Using the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies to Decolonize Counseling Practice: The Important Roles of Theory, Power, and Action

Abstract

The Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC; Ratts, Singh, Nassar‐McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2015) ask counselors to “apply knowledge of multicultural and social justice theories” (p. 8). Counselors who implement the MSJCC in this manner have the opportunity to critically examine traditional counseling theories that were developed within a predominantly White and Western framework, that reproduce North American and European colonist ideology if not contextualized, and that neglect Indigenous approaches to healing (Tuck & Yang, 2012; Watkins & Shulman, 2008). In this article, the authors present 4 key multicultural and social justice theories that can support counselors in adopting a decolonizing paradigm and implementing the MSJCC in their practice with clients: relational‐cultural theory (Miller, 1976), critical race theory (Bell, 1995), intersectionality theory (Crenshaw, 1989, 1991), and liberation psychology (Martín‐Baró, 1994).

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

“…Social justice theories can help contextualize these traditional counseling theories and models. For a more in‐depth review of these theories, see Singh, Appling, and Trepal’s (2020) article on social justice counseling theories in this special issue.…”

A Call to Action: Antiracist Patient Engagement in Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Research and Advocacy

“…Awareness & responsiveness to between-group power dynamics Acknowledgement and responsiveness to power differentials between and within sociodemographic groups must be incorporated to enable true partnership in research (Table 2). In the current discussion around racism and the intersectionality of multiple sociodemographic identities, we are missing much-needed dialogue about what group membership means, and the power that comes with membership or nonmembership in a certain group [28,56] What that discussion is missing is recognition of power hierarchies across groups. For example, higher socioeconomic status influences one's intersectional experience of other aspects of identity, such as race and gender [56].…”

Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Practical Strategies for Asian American and Pacific Islander Counselor Educators

“…Raising critical consciousness may empower AAPI counselor educators because it departs from the dominant White-centered approach and moves toward diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in higher education. Despite efforts to cultivate multiculturalism and social justice within the ACA Code of Ethics (ACA, 2014) and the 2016 CACREP Standards (CACREP, 2016), the field of counselor education maintains proximity to White supremacy, given its location in numerous predominantly White institutions (Haskins & Singh, 2015;Singh et al, 2020).…”