Concerns about counseling racial minority clients: Ethnocultural empathy, insight, and multicultural intervention self-efficacy.

Abstract

In this study, we examined (a) whether ethnocultural empathy mediated the association between concerns about counseling a racial minority client and multicultural intervention self-efficacy, (b) whether insight moderated the association between concerns about counseling a racial minority client and ethnocultural empathy, and (c) whether insight moderated the above mediation (indirect) effect after controlling for multicultural social desirability within a sample of racially heterogeneous trainees. A total of 130 graduate students from Master's-and Ph.D.-level counseling psychology and counseling-related programs across the U.S. participated in an online survey. Results from PROCESS supported the hypotheses. Ethnocultural empathy partially mediated the relationship between concerns about counseling a racial minority client and multicultural intervention self-efficacy. Insight was a significant moderator of the association between concerns about counseling a racial minority client and ethnocultural empathy. Specifically, the negative association between concerns about counseling a racial minority client and ethnocultural empathy was significant for those with lower insight, but not significant for those with higher insight. The index of the moderated mediation was significant, which implied that insight moderated the mediation (indirect) effect of concerns about seeing a racial minority client on multicultural intervention self-efficacy through ethnocultural empathy. Multicultural social desirability was controlled for in regards to the above results. Public Significance StatementTrainees with higher concerns about seeing a racial minority client are likely to have greater difficulty understanding their client, which is then associated with lower multicultural counseling self-efficacy. This phenomenon is especially salient for trainees with lower insight. Clinical instructors should tailor interventions to increase trainees' levels of insight as well as their ability to understand those who are racially different from them.