A Relational-Cultural Framework: Emphasizing Relational Dynamics and Multicultural Skill Development

Abstract

Developing and promoting mental health services at the grassroots level while also maintaining a global perspective is, to say the least, an overwhelming task. The National Board for Certified Counselors' International division (NBCC-I) has responded to this task in two deliberate steps. Initially, NBCC-I collaborated with the World Health Organization's (WHO) Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse to establish the global Mental Health Facilitator (MHF) training program. The MHF program addresses the international need for population-based mental health training that can be adapted to reflect the social, cultural, economic and political realities of any country or region. Once the program was effectively addressed by WHO and NBCC-I as a viable strategy to reduce mental health issues on a global basis, NBCC-I independently developed a curriculum and implementation method that has begun to make a promising global impact (

Not a Problem to Be Fixed: Successful First‐Generation Graduates and Implications for College Counselors

“…We believed that RCT provided an appropriate framework from which to understand the development of FGCS. FGCS often struggle in university settings because of the relative cultural distance that exists between the academic institution and the students' community of origin (Consoli et al, 2016;Covarrubias & Fryberg, 2014;Hall et al, 2014). Most institutions of higher learning are built on individualistic cultural norms, assuming that a person should be able to find their own way and succeed as a lone ranger (Stephens, Fryberg, et al, 2012;Stephens, Townsend, et al, 2012).…”

“…In contrast, these psychologists witnessed their female clients growing toward and through interpersonal connection (Miller, 1976). After Miller's book Toward a New Psychology of Women was published in 1976, a number of male and female psychologists of color stated that this growth toward and through interpersonal connection characterized their own development as well as that of the male and female clients they worked with in therapy (Duffy & Somody, 2011; Hall et al, 2014).…”

Relational‐Cultural Theory and Reality Therapy: A Culturally Responsive Integrative Framework

“…Counselor programs will need to enhance their focus on training future counselors on integrated models, such as the one proposed in this article. It is imperative to include current theoretical integrations, such as the one outlined here, into counselor education curricula to ensure that students are appropriately trained to effectively implement and manage integration and enhance building counselor competencies; therefore, counselors need to create space and time for training (Hall, Barden, & Conley, 2014).…”

Building cultural empathy and deconstructing Whiteness in counselor education

“…BIPOC students within counselor training must also witness the development of White peers while receiving a curriculum that can seem irrelevant or even harmful to their own sense of self and community (Hall et al., 2014; Haskins & Singh, 2015; Hipolito‐Delgado, 2021; Mason et al., 2021; Pieterse, 2009; Williams et al., 2021). Assignments and course content may unintentionally position White students as voyeuristic consumers of cultural experiences in ways that assert their learning needs without considering impact on BIPOC individuals (Matias & Boucher, 2021; Matias & Zembylas, 2014; Patel, 2016; Williams et al., 2021).…”