The Multicultural Counseling Competencies

The Multicultural Counseling Competencies

The Multicultural Counseling Competencies

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For at least 3 decades, the field of counseling has attempted to better meet the needs of an increasingly diverse American population. The Multicultural Counseling Competencies (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992), which organize competency into three areas—knowledge, skills, and awareness—were developed (Sue et al., 1982) and updated (Sue et al., 1992; Sue et al., 1998) to set a standard for competent mental health care that is truly inclusive of all people. Much of mul- ticultural counselor training is based on this tripartite model of competence (Goodyear & Guzzardo, 2000). The goals to engender knowledge and skills tend to fit easily into the stan- dard pedagogies of counselor training programs. Developing counselors’ awareness of their own assumptions, values, and biases, however, tends to be more complicated.

This article proposes a unique approach to training for multicultural awareness. Although we describe the approach in the framework of increasing racial awareness, we believe that it could easily be adapted for other areas, such as gender, disability, and sexual orientation. We begin with a discus- sion of two perspectives on understanding the Multicultural Counseling Competencies (Sue et al., 1992). One perspective views the competencies as fixed, achievable goals, and the other views them as an ongoing process. Applying the process perspective to the multicultural awareness component of the tripartite model, we derive a unique view of awareness (active racial/cultural awareness) that emphasizes engagement in and commitment to a daily process of increased and increasing levels of awareness. We review current challenges to training for this type of active awareness and then present a training approach centered on critical incident analysis. The structure and implications of this new approach are discussed from three perspectives: those of the counselor training program, the counseling faculty, and the students. This article concludes

with potential challenges and limitations facing the application of critical incident analysis as a training method.

Multicultural Counseling Competencies: Fixed-Goal and Process Perspectives

The Multicultural Counseling Competencies (Sue et al., 1992) are a centerpiece of the multicultural movement in counselor education and counseling psychology (Ponterotto, Fuertes, & Chen, 2000) and have now been adopted as guidelines for psychological practice by the American Psychological Association (APA; 2003). The guidelines represent a major advance in multicultural counseling and are a compelling tool for fighting oppression and monoculturalism in the field (Sue et al., 1998). The competencies, as outlined in the literature, are often presented as specific, measurable capacities. For example, a competent counselor is able to describe examples of cultural conflict between himself or herself and culturally different others (Arredondo et al., 1996).

One way to look at these capacities is to see them as fixed, static goals. From this perspective, each competency is a cri- terion that can separate therapists into two groups: competent and incompetent. Each competency represents a linear ap- proach to development; in this perspective, counselors attain a level of competence that places them securely in the competent group as opposed to counselors who have not yet attained competence. This aspect of the competencies is most evident in the clear, operationalized definitions of the competencies (Arredondo et al., 1996). This clarity has been essential for the creation of the APA (2003) guidelines, and it offers an individual the ability to verify (in oneself and others) whether a competency is present or not. Clear operationalizations of competence have also been useful in responding to critics of

Noah M. Collins, Counseling Psychology Program, Teachers College, Columbia University; Alex L. Pieterse, College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University. This article is based on a symposium presented at the Winter Roundtable on Race and Culture in Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, and a paper presented at the Great Lakes Conference, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. First authorship is shared by the first and second authors. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Noah M. Collins, Counseling Psychology Program, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, Box 102, New York, NY 10027 (e-mail: nmc2001@columbia.edu).

Critical Incident Analysis Based Training: An Approach for Developing Active Racial/Cultural Awareness Noah M. Collins and Alex L. Pieterse

The authors discuss 2 perspectives on the Multicultural Counseling Competencies (D. W. Sue, P. Arredondo, & R. J. McDavis, 1992): fixed goal and process. Noting that the process has been underemphasized, they introduce active racial/cultural awareness as an operationalization of this perspective. Current training approaches are critiqued from this process perspective, and critical incident analysis is discussed as a tool for increasing active racial/cultural aware- ness. A sample analysis and suggestions for implementation are provided.

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the multicultural movement, who have stated that the goals of multiculturalism are too vague (Sue et al., 1998).

However, the fixed-goal aspect of the competencies brings its own set of limitations. When multicultural competence is seen from the vantage point of fixed goals to be attained, poten- tially harmful and limiting interpretations of what competence actually is can arise. First, this perspective might suggest that once counselors have achieved a competency, no more effort is required to be competent. Second, the fixed-goal perspec- tive can lead to a narrow and external view of the attitudes and behaviors associated with multicultural competence. To illustrate, using the aforementioned example—that competent counselors can describe examples of cultural conflict—from the fixed-goal perspective, the key to this competency is the act of identifying and describing a conflict when it occurs. These actions are highly demonstrable and, therefore, relatively easy to evaluate; however, this perspective could lead counselors to focus mainly on what they can show or demonstrate externally. Such counselors may conclude that competence involves say- ing the right things at the right times, leaving out the internal processes associated with the external behavior.

