Teaching Counseling Student to Address the Intersectionality of Oppressions with Clients
Conference Strand
Teaching, Training, and Supervision
Abstract
Too often in multicultural counseling, counselors focus on a single facet of the client’s identity, such as race or sexuality. The fact is that most clients experience more than one source of oppression.
This session will address the issues of preparing counselors-in-training to address multiple oppressions that their clients encounter in their lives that contribute to the difficulties they are experiencing.
Evidence
Constantine, M. G. (2002). The intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, and social class in counseling: Examining selves in cultural contexts. Journal of multicultural Counseling and Development, 30(4), 210.
Croteau, J., & Constantine, M. G. (2005). Race and sexual orientation in multicultural counseling: Navigating rough waters. In J. M. Croteau, J. S. Lark, M.A.Lidderdale & Y.B. Chung (Eds.) Deconstrucint heterosexism in teh counseling professions (pp. 159-185). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Katz-Gerro, T. (2006). Comparative evidence of inequality in cultural preferences gender, class, and family status. Sociological Spectrum, 26(1), 63-83.
Oyserman, D., & Markus, H. R. (1993). The sociocultural self. Psychological perspectives on the self, 4, 187-200.
Ridley, Charles R., Carrie L. Hill, Chalmer E. Thompson, and Alayne J. Ormerod. "Clinical practice guidelines in assessment." The intersection of race, class, and gender in multicultural counseling (2001): 191-211.
Robinson-Wood, T. (2016). The convergence of race, ethnicity, and gender: Multiple identities in counseling. SAGE Publications.
Format
Panel Presentations
Biographical Sketch
Kathy Evans, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, has been an Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina for 15 years. Her publications and presentations focus on multicultural, feminist, and career issues.
Location
Room 218/220
Start Date
2-17-2017 4:00 PM
End Date
2-17-2017 5:15 PM
Recommended Citation
Evans, Kathy M. Ph.D; Bates, Douglas; Maxfield, Therese; Romagnolo, Shannon; and Wofford, Rufus, "Teaching Counseling Student to Address the Intersectionality of Oppressions with Clients" (2017). National Cross-Cultural Counseling and Education Conference for Research, Action, and Change. 14.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ccec/2017/2017/14
Teaching Counseling Student to Address the Intersectionality of Oppressions with Clients
Room 218/220
Too often in multicultural counseling, counselors focus on a single facet of the client’s identity, such as race or sexuality. The fact is that most clients experience more than one source of oppression.
This session will address the issues of preparing counselors-in-training to address multiple oppressions that their clients encounter in their lives that contribute to the difficulties they are experiencing.
Description
Racial and cultural identity models (Cross (1971), Helms, 1985; Cass, 1979; Downing and Roush, 1985) have contributed to our understanding of diverse populations over several decades. They were, in fact, so useful that a wide variety of models have been created to help counselors understand the individual differences within groups of marginalized people. However, these models have the drawback of isolating specific identities within the same individual—addressing a person’s racial oppression but not her gender oppression or addressing ableism and not homophobia with a deaf lesbian. The single identity models fail to promote the understanding of multiple oppressions and tend to force individuals to prioritize their oppressions – e.g. it is worse to be Latino than it is to be poor and female. Instead of pushing for a hierarchy of oppressions, counselors must learn to include the client’s multiple identities in their work with that client.
This session presents an intersectional approach to multicultural and social justice counseling. We will discuss the assessment of multiple identities, strategies counselors-in-training can use to address intersectionality in counseling, as well as ideas for supervising students who will be using these strategies while completing their practicum and internship training.