Racial microaggressions against African American clients in cross-racial counseling relationships.

This study examined the relationships among African American clients' perceptions of their White counselors with respect to (a) perceived racial microaggressions in cross-racial counseling relationships, (b) the counseling working alliance, (c) their counselors' general and multicultural counseling competence, and (d) their counseling satisfaction. Findings revealed that greater perceived racial microaggressions by African American clients were predictive of a weaker therapeutic alliance with White therapists, which, in turn, predicted lower ratings of general and multicultural counseling competence. Greater perceived racial microaggressions also were predictive of lower counseling satisfaction ratings. In addition, African American clients' perceptions of racial microaggressions had a significant indirect effect on these clients' ratings of White counselors' general and multicultural counseling competence through the therapeutic working alliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of observer ratings of multicultural counseling competence in Black, Latino, and White American trainees.

Using transcribed intake sessions of 52 counselor–client dyads, this study explored the relative contributions of (a) counselor and client race or ethnicity, (b) counselor–client racial or ethnic match, (c) previous academic training in multicultural counseling, and (d) self-reported multicultural counseling competence to observer ratings of trainees' multicultural counseling competence. Results revealed that (a) Black American and Latino American counselor trainees were rated as more multiculturally competent than their White American peers, and (b) prior multicultural training was positively predictive of observer-rated multicultural counseling competence. Implications of the findings for counselor training and practice are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An analogue study of the effects of asian cultural values and counselor multicultural competence on counseling process.

One-hundred-and-sixteen Asian American college students viewed analogue videotapes in which an actress portraying a European American female "counselor" expressed cultural values that were either consistent or inconsistent with Asian culture to an actress portraying an Asian American female "client." In addition, the counselor either acknowledged racial differences or did not acknowledge racial differences with the client. The results showed that when the counselor expressed values that were inconsistent with Asian culture, the counselor who acknowledged racial differences was perceived to be more cross-culturally competent than the counselor who did not acknowledge racial differences. Also, the results showed that observer-participants' adherence to the value of conformity to norms was positively associated with their ratings of counselor credibility and crosscultural counseling competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gay and bisexual male clients' perceptions of counseling: The role of perceived sexual orientation similarity and counselor universal-diverse orientation.

A recurring question in multicultural counseling is whether client–counselor similarity on sociodemographic characteristics benefits counseling. A related issue is how counselor orientation to diversity relates to counseling process and outcome, both as a main effect and in interaction with counselor–client sociodemographic match. This cross-sectional study investigated these questions in relation to gay and bisexual male clients' counseling experiences by examining clients' perceived similarity to their counselor in sexual orientation, as well as counselors' self-reported orientation to diversity (assessed in terms of level of universal-diverse orientation [UDO]). Data were from 83 male–male client–counselor dyads recruited from lesbian/gay/bisexual-affirming counseling practices, where clients identified as gay or bisexual and counselors identified as gay, bisexual, or heterosexual. Counselor UDO was positively and uniquely associated with client ratings of the working alliance, session depth, and session smoothness. Perceived sexual orientation similarity was not directly related to any of the counseling-related criterion variables. Moreover, when counselors reported low levels of UDO, perceived similarity was negatively associated with the client-rated alliance and perceived improvement. Client religious commitment—a control variable in all analyses—was uniquely and negatively associated with client ratings of perceived improvement in counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mexican Americans' bilingual ability, counselor bilingualism cues, counselor ethnicity, and perceived counselor credibility.

In a completely crossed, factorial design, 186 Mexican American college students were exposed to a counselor introduction that identified her as either Mexican American or Canadian American, followed by an audiotape-recorded bogus counseling session in which the counselor either spoke English only or English combined with cues of Spanish-speaking ability. After listening to the tape-recorded counseling session, participants rated the counselor's credibility and cross-cultural competence. No effect was found on ratings for counselor language or counselor ethnicity. However, ratings of both counselor credibility and cross-cultural competence were found to be a function of participants' bilingual ability. Combined with evidence of a similar relationship between generation since immigration and ratings of the counselor, these findings suggest that, as Mexican Americans acculturate, their perceptions of counselor credibility and cross-cultural competence diminish. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

White Racial Identity Dyadic Interactions in Supervision: Implications for Supervisees' Multicultural Counseling Competence.