There is, of course, much more to the competencies than fixed goals, as statements from the multicultural competency documents demonstrate. Sue et al. (1992) stated, “Culturally skilled counselors are constantly seeking to understand them- selves as racial and cultural beings and are actively seeking a nonracist identity” (p. 482). Arredondo et al. (1996) stated that culturally skilled counselors “actively seek out and participate in . . . activities designed to develop cultural self-awareness, and work toward eliminating racism and prejudice” (p. 62). The competencies, therefore, strongly imply active engagement in a process of personal and social change. The current article explores and emphasizes this process aspect of the Multicultural Counseling Competencies.

We focus on competency as a process that involves engag- ing in an honest exploration of one’s experience of racial and cultural reality. Such a process may not necessarily arrive at an end point; rather, it requires a daily choice to engage is- sues of race and culture internally and externally. Choosing to participate in this approach necessarily involves openness to personal growth and change. The process of growth is ongoing for both inexperienced and experienced counselors. Novices at facing racial/cultural issues and those who could be identified as competent are essentially participating in the same process. The activity required to become competent is the same activity that maintains competence. To clarify, we return to the example of competence as the ability to identify and describe cultural conflicts between oneself and different others. Underneath the demonstrable ability to identify and describe cultural conflict is a complicated process involving thoughts, feelings, and defenses. Because individuals are socialized to ignore, deny, and distort how they see racial reality (Carter, 1995), they must be willing to be honest with themselves and others in order to overcome this socialization.

To do this, they must be willing to grow and change. Seen from the process perspective, this competency involves more than identifying and describing a conflict.

A process perspective of the competencies has several strengths. Most important, focusing on the process allows for a nuanced and complex understanding of what the competencies entail: It requires examining the mechanics of competence as a daily lived experience. The process perspective also empha- sizes that competence involves ongoing effort and commit- ment. This perspective views competence not as an end point but as a consistent recurring choice, encountered day by day, to be aware of and not deny racial/cultural realties. Because this choice is the same for the expert and the beginner, there is increased opportunity for collaboration, offering the promise of a less hierarchical approach to training for competence.

Of course, emphasizing this complexity of the concept of competence has limitations as well. Seen from the process perspective, the competencies become vague and, thus, more difficult to measure. This perspective limits their utility for empirical research, and it hampers accountability because it is more difficult to discern the competent from the incompetent. The most important liability associated with the focus on process is the misinterpretation that an attempt to engage in the process is sufficient to denote competence, regardless of the behavior that results or the impact on clients and others. This misinterpretation can lead to the perpetuation of the harm that racism and other oppressions wreak in the field.

To some, viewing the competencies as a process may appear to contradict the view of them as fixed goals, but we assert that the competencies, as they currently appear in the literature, contain both process and fixed-goal aspects. Ar- redondo et al.’s (1996) operationalization of the competen- cies exemplifies the fixed-goal perspective yet also describes competent counselors as those who engage in activities that lead to increased personal growth and awareness. We further assert that the ability to hold both of these perspectives is essential for capturing the full depth and richness of the competencies. Each perspective illuminates important aspects of competency, and when one of them is ignored, harmful misinterpretations can result. Although both perspectives are contained in the competencies, we believe that the field has tended to emphasize the fixed-goal perspective more than the process perspective.

Multicultural Awareness We have found that the skills and knowledge components of the tripartite model of the competencies can be viewed most clearly from the fixed-goal perspective, whereas the awareness component appears to best fit the process perspective. This conclusion is based, in part, on the fact that awareness involves a process of making something explicit that is implicit or hid- den. According to the competencies, multicultural awareness entails affective and cognitive processes that engender in the

