Ambivalence to action: Addressing systemic racism in counselor education

Abstract

Citing the ongoing and urgent need within counselor education to confront and disrupt systemic racism within the profession, we present how professional counseling has been both ambivalent to racism and enacted systematically racist policies against Black and other racially marginalized people. We share selected milestones in the profession's evolution to illustrate ambivalence in the pursuit of racial justice and close with recommendations to create a more inclusive, affirming, and antiracist profession for members and clients.

Getting on the same page in multicultural counseling training

“…We discuss, in this study, both the need for action and the pivotal time that counselor educators and counselors are within. Although educating counselors with anti‐racist and anti‐oppressive pedagogy is unarguably necessary, we must strive for action within our systems as well (Hannon et al., 2022). This systemic action includes some of the themes endorsed by the current study participants: diversifying the field to enhance representation, train counselor educators to be knowledgeable and to acknowledge the racism and White supremacist history of the profession, and to be authentic and open in their classroom spaces.…”

“…This phenomenological study adds to the growing base of research on the discussions about race, oppression, and privilege in the counseling classroom setting. The current research that could be found regarding navigating these difficult classroom conversations within the context of counselor education was largely regarding addressing racism (e.g., Brooks & Babel, 2022; Hannon et al., 2022) or from a faculty perspective (e.g., Brown et al., 2022). Qualitative research found exploring student experiences in the classroom was from the perspective of social work trainees (Warde et al., 2022).…”

“…The counseling profession, while still dominated by White counselor educators, trainees, and counselors (Hannon et al., 2022), is growing in diversity side by side with the nation. Further, people of color (those who identify as Asian, Black, Latinx, multiracial, or Native American) experience barriers to mental health services and mental health concerns at disproportionately higher rates than White people (American Psychological Association, 2018).…”

“…Further, people of color (those who identify as Asian, Black, Latinx, multiracial, or Native American) experience barriers to mental health services and mental health concerns at disproportionately higher rates than White people (American Psychological Association, 2018). This inequity, racism, and White supremacy are rooted in the history of the United States, as well as the history of the counseling profession itself, with much of its justice and advocacy carried out in the interests of White clients and practitioners (Hannon et al., 2022), calls for a reexamination of the multicultural counseling classroom, the learning environment, and the instructors who lead the discussions therein.…”

“…much of its justice and advocacy carried out in the interests of White clients and practitioners (Hannon et al, 2022), calls for a reexamination of the multicultural counseling classroom, the learning environment, and the instructors who lead the discussions therein.…”