Discussion of Racial Difference in Counseling: A Counselor's Perspective

The Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Survey (BABS): An Exploratory Assessment of Its Dimensionality

“…A nascent body of research seems to suggest that counselors’ explicit discussions of racial, ethnic, and cultural concerns in the lives and experiences of clients of color enhance counselor credibility, the working alliance, the depth of client disclosure, a willingness by clients to return for follow‐up sessions, and favorable counseling outcomes (Atkinson, Casas, & Abreu, 1992; Chang & Berk, 2009; Fuertes, Mueller, Chauhan, Walker, & Ladany, 2002; Knox, Burkard, Suzuki, & Ponterotto, 2003; H. Zhang & Burkard, 2008; N. Zhang & McCoy, 2009).…”

An Experimental Investigation of White Counselors Broaching Race and Racism

“…The final four vignettes each depicted a counselor–client interaction that displayed (or did not display in the control condition) initial, proactive counselor broaching statements with pointed language that varied in their goals and mention of similarities and/or differences (see Table 1). Each interaction was set in an intake counseling session, given the prevalent agreement about the merits of beginning broaching early in a counseling relationship (Day‐Vines et al, 2007; Fuertes et al, 2002; Jones & Welfare, 2017; Knox et al, 2003; Zhang & McCoy, 2009). Across all conditions, the featured counselor in the vignette was a White woman in her 50s and the featured client was a Black woman in her 20s; both individuals were practicing counselors with interest in culturally responsive counseling.…”

“…Broaching can also explicitly convey a counselor’s multicultural orientation, in effect demonstrating to the client the counselor’s humble, open prioritization of culture (Hook, Davis, Owen, Worthington, & Utsey, 2013). Empirical work on broaching race supports the potential of this skill, with established relationships to rapport building, counselor credibility, client persistence in counseling, and satisfaction with services (Fuertes, Mueller, Chauhan, Walker, & Ladany, 2002; Knox, Burkard, Johnson, Suzuki, & Ponterotto, 2003; Zhang & Burkard, 2008; Zhang & McCoy, 2009).…”

“…First, even when White practitioners reported directly addressing racial differences and the pervasive effects of racism with Black clients, details about how they initiated broaching were missing (Fuertes et al, 2002). For example, Knox et al (2003) focused on White and Black counselors’ experiences of raising the topic of race as opposed to how they chose to frame such statements, and Zhang and McCoy (2009) simply asked counselors yes/no questions regarding discussions of race and ethnicity.…”

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

“…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).…”