Examining supervisory dyads consisting of a White supervisor and a White supervisee, the authors sought to determine the effects of similarities and differences in levels of supervisor and supervisee racial identity schemas or attitudes on White supervisees' self-reported multicultural counseling competence and multicultural case conceptualization ability. White supervisees in supervision dyads characterized by more advanced White racial identity schemas reported higher self-perceived multicultural counseling competence and obtained higher multicultural case conceptualization ratings than did their counterparts in supervision dyads characterized by lower White racial identity schemas. Implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapist multicultural competency: A study of therapy dyads.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 44(1) of Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training (see record 2007-04278-014). The fifth author's name should be spelled as follows: Alexa Mislowack.] This study examined the role of therapist multicultural competence (TMC). Fifty-one therapy dyads completed measures of therapist multicultural competency, working alliance, and their satisfaction with therapy. Clients also completed measures of therapist attractiveness, expertness, trustworthiness, and empathy. Results showed strong associations between clients' ratings of TMC and ratings of the working alliance, therapist empathy, and satisfaction. Clients' combined rating of therapist expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness were not associated with their TMC ratings but were significantly associated with therapists' self-appraised TMC ratings. Therapists' ratings of their TMC were associated with their ratings of the working alliance and satisfaction with their work. Results are discussed in the context of the relevant literature, as are implications for training and research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of the change in self-stigma following a single session of group counseling.

One of the major obstacles to seeking psychological help is the stigma associated with counseling and therapy. Self-stigma, the fear of losing self-respect or self-esteem as a result of seeking help, is an important factor in the help-seeking process. In the present study, college students meeting a clinical cutoff for psychological symptoms participated in 1 session of group counseling that either contained therapist self-disclosure or did not. In general, participants reported significantly less self-stigma following the session. Working alliance–bond and session depth significantly predicted the change in self-stigma. Furthermore, self-stigma (as well as bond, depth, psychological symptoms, and being female) predicted the intention to seek help following the session. Self-stigma and session depth also predicted interest in continuing with counseling. The therapist self-disclosure condition, however, had no effect on the change in self-stigma, intentions to seek help, or interest in continuing with group counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnography in Counseling Psychology Research: Possibilities for Application.

The emphasis placed on prolonged engagement, fieldwork, and participant observation has prevented wide-scale use of ethnography in counseling psychology. This article provides a discussion of ethnography in terms of definition, process, and potential ethical dilemmas. The authors propose that ethnographically informed methods can enhance counseling psychology research conducted with multicultural communities and provide better avenues toward a contextual understanding of diversity as it relates to professional inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analysis of the development of the working alliance using hierarchical linear modeling.

The relation between the working alliance and therapeutic outcome was examined in 21 therapist–client dyads. This relation was analyzed in terms of the level of alliance at the 3rd counseling session, midpoint of treatment, and last session with linear and curvilinear models of the temporal development of the working alliance. Analyses were conducted with hierarchical linear modeling. Results revealed a significant association between the linear growth function on therapist ratings of the working alliance and therapeutic outcome. The use of hierarchical linear modeling in counseling psychology research and the need for conceptualizing the working alliance as a temporally variant as opposed to a static process are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Race/ethnicity, color-blind racial attitudes, and multicultural counseling competence: The moderating effects of multicultural counseling training.