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individual a comfort with and positive attitude toward cultural differences (Arredondo, 1999). Competent counselors are aware of their own cultural heritage and the meanings that their group memberships (e.g., race) hold for them and those around them (Arredondo, 1999). This awareness includes understand- ing how counselors’ cultural heritage and resulting worldview differ from those of other cultural heritages and worldviews. The awareness also includes cognizance of the sociopolitical realities that are associated with counselors’ group member- ships and the group memberships of others; that is, they are aware of the existence and dynamics of racism and other op- pressions (Arredondo, 1999). In their operationalization of the Multicultural Counseling Competencies, Arredondo et al. (1996) divided multicultural awareness into specific measur- able capacities, such as being able to name personal cultural traits, being able to describe examples of cultural conflict between oneself and culturally different others, or being able to describe how one can involve clients’ intrinsic help-giving networks. These statements provide a fixed-goal view of this competency of awareness by listing externally demonstrable behaviors. The statements also imply an internal process of honestly experiencing and exploring the tension between one’s own personal cultural traits and sociopolitical realities and the traits and realties of others. However, how this awareness is experienced daily is not explicitly emphasized. We believe that the experience of awareness implied in the competen- cies involves both an active commitment and an intentional and consistent approach to being more aware of the racial and cultural situations that occur day to day. We refer to this process as active racial/cultural awareness.

Active Racial/Cultural Awareness The process aspect of multicultural awareness is implied and not explicitly outlined in the competencies. In effect, the field has made much progress in defining where we, as counselors, want to get to but has achieved less clarity in how to get there; that is, what the multicultural awareness process looks like. We believe that actively engaging in multicultural awareness means replacing the natural avoidance or denial of racial reality with an active understanding and acceptance of one’s participation in creating racial reality. This necessarily involves the capacity to consistently engage with others in an exploration of the automatic assumptions that guide one’s everyday thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Thus, we define active racial/cultural awareness as the ongoing choice to en- gage in a process of grappling honestly and openly with the racial/cultural realities of daily life experiences, intentionally bringing to consciousness thoughts and feelings that were previously denied, ignored, or unseen.

An example from the operationalized Multicultural Coun- seling Competencies may help to illuminate the definition of active racial/cultural awareness. The competencies state that skilled counselors are “aware of how their own cultural

background and experiences have influenced attitudes, values, and biases about psychological problems” (Arredondo et al., 1996, p. 57). In this competency, skilled counselors know their cultural traits, how these traits affect how they view the world and others, and how these traits differ from those of other cultures. Viewed from a process perspective, this competency implies that competent counselors understand and are sensitive to the dynamics of conflictual multicultural interactions, includ- ing their own affective and cognitive responses and what these responses are based on. If appropriate, competent counselors are willing to engage in spontaneous and genuine exploration of the dynamics in the moment, a process that allows them to deconstruct the differing worldviews, cultural orientations, and sociopolitical realities that inform the current interaction.

Challenges in Training for Multicultural Awareness

Helping trainees to reach this standard of awareness often involves helping them to change in very meaningful and profound ways. The fact that increasing awareness involves intangible outcomes, such as attitudinal change, makes it dif- ficult to measure and difficult to set as a training goal (Ridley, Mendoza, & Kanitz, 1994). There is a great deal of variance in the pedagogical efforts to achieve this goal (Helms et al., 2003; Ridley et al., 1994). Reaction papers, journal writing, role playing, videotaping, cross-cultural immersion experi- ences, cross-cultural simulation experiences, experiential exercises, fishbowl exercises, small-group processing, and focus groups are a few of the interventions discussed in the counseling literature (see Helms et al., 2003; Pope-Davis & Coleman, 1997). This literature suggests that these efforts are meeting with some success and that, in programs across the country, students are grappling with issues of race and culture and growing as a result (Helms et al., 2003).

The current approaches to multicultural training are es- sential parts of the armamentarium required to effect the meaningful change discussed here, yet counselor education research suggests that these efforts may be falling short of increasing multicultural awareness. In a survey of American Counseling Association (ACA) members, most reported feel- ing that their level of multicultural training was insufficient (Holcomb-McCoy & Myers, 1999). Holcomb-McCoy and Myers concluded that the current training methods were producing competence in the cognitive domain only, while experiential and emotional domains remained unaffected. Counselor educators have also pointed out that there is not sufficient understanding of the impact of experiential learn- ing aimed at increasing multicultural competence or how to use it most effectively (Achenbach & Arthur, 2002). Others (Estrada, Frame, & Williams, 2004) have noted that there is little guidance on how to put frank discussions of race and culture into training and supervision, and the absence of such discussions marginalizes these issues.

