Integrating Social Justice Advocacy Into Mental Health Counseling in Rural, Impoverished American Communities

Abstract

A gap exists in the counseling profession between research and practice. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is one approach that could reduce this gap. The CBPR framework can serve as an additional tool for translating research findings into practical interventions for communities and counseling practitioners. Stronger community partnerships between researchers and practitioners will further improve treatment for our clients. The purpose of this study was to develop competencies that would provide the foundations for a training guideline in CBPR. Using the Delphi method, an expert panel achieved consensus on 153 competencies (knowledge, skills, attitudes, activities). Competencies are significant for the profession because they establish best practice, guidelines of service, and professional training.

The Past Guides the Future: Implementing the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies

“…As counselors learn more about best practices in terms of both practice and training, they will be able to increase their professional expertise in further developing this action competency. For example, researchers have applied the MSJCC to mental health counselors working with clients in rural communities with high poverty rates (Crumb, Haskins, & Brown, 2019), whereas others have examined the domains and competencies relative to counselors of color and their experiences with microaggressions in the counseling relationship (Branco & Bayne, 2020). Counselor educators have identified pedagogical elements that appear to support the development of these competencies (e.g., Gonzalez‐Voller, Crunk, Barden, Harris, & Belser, 2020; Killian & Floren, 2020), and others have focused on international initiatives and research (Bhat & McMahan, 2016).…”

In My Own Words: Exploring Definitions of Mental Health in the Rural Southeastern United States

“…Fifield and Oliver (2016) found the most common need of rural-area mental health professionals was training opportunities specific to rural mental health counseling. Pointedly, rural mental health service providers are encouraged to tailor interventions and informational material to meet the needs of the specific communities in which they practice (Crumb, Haskins, & Brown, 2019;El-Amin et al, 2018). For example, a qualitative study examining the experience of rural mental health counselors found it was necessary for rural counselors to modify their interventions to include community-based interventions and expand their roles to include consulting, advocacy, and case management to effectively meet the needs of rural clientele (Crumb, Mingo, & Crowe, 2019).…”

“…Thus, education and awareness about mental health, diagnoses, and symptomatology may be an integral part of the treatment process. Counselors should consider this intentionality in education as a part of their role as advocates for their clients (Crumb, Haskins, & Brown, 2019).…”

Relational Cultural Theory: A Guiding Framework for Study Abroad Experiences

“…Study-abroad programs are beneficial to counselor education programs because cultural skills should be integrated across the curriculum in all courses (CACREP, 2016;Crumb, Haskins, & Brown, 2019). For instance, group counseling skills are enhanced when counseling students have greater cultural awareness and competence (CACREP, 2016;Crumb et al, 2019).…”

“…Study-abroad programs are beneficial to counselor education programs because cultural skills should be integrated across the curriculum in all courses (CACREP, 2016;Crumb, Haskins, & Brown, 2019). For instance, group counseling skills are enhanced when counseling students have greater cultural awareness and competence (CACREP, 2016;Crumb et al, 2019). Moreover, Ng, Choudhuri, Noonan, and Ceballos (2012) suggested that counseling programs offer courses that focus on mental health from an international perspective and include study-abroad student learning and development objectives should reflect the identified mission and goals.…”