An Experimental Investigation of White Counselors Broaching Race and Racism

Abstract

Broaching involves actively addressing culture and power in session, a counseling skill that is underused despite its promising track record. In an experimental analogue design, the authors studied potential clients’ evaluation of an initial broaching statement. Results provide evidence of the therapeutic benefits of broaching, preference for broaching that addresses the counseling relationship, and the role of positionality in evaluating counselors’ cultural responsiveness. Implications for broaching with minoritized clients are discussed.

Predictors of Broaching: Multicultural Competence, Racial Color Blindness, and Interpersonal Communication

“…A hierarchical multiple regression with three variables (i.e., ICCS, CCCI-R, and CoBRAS) was then used to answer Research Question 1, examining the relative influence of each predictor on counselors' broaching behaviors with clients (i.e., CBS-CV; see Table 2). The order of variables was informed by the suggestion that although culturally responsive counseling skills offer unique benefit to the counseling process (King & Borders, 2019), they also are built up from a foundation of effective general counseling skills (Alberta & Wood, 2009;Tsang et al, 2011). For Research Question 2, we conducted a two-way ANOVA to examine potential differences in broaching as a function of (a) counselor race/ethnicity, (b) racial/ethnic status of the majority of their clients served (majority same or different), and (c) the interaction of these two variables.…”

“…Often described as a skill to build rapport and establish safety across areas of identity difference (Cardemil & Battle, 2003), broaching has empirical relationships to the working alliance (Knox et al, 2003;Zhang & McCoy, 2009), perceptions of the counselor's multicultural competence (King & Borders, 2019), and credibility (Zhang & Burkard, 2008). Clients of counselors who broached have also reported higher satisfaction, disclosed more, and were more likely to return for follow-up appointments (Knox et al, 2003;Zhang & Burkard, 2008).…”

“…Broaching is a flexible, contextual intervention, and example statements (e.g., Cardemil & Battle, 2003;Day-Vines et al, 2020;Jones & Welfare, 2017;King & Borders, 2019) point to nuances in style and phrasing. As it maps onto general counseling skills, broaching can involve open-ended questions, probes, self-disclosure, and cultural immediacy (Day-Vines et al, 2020;King, in press).…”

“…Researchers have recommended mock sessions to practice broaching (Day-Vines et al, 2018) and adapting broaching language to suit the counselor's style or the client context (King & Borders, 2019). These recommendations suggest the role that communication skill might play in enhancing the organic, genuine quality of broaching interventions.…”

“…However, counseling professionals' affinity for culturally responsive counseling and strategies for enacting it in their work varies (S. Collins et al, 2015;Hill et al, 2013). Broaching, the act of initiating and responding to topics of cultural significance or power imbalance, is touted as a crucial skill and is also underused or dependent on the counselor's own belief about its relevance (Bayne & Branco, 2018;Day-Vines et al, 2007;King & Borders, 2019). In this study, we evaluated the role of self-reported multicultural counseling competence, racial color-blind attitudes, and interpersonal communication competence, as well as demographics and training histories, in predicting broaching skills in order to strengthen training and practice.…”