Concerns About Counseling Racial Minority Clients and Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy

Purpose BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth experience disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, partially due to a lack of culturally responsive practices and multicultural counseling self-efficacy among behavioral health professionals. Separately, professional quality of life (ProQOL) has also been linked to better client outcomes. However, little is known about the relationship between behavioral health professionals’ multicultural counseling self-efficacy, culturally competent behaviors, and ProQOL. This study aimed to examine the relationship between cultural competence and ProQOL, as well as a hypothesized indirect role of multi-cultural counseling self-efficacy among these associations. Materials and Methods Data were collected from a workforce training program among graduate level social work, psychology, and nursing students on culturally responsive practices whose practicum settings included working with BIPOC/LGBTQ+ youth. At baseline (T1), graduation (T2), and 9-months post-graduation (T3), participants (N = 113) completed measures on anti-racism, self-reflection and insight, intercultural communication, multicultural counseling self-efficacy, and ProQOL (compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary trauma). Results Intercultural communication at T2 had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between multicultural counseling self-efficacy at T2 and burnout at T3. Self-reflection and insight at T2 also had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between multicultural counseling self-efficacy at T2 and burnout at T3. Mediation models examining secondary traumatic stress and compassion satisfaction were not statistically significant. Discussion Results suggest the importance of cultural competencies and multicultural counseling self-efficacy in facilitating culturally responsive practices and promoting clinicians’ ProQOL. Conclusion Future trainings should emphasize these areas to minimize mental health disparities among LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth.

Globalization and immigration have affected clinical practice in the United States by changing the demographic profile of both clients and clinical providers. There is a trend toward more foreign-born therapists practicing in the United States, yet little attention has been given to foreign-born therapists who are also immigrants and their needs during clinical supervision. Symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969) and ecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) were used to develop this cross-sectional Web-based survey study to examine the associations among perceived supervisors' multicultural competence, supervision satisfaction, and counseling self-efficacy in a sample of foreign-born therapists currently practicing in the United States. One hundred fifty-three immigrant therapists completed 4 questionnaires examining perceived supervisors' multicultural competence, supervision satisfaction, and counseling self-efficacy. Results suggest that supervisor's multicultural competence is a moderate predictor of clinical self-efficacy. Unexpectedly, the association between supervisor multicultural competence and counselor clinical self-efficacy was significantly stronger for foreign-born therapists who reported less supervision satisfaction. Supervisors working with foreign-born therapists should openly discuss cross-cultural interactions and power and privilege in all parts of the training triad and attend to the sociopolitical context.

Objectives This study aims to establish and verify a structural equation model of the variables related to critical consciousness, multicultural counseling self-efficacy, and multicultural counseling competence. Methods The participants of this study were selected on the basis that they obtained bachelor’s degrees or higher in counseling and psychology and who have worked as counselors in institutions with multicultural education. A total of 233 data was analyzed with SPSS 27 and AMOS 29. Results All variables showed significant positive correlations. Model identification was based on goodness of fit and χ2 difference test criteria. This study compared a partial mediation (research) model with a full mediation (alternative) model, based on theoretical foundations. The partial mediation model was ultimately selected. The mediating effect of multicultural counseling self-efficacy was found to be significant. Conclusions Multicultural counseling self-efficacy demonstrated a partial mediating effect between critical consciousness and multicultural counseling competence. When utilizing critical consciousness to enhance multicultural counseling competence, it would be beneficial to apply it in conjunction with self-efficacy. This study provides a foundation for counselors to incorporate critical consciousness into multicultural counseling competence development training, which is considered to be its significant contribution.

Scholarly discourse has emphasized the need for culturally competent practices. Additionally, multicultural self-efficacy has been found to be critical in working with clients from diverse backgrounds, however, there is a relative paucity of literature on how to teach counselor trainees to be culturally competent and self-efficacious (Kim & Lyons, 2003). The use of experiential education is one pedagogical tool that has been supported in effectively connecting multicultural theory to practice (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002; Coleman, 2006). In this study, researchers investigated the influence of experiential pedagogical strategies with an emphasis on film on multicultural counseling competence (MCC) and multicultural counseling self-efficacy (MCSE). Results indicated that both MCC and MCSE increased as a result of one semester in a multicultural counseling class. Additional findings and limitations are discussed.

The impact of behavioral healthcare professionals’ multicultural counseling self-efficacy on their professional quality of life

This study examined the extent to which receiving multicultural supervision was predictive of multicultural counseling self-efficacy in counselor trainees. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that, after accounting for social desirability attitudes and previous multicultural training, receiving multicultural supervision was a significant predictor of trainees' multicultural counseling self-efficacy. Implications of the findings for counselor supervision are discussed.

Counseling necessitates clinicians to be culturally competent and self-efficacious in order to ethically and effectively work with diverse client populations. This study investigated the relationship between counselor education students’ (N = 118) levels of self-reported multicultural counseling competence (MCC), multicultural counseling self-efficacy (MCSE), and demographic data (gender, ethnicity, level of education). Contrary to prior research, results indicated that student gender and ethnicity did not affect MCSE or self-reported MCC. However, students who had been in graduate education longer had higher self-reported MCC and higher levels of multicultural knowledge. Discussion and implications of findings are provided.

Applying Theater-Based Training Methods to Address Anti-Black Racism in Community-Based Mental Health Services: A Pilot Feasibility Study

This study examined the relationships among racial microaggression in supervision and different training and supervision variables in 175 Supervisees of Color in cross-racial supervision. The results indicated that Supervisees of Color working with White supervisors, compared to Supervisors of Color, reported more racial microaggression in supervision, a weaker supervisory working alliance, and perceived their supervisor as less multiculturally competent. Racial microaggressions correlated with supervisory working alliance, supervisor multicultural competence, and multicultural counseling self-efficacy. Both supervisor multicultural competence and supervisory working alliance moderated the relationship between racial microaggressions and counseling self-efficacy for Supervisees of Color. Limitations and implications are addressed.

The influence of film and experiential pedagogy on multicultural counseling self-efficacy and multicultural counseling competence

Relation between general and multicultural counseling self-efficacy: A confirmatory analysis

Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy and Training Outcomes

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption of telemental health (TMH). Providers with limited TMH experience faced challenges during the rapid switch to remote patient care. We investigated TMH providers’ perceptions about remote care one year into the pandemic according to when providers adopted telemedicine (i.e., before vs. after March 2020) and how much of their caseloads were served remotely (i.e., < 50% vs. ≥ 50%). Between February–March 2021, 472 TMH providers completed a cross-sectional, web-based survey that measured perceived benefits and satisfaction with telemedicine, therapeutic alliance, patient-centered communication, eHealth literacy, multicultural counseling self-efficacy, and facilitating factors of using telemedicine. Providers who began using telemedicine before the pandemic reported having better training, task-related therapeutic alliance with patients, and ability to conduct multicultural interventions, assessments, and session management. Providers who served ≥ 50% of their caseload remotely reported greater satisfaction with their practice, stronger beliefs about the benefits of telemedicine, and greater perceived effects of telemedicine on alleviating the impact of COVID-19. There were no differences in reports of patient-centered communication nor eHealth literacy. In conclusion, providers who adopted TMH more recently may require additional training and support to successfully establish a working alliance with their patients, especially with multicultural aspects of care.

The Effect of Multi-cultural Counselor Education on Counselor’ Prejudice and Multicultural Counseling Self-efficacy through E-learning

Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy: Empirical Evidence and Practical Implications