-orientated DNA, indicating that the reason of homosexuality may be related to genetics.

In one article by Marcia Malory, “Homosexuality & Choice: Are Gay People ‘Born This Way’”, she goes into multiple studies on the genetics of a gay child's parents. A study conducted in 1993 the “gay gene” matter arose when it was looked into the homosexual children's parents having a different X chromosome marker. Nonetheless genes do not control our behavior completely as does environment. The brain may also play a role in sexual preference, like the study in 1991 showing the difference in neurons and pituitary glands. Later in the 2000s more studies showed that gay men have more symmetrical hemisphere and amygdala resembles that of women's. The brain develops in the womb and continues through late adulthood. When did a fetus choose its

Just as LeVay found evidence of variation between the heterosexual and homosexual brains so did Swedish scientists Ivanka Savic and Per Lindström. They have produced three incredibly interesting and compelling studies. In the first two studies they documented how males and females of both sexual orientations responded to human pheromones. The researchers had the test subjects smell four ordinary aromas and male and female hormones while their brains were being scanned with positron emission tomography (PET). Fascinatingly, the normal scents activated the part of the brain which processes smells, but the hormones were processed by the hypothalamus in most. Heterosexual men’s hypothalamus processed the female hormones, but scent area processed the male hormones. The opposite was found for heterosexual females (Schmid, 2006). On the other hand, homosexual males’ hypothalamus responded to males hormones while the scent area processed the female hormones (USATODAY, 2005). However, the homosexual females processed both hormones in the scent area. Straight men and lesbians

The knowledge of cultural competency includes gaining knowledge of the client’s culture, history, traditions, values, and family systems. It involves learning about the impact of culture on the behaviors, attitudes, values, and health status of the client. Each culture has their own help-seeking behaviors. Culturally competent therapists will understand the roles of language, speech patterns, and communication styles of different cultures.

In general, individuals are interested in people of the countering sex. However, a compelling number of people are particularly interested in someone of the identical gender (Slife, 2013). Sexual assimilation is a physiological attribute that exhibit one of the greatest scopes of sexual distinction, given that 90-97% of human beings of one sex demonstrate an appeal that is dissimilar from that of the alternate gender (Slife, 2013, p. 36). In like manner, the devices that conclude characteristics of people 's sexual assimilation have been the topic of intense debates. In fact these dialogues frequently concentrated on homosexuality proper, because the assimilation is slightly frequent and thus occasionally expressed unjustly as different from standard or norm (Slife, 2013, p. 40). Essentially,

Cross-cultural helping is generally more difficult, demanding, and draining of energy than working with same-culture clients (Diller, 2007). It is also more likely to impact the counselor directly and emotionally. The counselor cannot use familiar patterns of behavior and must utilize new ways of acting and relating to a client with a different background. The profession defines cultural competence as “the process by which individuals and systems respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures...in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, and communities” (Jackson & Samuels, 2011, p. 237).

Further exploring the program, the Commitment to Diversity statement is especially important to my morals and values. Being culturally competent is a never-ending, crucial process. Not only is cultural awareness, competence, and an understanding of diversity important in general, for marriage and family therapists this is necessary. This involves awareness of skills, knowledge, and attitudes across cultures and the ability to make appropriate decisions in practice. Being aware and cherishing diversity provides clients with the utmost respect, understanding,

Chapter 5 discusses about researchers who found two theoretical approaches that involve sexual orientation among men and women. Neurohormonal theory states that homosexuality is caused by atypical sex hormone levels in utero. Some studies implied that there are specific centers in the brain that connects to sexual orientation and behavior. The second theory is dealing with behavioral