Multicultural Counseling Course Research Articles

Teaching Implicit Bias in Multicultural Counseling Courses: Framework, Tools, and Limitations

Teaching Implicit Bias in Multicultural Counseling Courses: Framework, Tools, and Limitations

Relationship between multicultural experiences and multicultural counseling competencies among Malaysian counselor trainees

The multicultural counseling course attended by counselor trainees is expected to enrich their multicultural experience through the academic environment, as they come from different backgrounds and personal multicultural experiences. While most multicultural counseling courses focus on the three components of multicultural counseling competence, counselor trainees should be provided with more multicultural exposure and interactions during classes to develop skills to work with diverse clients. Therefore, this descriptive-correlational study explores the relationship between multicultural experiences (personal and academic) and multicultural counseling competencies (self-reported and observer-rated) among Malaysian counselor trainees. All four instruments had been adapted and translated into the Malay language before being completed by 208 randomly selected counselor trainees. This study reported that counselor trainees scored at low levels of personal multicultural experience, high levels of academic multicultural experience, moderate levels of self-perceived multicultural counseling competence, and high levels of observed multicultural counseling competence. The findings showed no significant relationships between personal and academic multicultural experience and self-perceived and observed multicultural counseling competence. In conclusion, the findings imply that there are practices of experiential pedagogy in delivering multicultural counseling courses in counselor education programs. However, more research is needed to identify the underlying variables, such as counseling self-efficacy or self-introspectiveness, which may link the study variables, as this will serve as the most critical aspect in sustaining the counselor trainees’ multicultural counseling competencies.

Intersectionality in CACREP-Accredited Rehabilitation Counselor Education: An Analysis of Multicultural Counseling Course Syllabi

Though the importance of the inclusion of multicultural and social justice competencies in rehabilitation counselor education has been attended to for years, we know little about the content, concepts, activities, and assignments included in multicultural counseling courses. This mixed-methods study analyzed 25 multicultural counseling syllabi from CACREP-accredited rehabilitation counseling programs. Results indicated that nearly half of the multicultural counseling syllabi analyzed took an essentialist approach to educate future rehabilitation counselors. Very few syllabi mentioned the immigrant and refugee experience, and no syllabi exploredsize diversity and/or anti-fat bias. Class assignments and activities assigned exercises focused largely on students’ racial and ethnic identities. Additionally, results showed a common theme of ethnographic interviews, cultural site visits, and cultural immersion exercises. A call to action for counselor educators is included.

효과적인 예비상담자 다문화상담 교육방안을 위한 질적연구

Objectives The purpose of this study was to contribute to an emerging body of literature on how to educate multicultural counseling courses more effectively, and how to promote multicultural competencies of counselor trainees.
 Methods For this aim, 6 counseling professionals were interviewed and the data were analyzed to understand their perception and strategies regarding educating multicultural counseling courses. We used Consensual Qualitative Research(CQR) to analyzed the data.
 Results As results, course contents were developed including definitions and topics of multicultural counseling, self-understanding, and issues of resistance and microagressions. In addition, course strategies were also reported including effective individual goal setting, diverse course activities, and useful course evaluation plan which is self-evaluation.
 Conclusions The study provides strategies to enhance multicultural competences of counselor educators and with implications for multicultural counselors training.

The counselor education experiences of foreign‐born faculty: Teaching multicultural counseling

AbstractWe explored the experiences of eight foreign‐born faculty who taught multicultural counseling courses and found six themes related to intersectionality, negative experiences, and environmental factors. Implications for this study include suggestions for supporting foreign‐born faculty on environmental, departmental, and interpersonal levels.

Using Historical Site Visits and Photography to Develop Ethnocultural Empathy in a Multicultural Counseling Course

ABSTRACT Museums and memorials on sites of historical trauma can operate as physical spaces through which individuals better understand and process traumatic events. In visiting these sites, and by engaging in creative experiential activities such as photography, reflective journaling, and critical thinking exercises, students enrolled in counselor education programs may deepen their understanding of, and empathy for, the experiences and plights of people from cultures different from their own. Developing counselors may find immersion experiences, such as visiting sites of trauma, coupled with creative exercises and guided activities, both meaningful and insightful. This article includes a multicultural experiential course project designed to promote multicultural awareness and competency as they relate to ethnocultural empathy.

Embodied Social Justice Learning: Considerations for Curriculum Development and Training in Counseling Programs

Social justice curriculum development continues to be an evolving area in the educational and professional training of counselors and counseling psychologists. While many programs facilitate trainees’ exploration of social justice knowledge through infusion into multicultural counseling courses, there is a growing trend in counseling curriculum development to provide students with specific social justice-oriented awareness and approaches to advocacy. This article describes the development of two-course sequence in a mental health counseling program where trainees are introduced to multicultural and social justice content pedagogically organized around liberation and critical history frameworks. The theoretical frameworks, process of implementing specific curricular activities with a focus on a culminating service-learning experience, and strategies for enhancing social justice and advocacy curriculum development through an embodied social justice learning curricular approach are discussed. This article aims to advance curriculum development by encouraging faculty in counseling programs to consider implementing curricular activities that are guided by social justice embodiments and critical-liberatory frameworks to facilitate trainees’ social justice knowledge and their approach to advocacy in their roles as helping professionals.