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We contend that current approaches to training have limita- tions from an active awareness perspective. First, in some of the current exercises, racially salient events can become mar- ginalized as discrete, isolated episodes that invade “normal” life from time to time. For example, in cultural immersion experiences, students are asked to “visit” places where such events occur, rather than exploring the racial and cultural reality of their own daily lives. Counselor educators have noted that simulating the experience of being a member of a group not one’s own (e.g., being disabled) may engender a simplified view of that group’s experience (Grayson & Marini, 1996). In fishbowl exercises and cultural simulation experi- ences, racially salient events are created or superimposed on “normal” life, as if normal life did not contain such events. This manner of treating the issue of race mirrors the dominant view of these issues (the view into which Whites are social- ized; Carter, 1995; Jones & Carter, 1996).

Another disadvantage of current multicultural interventions is that they can distance the student from the immediacy of racial/cultural experiences. Students are sometimes asked to role-play situations rather than draw on their actual experi- ences as they occur. Journals and reaction papers help students reflect on their experiences, but they remove this reflection from the actual interaction. When racially salient events are created in training approaches, rather than allowed to happen naturally, students can develop a limited and narrow definition of racial/cultural experience as something that happens only at certain times and in certain circumstances.

These limitations have a number of implications for multi- cultural training. The limitations risk conveying the message that racial and cultural reality can be explored only in specific classes or exercises. If the location and circumstances in which racially salient events occur is controlled or manipulated, the context is often not seen as an active agent in the event and cannot be explored as such. Important systemic issues can be missed and ignored. Such training fails to communicate that multiculturalism is a way of life—part of daily existence in this country—not an issue marginalized to specific contexts. Counselor education scholars have long noted that any focus on racial and cultural issues in the field has a tendency to be “scattered, superficial, and marginalized” (Lappin & Hardy, 1997, p. 42).

Multicultural Infusion in Counselor Training

Combating the aforementioned sort of marginalization re- quires infusion of multiculturalism into training programs. Multicultural infusion has been called for in the counseling training literature for at least 2 decades. In 1991, D’Andrea and Daniels proposed that at the highest level of multicultural development, multicultural goals are infused into all courses in a training program. These authors considered such a level of infusion an ambitious goal, but the call for infusion has

continued since then. Scholars have emphasized the need for integrating multicultural counseling courses into the overall curriculum (D’Andrea & Daniels, 1995) and infusing mul- ticultural issues into a program’s philosophy and mission (Reynolds, 1995). All faculty members need to be actively involved in these efforts (Ridley et al., 1994) and model their commitment to multicultural issues (Reynolds, 1995).

A direct and powerful way to infuse multicultural issues into a training program is to actively engage these issues as they occur in the daily milieu of the program. Racial and cultural experiences occur in all classes and outside the classroom. If all faculty (including professors of statistics, for example) are able to engage them, then multicultural is- sues will truly be infused in the program, and the faculty will present a united effort to develop multicultural competencies in all students. Training for active awareness involves a new level of infusion by pushing the concept beyond the classroom walls, applying the multicultural curriculum, mission, and philosophy to the daily lived experience of the students, fac- ulty, and staff. Given this standard of multicultural infusion, the question remains, What training approaches might help a program meet this standard?

Critical Incident Analysis as an Approach to Racial/Cultural Awareness

Thus far, we have proposed emphasizing the process of multicultural awareness through a concept of active racial/ cultural awareness, def ined as ongoing engagement in grappling honestly and openly with the multicultural reali- ties of daily life experiences. We now put forth the use of critical incident analysis as a strategy to raise the active racial/cultural awareness of students and faculty in counselor training programs.

Critical incident analysis has many variants and has been used as a training tool across disciplines, including education, nursing, human resources, and crisis manage- ment (Dilworth, 1998; Minghella & Benson, 1995; Smith & Russell, 1991). Flanagan (1954), the founder of critical incident analysis as a training method, described the critical incident and the analysis that followed as “an observable human activity that is sufficiently complete in itself to per- mit inferences and predictions to be made about the person performing the act” (p. 332). Critical incident analysis is therefore composed of two facets: the critical incident, defined as a “snapshot, vignette, brief episode, a situation or encounter which is of interest” (Minghella & Benson, 1995, p. 207), and a reflective examination of the incident. The reflective component involves engaging with and explor- ing the incident on both cognitive and affective levels with the goal of reaching a new and transformative understanding of the experience (Boud, Keogh, & Walker, 1985). Dilworth (1998) summarized the rationale for a reflective and action- based approach to learning as follows:

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Adults learn best when confronted with real situations in which they consider themselves stakeholders. . . . Much as adult learning theories point to the need for a reflective component, action learning has the same emphasis. To act is insufficient. The learning is in the reflection on action and in the renewal that comes from then adapting the future action [based] on what was learned. (pp. 17–18)

Parker, Webb, and D’Souza (1995), in applying critical in- cident analysis to nurses’ training, emphasized that critical incident analysis is a type of reflective learning that involves three main features: personal experience, reflection, and transformation of knowledge and meaning.

