I know absolutely nothing about living with a disability: lessons in understanding the subjective experience.

 Recently I have been struggling with a issues that I don't really understand. I believe that disability is a vibrant cultural that is alive and well. I am not ashamed that I have a disability. However, I recognize that some individuals with disabilities might have self esteem issues because of their disability. Until recently I do not understand how this could be. As I am writing this blog, I am beginning to understand this issue. It is about my subjective experience as they individual that has a disability. I have no idea what it's like for my friends in the disability community to live everyday with disability. This issue recently came up. I was taking a step, because I did not understand how can someone with a disability have self esteem issues about the disability they have. The only conclusion I can draw is I wasn't really understanding the subjective experience of all individuals with disabilities. I have said that one of my areas that I would like to specialize in after I graduate is working with individuals that have chronic medical, and individuals that have disabilities. I have come to understand that if I am going to do this I need to forget what I know about being a individual with a disability. I just need to focus on my client, and really try to understand them. And this goes for every other issue a client maybe dealing with. In the beginning of the counseling relationship if the mental health professional is doing most of the talking, there is something wrong. We must try to to understand the client's perspective. The only conclusion that I can come up with is if we want to truly understand the client then we need to listen, and do not pass judgment. So maybe I don't understand why someone with a disability would have self esteem issues, but it is not my experience. It is not my story. So if I had client that was dealing with this issue I will seek to understand my clients experience.