Reducing intergroup anxiety: Applying an imagined contact intervention with counselors‐in‐training

AbstractThis study assessed the impacts of an (elaborated) imagined contact intervention (eICI) with graduate‐level counseling students (N = 38) in a multicultural counseling course. Participant levels of intergroup anxiety were assessed, comparing those who completed an eICI versus those who did not. Intergroup anxiety decreased for both groups over time, albeit with a greater immediate reduction for those who received the ICI. Qualitative commentary suggests specific student learning from the activity.

Creating Counselors: Master’s Level Counseling Students’ Experience of Expressive Arts in a Multicultural Course

ABSTRACT Counseling governing bodies have clearly defined what should be prioritized in multicultural counseling courses, including students’ multicultural knowledge and awareness; however, best practice regarding how to teach these multicultural concepts has largely been left up to the counselor educator. This phenomenological study explored the lived experience of master’s level counseling students who participated in weekly expressive arts activities as a part of a diversity class and offers a best practice model for implementing ethical and effective experiential learning using expressive arts techniques.

The Essence of Multiculture for Students through Module in Faculty of Education, Medan State University

The learning process has not been optimal in the multicultural counseling course. There are many ways that lecturers can do so that the learning process can be optimal, one of which is by using learning media such as modules. This study aims to develop a multicultural counseling course module and describe the feasibility level of the module by experts and students. This research is a development using a model namely Define, Design, Develop, Disseminate. The subject of the research product validity test involved two material experts and two media experts and the product quality testing was carried out on 40academic year2018 students Guidance and Counseling Study Program Faculty of Education, State University of Medan. Data analysis techniques for product feasibility use quantitative descriptive analysis. The results showed (1) a developed multicultural counseling course module was available, (2) a multicultural counseling module was assessed as feasible by material experts, obtained a percentage of 80.36% and a media expert obtained 77.50% and a module quality test by students obtained at 87.20% with very decent category. This result is in the feasible category and the product can be used by lecturers and students in the learning process, especially in the multicultural counseling subject.

Examining the Use of Digital Storytelling and Immersion in a Multicultural Counseling Course

This article explored the use of digital storytelling as a method to support multicultural counseling competency. Thematic analysis examined the experiences of 9 students who created a digital story through an immersion activity in a multicultural counseling course. Qualitative data revealed 4 themes: (a) initial discomfort with technology, (b) initial reservations with group work, (c) digital storytelling as a learning tool, and (d) multicultural counseling competency. Recommendations for counselor education and future research are provided.Este artículo exploró el uso de la narrativa digital como método para apoyar la competencia en consejería multicultural. Un análisis temático examinó las experiencias de 9 estudiantes que crearon una historia digital mediante una actividad de inmersión en un curso de consejería multicultural. Los datos cualitativos revelaron 4 temas: (a) una carencia inicial de familiaridad con la tecnología, (b) reservas iniciales en cuanto al trabajo en equipo, (c) la narrativa digital como herramienta de aprendizaje y (d) la competencia en consejería multicultural. Se ofrecen recomendaciones para la educación de consejeros e investigaciones futuras.

Exploring the Relationship Between Pedagogy and Counselor Trainees’ Multicultural and Social Justice Competence

The authors evaluated the acquisition of 6 constructs related to multicultural and social justice competence for 60 counselors‐in‐training (CITs) in 3 multicultural counseling courses. Each course was assigned a unique pedagogical approach: didactic, experiential, or community service learning. Statistical analyses indicated that pedagogical approach had the greatest impact on CITs’ growth in multicultural relationship, multicultural skills, and social justice advocacy constructs. Analyses also indicated growth across all 3 pedagogies for multicultural knowledge and multicultural awareness constructs. The authors explore patterns of pedagogical impact, discuss practical implications, and make suggestions for further research.

Application of the RESPECTFUL Model in Digital Game Based Learning for Multicultural Counseling Courses

Bagi mengatasi cabaran pendidik untuk menghasilkan generasi muda yang mempunyai fikiran aras tinggi, berdaya saing, dan kompeten dalam pendidikan berteraskan teknologi, bidang pendidikan memerlukan lebih banyak inovasi. Kertas konsep ini membincangkan tentang pembelajaran berasaskan permainan dalam kursus Kaunseling Pelbagai Budaya menggunakan model RESPECTFUL. Objektif kertas konsep ini ialah untuk membina sebuah kerangka konsep bagi pembangunan aplikasi permainan yang akan digunakan oleh kaunselor pelatih sebagai alat bantu belajar. Kajian perpustakaan telah dilakukan dan artikel serta jurnal telah dianalisis bagi mendapatkan rujukan yang berkaitan. Sebuah kerangka konsep telah dicadangkan bagi membina sebuah aplikasi permainan yang akan digunakan oleh kaunselor pelatih sebagai alat bantu belajar untuk mengetahui tahap penerimaan terhadap bakal klien yang datang daripada pelbagai kelompok budaya yang unik.

