Answering the Call for Systems Change

Abstract

There is much agreement within counseling psychology on the importance of social justice, yet social justice education and training remain limited in counseling psychology programs (Beerman et al., 2012; Pieterse et al., 2009; Singh et al., 2010). Critical components to social justice education and training include an emphasis on systems theories that could inform interventions (i.e. advocacy and activism) at the exosystem and mesosystem levels as well as learning about the breadth of activism and advocacy skills. Assessment, diagnosis, and conceptualization are considered core functional competencies in professional psychology (Fouad, 2009), yet these processes are often only taught at the individual level. If the goal of advocacy and activism are to foster systems change, considered a functional competency in counseling psychology (CCPTP, 2012), then it is crucial to provide systems-level theories and skills in counseling psychology education and training. We describe how we have attended to the provision of systems-level education and training in our respective programs. We will provide recommendations about the inclusion of systems-level theories, classroom formats, assignments, and mentorship designed to foster trainees’ development of a systems-level theoretical orientation, as well as skills to engage in social justice research, leadership, and both micro- and macro-level advocacy interventions.

Are Training Programs Addressing Anti-Black Racism and White Supremacy? A Descriptive Analysis

“…As well, our quantitative sample was predominantly White, woman, heterosexual, and middle to upper-middle class. Our sample was more racially diverse than many similar samples (e.g., Gushue et al, 2022; Ramírez Stege et al, 2017; Wilcox, Franks & Azarani, 2021; Wilcox, Shaffer, et al 2022), with the exception of Keum et al (2022) and Keum and Miller (2020). The APA Center for Workforce Studies (APA, 2022) estimates that the psychology workforce is 84.47% White; and their most recent student data available (APA, 2023) suggests that approximately 51% of students in counseling psychology doctoral programs are White, commensurate with our sample.…”

“…Further, advocacy itself needs to be better addressed in psychology programs. A myriad of antiracism and social justice scholars in counseling psychology have addressed the need for counseling psychology to move from rhetoric to action (e.g., DeBlaere et al, 2019; Gushue et al, 2022; Keum & Miller, 2020; Wilcox, 2023; Wilcox, Shaffer, et al, 2022); however, to do so requires understanding what actions to take, when, and how. Our results are consistent with scholars’ contention that rarely is social justice advocacy truly addressed in graduate education, and this is a gap that it is past time to address.…”

“…Even more recently, counseling psychology scholars have critiqued not only the lack of social justice training in counseling psychology, but also the individualized and sanitizing approaches to social justice that pervade existing social justice training (DeBlaere et al, 2019; Grzanka et al, 2019; Gushue et al, 2022; Keum & Miller, 2020). There have been repeated and renewed calls for counseling psychologists to be trained to conceptualize clients and systems in the context of oppressive institutions and the structures that create the very problems upon which they seek to intervene, as well as strategies to intervene at multiple levels (e.g., DeBlaere et al, 2019; Gushue et al, 2022; Keum & Miller, 2020; Wilcox, 2023; Wilcox, Shaffer, et al, 2022). To be sure, counseling psychology has clearly adopted social justice as a central value, and many of its training programs have sought to advance social justice training (see the 2014 special issue of The Counseling Psychologist on nontraditional teaching methods for social justice; e.g., Koch & Juntunen, 2014).…”

“…They and others (e.g., DeBlaere et al, 2019; Gushue et al, 2022; Keum & Miller, 2020; Wilcox, 2023; Wilcox, Shaffer, et al, 2022) have argued that the discrepancy between intention and behavior may result from inadequate training in advocacy and systems-level knowledge, especially how systems of oppression (e.g., White supremacy) operate historically and contemporarily. Gushue et al (2022) noted that it is possible—indeed, likely the default for most people—to deeply believe in egalitarianism but lack the ability to critically analyze why racial and social inequities remain pervasive.…”

Oppression is not “culture”: The need to center systemic and structural determinants to address anti-Black racism and racial trauma in psychotherapy.

“…I pre-empt White fragility and other similar reactions by naming them and advising us to expect them; and to encourage us to approach such reactions with curiosity. I urge students to adopt a stance of what I have come to call critical self-compassion (Wilcox et al, in press): When experiencing distress during the conscientization process, rather than reacting, holding the tension between compassion for oneself (we did not ask to be raised in the norms of White supremacist patriarchal capitalism) and critically evaluating the source of our reactivity. In my experience, this process reduces barriers to continuing along the journey of critical consciousness.…”