Articles including multicultural content published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (JCP), from 1954 to 2009, were examined for themes. Multicultural content in this study was broadly defined to include the following identities: race/ethnicity, gender/sex, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, social status, disability, age, and intersections. Inclusion of articles focused on each of these identity domains was reported by decade. Gender/sex was the most prevalent multicultural identity found in the JCP, followed by race/ethnicity. The most common themes for multicultural articles, in order, were counseling process, vocation/career, and psychological processes/interventions. Academic achievement, discrimination/minority stress, and research methodology were the other common themes that were found across multicultural research. Implications of these findings are discussed.

In an environment where community based organizations are asked to do increasingly more to alleviate the effects of complex social problems, networks and coalitions are becoming the answer for increasing scale, efficiency, coordination, and most importantly, social impact. This paper highlights the formation of a poverty reduction coalition in south Florida. Our case study approach chronicles a developing coalition in Miami-Dade County and the role of one organization acting as lead to the initiative. Drawing on interviews with lead organization staff, participant observation field notes, network mapping and analysis of documents and artifacts from the initiative, we analyze the local organizational context and illuminate important processes associated with supporting a developing coalition. Findings offer a picture of the interorganizational relationships in the community using social network analysis and identify the organizational capacity factors that contribute to and inhibit the formation of a cohesive and effective coalition in this context. This study also highlights the utility of an action research approach to organizational learning about coalition-building in such a way that informs decision making.

This mixed methods study examined changes in self‐reported multicultural competence and distress reactions of 32 counselor trainees engaged in service learning. Whereas 3 trainees significantly increased in self‐reported multicultural competence, 5 significantly decreased. Trainees who significantly increased in multicultural competence reported less distress; those who significantly decreased reported greater distress. However, changes in multicultural competence appeared to be unrelated to themes uncovered in the qualitative data. Implications for training and practice are discussed. Este estudio de métodos mixtos examinó los cambios en competencia cultural y reacciones de aflicción reportados por 32 consejeros en formación que realizaban prácticas para su aprendizaje. A pesar de que 3 consejeros en formación comunicaron un aumento significativo de su competencia cultural, 5 de ellos reportaron una disminución significativa. Los consejeros en formación que aumentaron considerablemente su competencia cultural reportaron un nivel menor de aflicción; aquellos que disminuyeron considerablemente reportaron mayor aflicción. Sin embargo, los cambios en la competencia cultural no tenían relación aparente con los temas desvelados en los datos cualitativos. Se discuten las implicaciones para la formación y prácticas.

This study examined thematic differences in the multicultural case conceptualization content of 61 psychotherapy trainees across three different cases and trainee demographics (number of multicultural courses completed, years of supervised clinical practicum completed, and White trainee vs. trainee of color). Themes across cases included general counseling skills (attend to affect, build rapport, focus on specific client concerns, use of specific clinical interventions, and use of external resources not related to culture), as well as multicultural specific counseling skills (focus on culture, focus on discrimination, use of culturally competent interventions, and use of external resources related to culture). Thematic differences across case were found in three of the nine themes (affect, culture, discrimination). No systematic differences were found across multicultural training, clinical training, or race. Implications of these results are discussed.

What does it mean to practice critically in community settings? How do counselors, psychologists, social workers, community development workers, and other human service practitioners get beyond patching up the wounded and sending them back to contend with the toxic conditions in communities and society? What individual and organizational beliefs and practices would support those in need while simultaneously contributing to changing social conditions? This paper explores a model of critical community practice that highlights the theoretical underpinnings, practical applications, and organizational implications of community practice that is more radical and transformative. It also serves as an introduction to the four papers that follow in this special section.