A core element of critical incident analysis is examining situations and encounters that occur in a naturalistic setting (incidents that are raw and unedited). The examination takes the form of active reflection on an important incident, encoun- ter, or situation and then an application of the analysis to future behavior. Note that the change in behavior and attitudes that occurs is viewed as part of the critical incident analysis, not simply a by-product of the analysis. This suggests that the itera- tive exchange between action and analysis is ongoing—that learning based on critical incidents is truly a process without a focus on an end point.

The application of critical incident analysis to counselor training is not a new idea. In a recent study, Furr and Car- roll (2003) investigated the role of critical incidents in the development of master’s-level counselors. Defining a critical incident as a “positive or negative experience recognized by the counseling student as significant” (Furr & Carroll, 2003, p. 485), these authors reported that students identified an average of two to three critical incidents per semester, events both di- rectly and indirectly related to their training. Fukuyama (1994) applied the critical incident lens to supervisory experiences in counselor training, noting that the critical incident usually comprised a cognitive and an affective component. Because the experiences tended to move counselors to reevaluate their personal growth and the context in which the incidents oc- curred, they could spur profound shifts in both professional and personal development. Toporek, Ortega-Villalobos, and Pope-Davis (2004) explored the influence of critical inci- dents on the development of multicultural competence. They found that students and supervisors identified awareness as the area in which critical incidents were the most influential. Specifically, critical incidents led to increased attention to, understanding of, and insight about how race and culture influence counseling and supervision.

An essential aspect of critical incident analysis involves less structured and more spontaneous learning that is active, ongoing, and therefore not bounded by time and expectation. The use of critical incident analysis in training for racial/cultural awareness focuses on the experience of racial/cultural reality that undergirds the demonstrable competencies. For instance, whereas didactic instruction, practicum placements, and

externships may focus on the demonstrable skills a trainee exhibits, critical incident analysis elicits an exploration of the thoughts, feelings, defenses, and so on, that reside underneath and provide the basis for the demonstrable skills.

Theories of adult learning and communication have guided the use of critical incident analysis in other disciplines (Min- ghella & Benson, 1995; Parker et al., 1995). In the current discussion, however, we focus primarily on the rationale and structure of Critical Incident Analysis Based Training (CIABT). We limit ourselves here to suggesting that racial identity theory (Cook, 1994) and multicultural counseling theory (Sue, Ivey, & Pedersen, 1996) might serve as guides in analyzing critical racial/cultural incidents. The value of racial identity theory in developing active racial/cultural awareness has been specifically highlighted by Cook (1994):

Racial Identity models can provide a relatively non-threatening focus for discussing racial differences. . . . The models examine individual differences rather than sweeping generalizations about racial groups, generalizations that can contribute to alienation and defensiveness when individuals discuss racial issues. Individuals can discuss their racial differences from a perspective of “growth and development” rather than “blame.” (p. 137)

In view of the fact that race is such an integral aspect of American society and that interpersonal interactions are deeply affected by race relations, we believe that many critical incidents happen daily. These range from subtle interactions that are grounded in differing racial/cultural worldviews to more blatant occurrences of racial conflict. The following illustration is therefore offered as an example of an everyday incident that lends itself to analysis.

Example of a Critical Incident Three counseling students are in a small office. Two of the students, a man and a woman, are Black, and the third student, a woman, is a White. A White male student, well known to all the others, walks in and makes a humorous comment implying that the Black female student is trying to get some money from the Black male student. The Black female student responds, “Money? . . . No, he’s a Black man,” resulting in much laughter by the Black students and a stifled unsure laugh by the White students. The incident ends with the students returning to their prior activities with no comment about the interaction.

This experience illustrates the intellectual and affective re- sponses commonly associated with a racial interaction—awk- wardness, uncertainty, denial, a need to appear aware, the experience of being silenced. In these very experiences, much learning can occur about the automatic unspoken assumptions that drive behavior in racial situations. Our example was chosen for its lack of blatant or even subtle racism in order

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to illustrate what a racially salient critical incident might look like. We purposely want to avoid reifying the common notion that events of blatant discrimination or more subtle racism are the only ones that qualify as racially salient. Whereas acts of blatant racism and micro-aggressions (Franklin, 1999) are indeed critical incidents and therefore fruitful for analysis, our contention is that much learning can also take place if the more “innocuous” incidents that people encounter daily are also analyzed.