Advocacy through

Cultural Competency
Dr. Eva Gibson
 OBJECTIVES

• Identify sociopolitical factors that contribute to the adaptive

attitudinal stance of persons of color (POCs)
• Analyze institutional barriers
• Discuss cultural mistrust
• Evaluate relevant counseling strategies and implications to address
the mental health needs of clients of color.
• Describe methods to infuse social justice advocacy into practice.
 CULTURAL MISTRUST

• Theoretical literature regarding cultural mistrust

suggests that persons of color (POCs) harbor a
generalized suspicion of White people, which
stems from a long history of oppression and
race-related injustices.

• These suspicions can be considered to be both

a psychological construct and a coping
response to systemic institutional barriers
Cultural Mistrust
 Impact on counseling relationship

 cultural mistrust was the most consistent and powerful

predictor of help-seeking attitudes.
 Minorities with high cultural mistrust are:
• less willing to seek counseling
• less willing to disclose to White counselors
• less likely to remain in counseling (w/White
counselors)
• less likely to believe that they can benefit from
counseling (w/White counselors)
• have a higher preference for counselors-of-color

Kim etl. Al., 2016; Neville, Tynes, & Utsey (2009)

 Systems Theory Framework

Relevant influences include:

 the individual system
 the contextual system,
 interactions between the individual and contextual
system
 change over time
 chance

Patton & McMahon (2014)

 Barriers

 Disparities in:
 educational achievement,
 school discipline,
 sentencing through the justice system
 income attainment,
 college completion, and
 presence in high status jobs
 THEORETICAL FOUNDATION

Critical Race Theory

 developed as a race-based critique to

address covert and subtle forms of racism

Haskins & Singh (2015)

 5 Major Tenets of Critical Race
Theory

1) Permanence and intersectionality of race and

racism
• racism is deeply ingrained legally,
culturally, and psychologically and
intersects with sex, class, national origin,
and sexual orientation

2) Critique of color blindness

Haskins & Singh (2015)

 After the Civil Rights movement,
”color-blind” racial beliefs serve
as a dominant racial ideology to
cover up & explain racial
disparities
Those who subscribe to this
believe we have “moved
beyond” race & racism and
any potential differences are
due to other factors such as
culture & class

(Neville, Tynes, & Utsey, 2009)

 3) counter-storytelling
 naming one’s own reality

4) interest convergence
• encourages individuals to be cautious in examining
and interpreting the civil rights victories for individuals
from marginalized populations

Haskins & Singh (2015)

 5 Major Tenets of Critical Race
Theory

5) Whiteness as property

• social, educational, and economic

value is associated with being White

Haskins & Singh (2015)

 Cultural Counseling Models

•Three models address culture from

different standpoints & belief systems

1) Genetic deficiency model

• People of color are intellectually

inferior (i.e. Bell Curve)

Sue & Sue, 1990

 2) Cultural deficiency model

• Monoculturalism- all people are the same

& have (or should have) the same beliefs,
values, attitudes, & worldviews

• European American culture is used as the

baseline and others are viewed as
deficient if they vary
Sue & Sue, 1990
WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE IN A
COUNSELING RELATIONSHIP?

Problematic issues are inappropriately

labeled

Avoidance of issues due to discomfort of

counselor

Downplaying client perception

3) Culturally diverse model

• Differences are valued, respected, &

appreciated

• Multiculturalism is viewed as positive,

healthy, vital, & indispensable
components

Sue & Sue, 1990

Why advocacy?
 Why advocacy?

• The American Psychological Association (APA)

introduced the “Guidelines on Multicultural
Education, Training, Research, Practice, &
Organizational Change for Psychologists”.
• These guidelines serve as a framework for mental health
professionals to understand the role of cultural forces in
their practice.
• These guidelines also advocate for participation in
social justice work in order to advance cultural
knowledge among those in the psychology
profession.
ACA
ACA
 Implications for Counselors:
Micro-level

 Include discussions of the dynamics of race

w/in the counseling dyad

• These play an important role in the

development of the therapeutic alliance

• Counselors who avoided the topic of race

missed a therapeutic connection & instead
provoked avoidance in their clients
 Implications for Counselors:
Micro-level

• incorporate accurate cultural knowledge & attend to

cultural factors in clients’ lives

• focus on risk & protective factors for clients of color

• this acknowledges existing contextual barriers,

such as institutional, cultural, & individual racism

• harness client strengths

 Implications for Counselors:
Micro-level

• Encourage clients to connect w/mentors & role

models w/in their communities

• Act as social change agents & teach skills to help

them negotiate the systems in which they live

• Work collaboratively to gain access to the resources

needed to improve well-being
Implications for Counselors:
Macro-level
 Implications for
Counselors: Macro-level

• Social justice advocacy- actions taken to facilitate the

removal of external barriers to opportunity and well-
being

 difficult dialogues & direct confrontation are both

uncomfortable and critical to the learning process

• promoting social justice relies not only the counselor’s skill

in facilitating micro-level change but also on skill and
tenacity in advocating for necessary reform that
potentially disrupts the status quo
Goodman, et.al., 2018; Grapin, 2017
 Implications for
Counselors: Macro-level

• it is imperative that this awareness prompts action

• Courageous conversations may be a first step in promoting
change
• As counselors begin to notice systems of oppression, they
need to start a dialogue about the issues of concern
• This can be challenging because they may need to practice
interruption at times and professionally confront colleagues,
practices, or policies that contribute to the problem
Henderson, 2019
TCA LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
What most people think of:
 TCA President
 Chapter/division Presidents

All the other ways to get involved:

 Committee Chair
 Chapter/Division secretary, treasurer, membership, newsletter,
 Volunteer tasks (conference, investigative, research, one-time
assignments
KC
 What will you
integrate in your
practice?