상담전공대학원생을 위한 다문화 상담 교과 과정개발 연구

상담전공대학원생을 위한 다문화 상담 교과 과정개발 연구

Critical Incidents in a Brief Multicultural Counseling Experiential Group

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to identify factors contributing to counseling students’ cultural awareness in a brief experiential group implemented in a multicultural counseling course. Using Critical Incident methodology, 45 responses from six groups across two semester course offerings were analyzed, resulting in three emergent themes: insight, group environment, and social location awareness. Numerical representation of the qualitative data is provided to contextualize themes across the total number of responses. Limitations of the study, implications for group work in multicultural counselor training, and recommendations for future research are also provided.

Getting Comfortable with Discomfort: Preparing Counselor Trainees to Broach Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Factors with Clients during Counseling

Counselors’ considerations of racial and cultural factors in the lives and experiences of clients enhances counseling outcomes. Acknowledgement of cultural factors enhances counselor credibility, client satisfaction, and the depth of client disclosure. This article opens with an overview of the Continuum of Broaching Behavior (Day-Vines et al. 2007), continues with a case illustration that enumerates categories along the continuum, provides empirical support for the continuum, and closes with a set of instructional strategies for counselor educators to infuse within a multicultural counseling course.

Counselors as Advocates: Effects of a Pilot Project Designed to Develop Advocacy Knowledge and Confidence in Trainees

While there has been increased attention to advocacy within counseling and counseling psychology, it has been noted that trainees generally feel unprepared to engage in advocacy and do not participant e in this type of work to a large extent, even with increased age or professional experience). The qualitative study summarizes the findings of a project within a graduate multicultural counseling course designed to increase trainee knowledge and confidence related to advocacy. This project required students (N = 19) to complete individual advocacy projects in the community, with opportunities for self-reflection and evaluation of their progress throughout the semester. Student reflection responses about the effects of this project were analyzed using methods from Grounded Theory by a collaborative research team. This process resulted in a core category of responses that included expanded definitions of advocacy, increased self-confidence regarding advocacy work, obstacles encountered, and reactions to the course assignment. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Examining the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Multicultural Counseling Competencies in Counselor Trainees

This exploratory study examined the relationship between mindfulness and multicultural counseling competencies (MCC) in counselor trainees. One hundred fifty-seven masters and doctoral students in counseling and therapy-related fields completed a survey containing the Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI), Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated between scales and subscales of the MCC, mindfulness, and acceptance. A hierarchical regression was used to examine the association of mindfulness and mindfulness practices (the total length of mindfulness practice and the duration of weekly mindfulness practice) on MCC along with multicultural training (number of multicultural counseling courses and practica completed) and demographic factors. The results of the study showed that mindfulness and MCC were positively and strongly correlated (r = .48, p < .01). Moreover, all mindfulness facets were positively and significantly correlated with MCC and majority of its subscales. The results suggested that individuals who believed themselves to be more mindful in their daily lives (especially those who reported observing and describing their experiences without automatically reacting) also tended to think of themselves as more multiculturally competent. In addition, mindfulness and mindfulness practices contributed a significant amount of additional variance on MCC and its subscales above and beyond the multicultural training and demographic variables. Study limitations and directions for future research were discussed.

Use of Photovoice in Processing Race-Based Topics in a Multicultural Counseling Course

ABSTRACTThis phenomenological study assessed master-level students’ experiences of using photovoice, a creative learning activity, in a race-based multicultural counseling course. Students were asked to engage in weekly written reflections regarding a course-related photographic image, with the goal of more deeply processing cognitive and affective reactions to the course. Data analyzed included focus groups, student written responses, and photos. Findings indicated use of photovoice as a means for processing cognitions, which allowed students to deepen learning by extending a racialized lens outside of the classroom. Students also indicated use of the tool to process emotional reactions at various stages of the course, allowing learners to creatively and visually express feelings as they surfaced.

Interest in the Teaching Alliance and its Associations with Multicultural Counseling Education among a Sample of Students in the United States

Using a scenario-based analogue experiment embedded within an online survey, 174 masters-level counseling students located at a university on the Southwest Coast of the United States provided data to test the notion that the teaching alliance—a framework for enhancing the quality of the student-instructor relationship—is (a) important in multicultural counseling course education, and (b) linked to relevant outcomes. Results offer preliminary evidence of pedagogical utility for the alliance model within a multicultural course context.