ICSWS 2009 - Penang, Malaysia Training Counselors for Social Justice and Multicultural Competence:...

ICSWS 2009 - Penang, Malaysia

Training Counselors for Social Justice and Multicultural

Competence: Outcomes from National and International

Outreach Projects Cirecie West-OlatunjiRachael D. GoodmanUniversity of FloridaGargi Roysircar-SodowskyAntioch University New England


Presentation Agenda

• Culturally competent disaster responseo Importance & Theoretical Basiso Seven-Step Training Model

• Case Illustrations• Research Outcomes• Future Projects • Discussion


Culturally Competent Disaster Response (CCDR): Importance

• As disasters rise globally, there is an increasing need for counselors to respond to disasters worldwide

(Walker, Wisner, Learning & Minear, 2005).

• Often, mental health providers are not adequately prepared to provide effective, culturally competent disaster response services

• Therefore, training programs are needed to prepare counselors for culturally competent disaster response

(Arredondo et al., 1996; Goodman & West-Olatunji, in press; Kennedy, 2006; Pedersen & Ivey, 1993)


Culturally Competent Disaster Response: Theoretical Basis

Critical Consciousness (Freire, 2000) is the ability to perceive oppression and to act against the oppressive elements in society.

Action that is based on reflection, awareness, collaboration, and empowerment is liberating and humanizing for both service providers and communities.


CCDR Seven-Step Training Model (Goodman & West-Olatunji, in press)

STEP 1 - Awareness: participants recognize that they bring their own biases into the environmentSTEP 2 - Respect: participants recognize that community members have equally valid realities and funds of knowledgeSTEP 3 - Context: participants acknowledge the sociopolitical contextSTEP 4 - Integration: participants integrate knowledge into clinical conceptualizationSTEP 5 - Empowerment: participants are able to appropriately intervene with empowerment as the goal STEP 6 - Praxis: participants formulate advocacy action STEP 7 - Transformation: participants integrate the experience into their own personal and professional identities


Disaster Response Case Illustrations

2006 Post-Katrina New Orleans • During the 8-day deployment, participants

provided disaster response counseling and consultation to teachers and school personnel

• Location: K-8 Charter school


Disaster Response Case Illustrations

2007 South Africa and Botswana • During the 23-day deployment, participants

provided direct clinical services, training, and consultation/supervision

• Locations: Schools and community agencies (HIV/AIDS, crisis response, domestic violence)


Applying the Seven-Step CCDR Model

STEP 1 - Awareness: • Application process

(short answer and inventories) and pre-outreach training focused on awareness of culture and cultural biases

STEP 2 - Respect: • Tours of important sites

by community informants illuminated community members’ funds of knowledge and were embedded in the deployment



STEP 3 - Context: • Training, readings, and tours furthered the

participants’ understanding of the socio-political context

STEP 4 - Integration: • Supervision and group

process allowed participants to integrate new knowledge into clinical conceptualization



STEP 5 – Empowerment:• With live supervision

and group process, participants were able to intervene with community members not in a humanitarian way, but in a humanizing way

STEP 6 – Praxis:• From this humanizing

perspective, participants encouraged the formulation of advocacy action – whereby community members make change within their own system



STEP 7 - Transformation:• Daily written reflection

and summative whole group process enabled participants to integrate authenticity, cultural awareness, respect, and love


Research Design

• Research Methodology:o Culture-centered: transformation, liberation, and

praxis (King & Mitchell, 1995; Tillman, 2002)• Participants: 14 counseling/psychology

graduate students (7 from each trip)• Data sources: (1) application information,

(2) inventories, (3) daily journals• Data analysis: thematic analysis, NVIV0 2.0


Research Outcomes• Participants developed

o The ability to work collaboratively with the communityo Greater cultural competence, awareness, and self

knowledgeo Increased sense of agency and social justice

• Participants experienced o Psychological healing o The importance of

mentoring, group cohesion, and self-care

Culture-centered Interventions


• Build on existing knowledge within the client’s worldviews

• Maintain client empowerment and agency• Demonstrate reciprocity in the transformation

process• Honor the historical and contextual forms of

healing within the client’s familial and community networks


Significance of Research: Pyramid of Critical Consciousness Development for CCDR

(Goodman & West-Olatunji, in press)

From “Applying critical consciousness: Culturally competent disaster response outcomes,” by R. D. Goodman & C. A. West-Olatunji, in press, Journal of Counseling & Development . Adapted with permission of the author.


Discussion• There is a need to increase cultural competence among mental

health service providers in order to provide more expedient and effective service delivery to disaster survivors

• Clinical training needs to include more emphasis on social justice and advocacy skills, especially in relation to disaster response

• Clinical researchers must provide more examples of culture-centered counseling techniques that can be employed with culturally diverse individuals

• Future research in this area should focus on the identification of assessment tools that aid in the selection of disaster mental health responders for best fit.


Future Research

• Forming interdisciplinary outreach teams• Using outreach as a component of training in

counselor education programs• Identifying how engaging in outreach impacts

traditional or non-outreach counseling practice• Developing assessments and interventions for

communities and individuals experiencing systemic oppression and transgenerational trauma, in the context of disaster

(Goodman & West-Olatunji, 2008)


Future Projects: Southern Africa 2009

• Conference to be held at the University of Botswana, Gaborone, July 8-11, 2009o Ten-day package for conference and historical

tour of South Africa & Botswana July 3-12, 2009• Call for conference proposals open until

January 21, 2009• Outreach participants will return to agencies

for continued partnership (now closed)• Visit www.amcdaca.org for more information


Selected ReferencesFreire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc.Goodman, R. D., & West-Olatunji, C. A. (in press). Applying critical consciousness: Culturally competent disaster response outcomes. Journal of Counseling & Development.Goodman, R. D., & West-Olatunji, C. A. (2008). Transgenerational trauma and resilience: Improving mental health counseling for survivors on Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 30, 121-136 Harrell, S. P. (2000). A multidimensional conceptualization of racism-related stress: Implications for the well-being of people of color. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 42-57.Tillman, L. C. (2002). Culturally sensitive research approaches: An African-American perspective. Educational Researcher, 31:9, 3-12Walker, P., Wisner, B., Learning, J, & Minear, L. (2005). Smoke and mirrors: Deficiencies in disaster funding. British Medical Journal, 330, 247-250.


Contact InformationRachael D. Goodman, M.Ed., Ed.SDoctoral CandidateDepartment of Counselor EducationCollege of EducationUniversity of Florida [email protected]

Gargi Roysircar-Sodowsky, Ph. D.ProfessorDepartment of Clinical PsychologyAntioch University New England40 Avon StreetKeene, NH [email protected]

Cirecie A. West-Olatunji, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorCounselor EducationCollege of EducationUniversity of Florida1204 Norman HallPO Box 117046Gainesville, FL 32607 [email protected]

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