Increasing trainees' multicultural counseling competence (MCC) has been a hot topic in counseling. Scholars have identified predictors (e.g., race/ethnicity, color-blindness) of MCC, and educators provide multicultural training for trainees. Using a sample of 370 psychology trainees, this study examined whether multicultural training (a) moderated racial/ethnic differences on MCC and (b) changed the relationship between color-blindness and MCC. Results indicated a significant interaction effect of race/ethnicity (i.e., White vs. ethnic minority) and multicultural training on multicultural awareness, but not on multicultural knowledge. Specifically, at lower levels of training, racial/ethnic minority trainees had significantly higher multicultural awareness than their White counterparts; at higher levels of training, no significant difference was found. Described differently, more training significantly enhanced Whites' multicultural awareness, but did not enhance racial/ethnic minority trainees' awareness. Additionally, there was a significant interaction effect of color-blindness and multicultural training on multicultural knowledge, but not on multicultural awareness. The association between color-blindness and multicultural knowledge was stronger at higher levels of multicultural training than at lower levels of training. Alternatively, the effect of training on enhancing knowledge was stronger for those with lower color-blindness than for those with higher color-blindness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between specific and general dimensions of the psychotherapy process in interpersonal psychotherapy of depression.

This article examines the relation between general dimensions of the psychotherapy process, rated with the Vanderbilt Psychotherapy Process Scale (VPPS), and a type of manual-guided psychotherapy, Short-Term Interpersonal Psychotherapy of Depression (IPT). With the use of data from a training program in IPT, two types of analyses were performed. First, VPPS factors were correlated with IPT therapist competence ratings. This analysis showed that all VPPS-rated dimensions of patient and therapist behaviors were significantly correlated with IPT competence ratings. Especially strong correlations occurred between IPT competence ratings and the VPPS therapist factors of (a) Exploration and (b) Warmth and Friendliness. Second, to evaluate whether the general process features that influenced IPT competence ratings were also related to the therapy's effectiveness, correlations between VPPS process dimensions and patient outcome were performed. This analysis indicated that VPPS-rated therapist behaviors were significantly predictive of patient outcome, whereas patient behaviors were generally not significantly related to outcome. Taken together, the findings indicate the importance of general aspects of the psychotherapy process in therapist evaluation and efficacy of manual-guided psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The real relationship in psychotherapy: Relationships to adult attachments, working alliance, transference, and therapy outcome.

The purpose of this study was to understand how the real relationship (RR) relates to important process and outcome variables from both the clients’ and therapists’ perspectives. Using a sample of 31 therapist/client dyads at a university counseling center, the authors examined the RR at the 3rd session of therapy and at termination. The results revealed that client adult attachment avoidance was negatively correlated with client RR, while client adult attachment anxiety was uncorrelated. Therapists’ ratings of negative transference were negatively correlated with therapist-rated RR and were uncorrelated with client-rated RR. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses were conducted to predict postintervention outcome from client and therapist perceptions of the RR. Therapists’ ratings of the RR accounted for a significant amount of variance in client posttreatment symptoms while controlling pretreatment symptoms. Client-rated RR total scores and client and therapist 3rd-session alliance scores were not significant predictors of postsymptom ratings. Implications of the usefulness of measuring the RR in psychotherapy are discussed, as are recommendations for future study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and initial validation of the Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale--Racial Diversity Form.

Drawing upon social-cognitive theory and the multicultural counseling competency literature, the Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale-Racial Diversity Form (MCSE-RD) was developed to assess perceived ability to counsel racially diverse clients. Data were collected from 181 graduate students in counseling-related programs, 41 undergraduate psychology students, and 22 graduate students enrolled in a prepracticum course. Results of an exploratory factor analysis retained 37 items and identified three underlying factors: Multicultural Intervention, Multicultural Assessment, and Multicultural Session Management. MCSE-RD subscale and total scores produced adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability estimates. Initial validity findings indicated theory-consistent relations of MCSE-RD scores with general counseling self-efficacy, multicultural counseling competency, social desirability, therapist demographics, and educational/training variables. Participation in prepracticum was associated with positive change in MCSE-RD scores. Implications for training and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An African American supervisor’s reflections on multicultural supervision.

