The number of children of minoritized backgrounds from low socioeconomic backgrounds has increased in the United States. This shift has heightened concerns about the well-being of these children. Play therapists, trained to work closely with children, are expected to meet the needs of all children and promote social justice advocacy on behalf of their clients including children. Existing scholarship is limited, however, when understanding play therapist efforts to engage in advocacy. This phenomenological pilot study explored play therapists' perceptions of their social justice advocacy. The main findings revealed five themes: social justice, advocacy, training, challenges, and suggestions. Implications of these findings, future research directions, and limitations of the study are discussed.

Exposure to traumatic stressors is common among refugees. This is true for Yazidi refugees, who have experienced immense pre and post-migration trauma. Two separate, but often concurrent, outcomes of exposure to traumatic events are posttraumatic responses and posttraumatic growth. While both are common, the literature tends to highlight negative outcomes. This study explored the migration experiences and needs of Yazidi youth refugees in Canada. Using Photovoice, an arts-based research design that placed the youth at the helm of the research process, the perspective of Yazidi youth was explored. Data was analyzed using participatory analysis, structured from Wang and Burris (1997) three-stage approach. Through collaborative discussions, five themes were identified by the youth: Educating Others on Yazidis and Our Experiences, Bullying and Racism, Help Families in Iraq, Rise Against the Oppressive Government, and Desire to be There to Help. Within these themes, the youth demonstrated the ability for growth and emotional distress to coexist. The use of Photovoice as a research design allowed youth to be placed in control of the data generation and analysis, and this facilitated their empowerment. Recommendations were shared to support youth in maintaining control over their narratives, while emphasizing the importance of building relationships and working with youth to tackle systemic and structural issues.

The mental health profession calls on counselors and psychologists to engage in social justice advocacy and charges psychology and counseling training programs to prepare future professionals for this critical work. Yet research has found that although there is an intent to do social action there is a disconnect between the intention and social activism. We propose that courage is an essential missing link that may diminish the gap between social justice intention and action. This study explores how psychologists and counselors develop the courage to take such action. Understanding this process could inform innovative training strategies to better equip students to engage in social action upon entering the field. This qualitative study examines the development of social justice courage and the capacity to confront systemic injustices through deliberate and planned action despite risking adverse consequences. Findings reveal that social justice courage is a multidimensional construct encompassing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components, including conviction, critical consciousness, self-awareness, risk-taking, and support networks. Implications for training, professional practice, and future research are discussed.

The undertaking of The Handbook of International Psychology (2nd edition) must have been a daunting, yet very much needed task. The seemingly Sisyphean task of presenting the history and current state of psychology across the globe has been met yet again in the second edition, very much needed after twenty years since the first volume was published.

This study aimed to answer the question, “What have [counselors] found to be the least helpful aspects of counseling with clients facing low income?” One hundred thirteen counselors were recruited via mass email, completed an online survey, and participated in individual interviews. Using a group concept mapping procedure, participants grouped the data into seven concepts, including barriers due to low income and employment, systemic barriers for clients, obstacles due to trauma, competing needs and priorities, biased approaches, limits to real-world helpfulness of counseling, and negative impacts of systems on and for counselors. The results highlight the importance of identifying and addressing inequities faced by clients living with a low income to increase the accessibility and availability of mental health services for all.

Research identity is a critical component of counselor education, yet little is known about the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) graduate counseling students engaged in academic research. This interpretive phenomenological analysis study explored how BIPOC counseling students navigate research training, and examined systemic barriers, motivations, and factors that influenced their development as researchers. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 11 participants in CACREP-accredited programs. The analysis revealed four central themes and stages of researcher identity development: (a) Roots of inspiration, (b) Pathway to readiness, (c) Research in motion and (d) Grounded in growth. The results also suggested the need for more inclusive, equity centered research training in counselor education and offered recommendations for supporting novice counseling student researchers.

COVID-19 generated a health crisis and major loss of life throughout the world. Asian Americans (AA) have been uniquely impacted during this time by anti-Asian racism, at times blaming AA for the pandemic. A few years after the emergence of COVID-19, studies now show that anti-Asian violence during the pandemic opened historic wounds and exacerbated psychological legacies of trauma uniquely felt by AA. In response, a national group of interdisciplinary AA women activists developed a community-based photovoice project called Asians* Unmasked. AA in the United States submitted photographs online and shared their experiences and ideas about social change during the early months of the pandemic (March 2020 - June 2020). Participants answered three questions adapted from the photovoice SHOWeD technique about their images as they related to their COVID-19 experiences. Fifty-five ethnically diverse AA (15-78 years old) submitted 82 photos. Using a cross-case qualitative analysis, seven domains were identified: (a) life and community changes, (b) connection and isolation, (c) racism and oppression, (d) health and mental health, (e) service to others, (f) resiliency and hope, and (g) ways to change the world after COVID-19. This article intends to “bring the gallery to the academy,” and share participants’ voices, photographs, and calls for change.

In an effort to address behavioral health disparities, authors conducted a community engagement research study to identify innovative practices that behavioral health agencies utilized in Black and Hispanic communities during COVID-19. Research methods included community agency input, a targeted survey of 15 behavioral health agencies, and focus groups. Authors identified innovative practices in eight areas of physical safety, emotional safety, accessibility through technology, accessibility for face-to-face counseling, affordability, leveraging resources, availability, and changes in procedures. Authors discuss recommendations and implications for social justice action to decrease behavioral health disparities.

School counseling is built on the American School Counselor Association National Model (2019, 2025), which includes heavy emphasis on individualist-focused student standards and isolationist practice (Drake et al., 2024b). While the field has undergone some revision, we continue to lack methods for visioning and visions for abolition in our praxis. Without liberatory visions for abolition, our traditional approaches and models of school counseling will only prefigure more racial capitalism, more white supremacy, and more state violence in schools. As part of a larger, year-long Critical Participatory Action Research project, this article focuses on the abolitionist visioning generated by a community of practice, including school counselors, community organizers, and a school counselor educator, using arts-based exploration. Our findings center the collective analysis and meaning-making of our community of practice, elevating the visions of on-the-ground school counselors and organizers and honoring local wisdom to guide practice rather than relying on Westernized, meritocratic school counseling models.