As the demographics of U.S. society become more diverse, more People of Color are attracted to the fields of counseling/clinical/school psychology and have the opportunity to work with supervisors from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds. An African American supervisor reflects on her experiences with multicultural supervision. Seven microaggression themes are discussed, along with three multicultural identity and competence disequilibrium patterns. The author also describes the benefits and challenges of multicultural supervision and the tenure-track process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-report multicultural counseling competence scales: Their relation to social desirability attitudes and multicultural case conceptualization ability.

This study examined the relationship between 4 self-report multicultural counseling competence measures and a general index of social desirability. The authors also investigated the association between these 4 multicultural scales and multicultural case conceptualization ability. Results revealed significant positive relationships between 3 of the 4 multicultural counseling competence inventories and a measure of social desirability attitudes. Additionally, after controlling for social desirability, none of the self-report multicultural counseling competence scales were significantly related to multicultural case conceptualization ability. Limitations of self-report multicultural counseling competence measures are discussed, and implications of the findings for counseling training, practice, and research are delineated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patient-therapist identification in relation to both patient and therapist variables and therapy outcome.

18 patients in a counseling center completed (a) a battery of tests, including scales from the MMPI and Gibson's Acceptance of Self; and (b) rating scales measuring S's identification with and perception of the therapist. Results reveal that S's identification with the therapist significantly correlated with therapy improvement. Degree of identification was associated with both (a) subjective feelings of helplessness and weakness and (b) perception of a stronger therapist during therapy. S's perception of the therapist's strength was incongruent with external judges' ratings of therapist competence, indicating that S's ratings were based on subjective needs. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial costs of racism to white counselors: Predicting various dimensions of multicultural counseling competence.

In 2 interrelated investigations, the authors examined the extent to which affect, as measured by the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites scale (PCRW; L. B. Spanierman & M. J. Heppner, 2004), would predict various dimensions of multicultural counseling competence (MCC). In Study 1, structural equation modeling was used to test a mediating model of PCRW predicting self-reported MCC among a sample of White trainees (n = 311) from 34 states across the country. The overall model was a good fit to the data, with affective variables (e.g., White empathy, White guilt, and White fear) mediating the associations between color-blind racial attitudes and MCC and multicultural training and MCC. In Study 2, self-reported, demonstrated, and observed MCC were assessed among a sample of White trainees (n = 59; 40 of whose clinical supervisors participated) from 20 states. White guilt significantly predicted multicultural case conceptualization, and White empathy significantly predicted supervisor ratings of participants' MCC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ratings of helper roles by multicultural psychologists and Asian American students: Initial support for the three-dimensional model of multicultural counseling.

The results of 2 surveys investigating support for psychologists' roles advocated by the three-dimensional (3-D) model of multicultural counseling are reported. Eight vignettes were developed depicting an ethnic minority person with high or low acculturation experiencing or about to experience a problem with an internal or external etiology. Psychologists interested and experienced in multicultural issues (Study 1) rated 6 of the 8 helper roles recommended by the 3-D model for conditions depicted in the 8 vignettes higher on average than they did nonrecommended helper roles. Asian American university students (Study 2) also gave higher mean ratings to 3 of the recommended roles than they did the nonrecommended roles. Examination of the Asian American students' helpfulness ratings revealed a consistent preference for 2 roles: facilitator of indigenous support systems and consultation. Implications for the 3-D model, direct service, future research, and training of counseling psychologists are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor self-disclosure, East Asian American client adherence to Asian cultural values, and counseling process.

After completing a measure of adherence to Asian cultural values, 62 East Asian American clients talked about personal issues in a counseling session with a European American counselor who either disclosed personal information or refrained from disclosing personal information. Disclosure condition and client adherence to Asian values did not predict session outcome. However, type and intimacy of disclosure were related to immediate process and session outcome. Disclosures of strategies were perceived by the clients to be more helpful than disclosures of approval/reassurance, facts/credentials. and feelings, with disclosures of insight perceived as intermediate in helpfulness. Disclosures of strategies occurred more frequently in highly rated sessions than in sessions rated low. Also, client-and counselor- perceived intimacy of disclosures was significantly correlated with client- and counselor- perceived helpfulness of disclosures, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)