Humor can reflect the healthy release of feelings during the counseling process, the type of emotional release that leads to significant therapeutic gains. It can also be a disturbing distraction, possibly causing early termination, if used inappropriately. Counselors need to exert particular caution before attempting to apply humor in working with a client from a culture different from the counselor's. This article explores the available literature and offers contributions on the subject from 4 “ethnically diverse” perspectives. Finally, a general approach based on existential theory is presented along with 5 general conditions to ascertain the appropriate use of humor.

An exploration of Black men as clients is presented. The concept of irreducibility through the humanistic lens is shared as a means of providing counselors the wherewithal to reframe the internal paradigm of clinical work with Black men. Recommendations for counselorexploration and clinical practice are offered.

The topic of social justice has received considerable attention in the counseling literature; however, little empirical research exists. This grounded theory study examined 4 counselor educators' process of integrating social justice constructs into their pedagogy. Data analysis revealed 4 primary experiences that emerged in the participants' descriptions of their integration of social justice into their pedagogy. Implications for counselor educators and future research are presented.

The authors present the argument that professional counseling is philosophically grounded in human-

The authors used a phenomenological research design and a critical race theory lens to examine interviews with 8 Black male counselor educators and learn what contributed to their earning tenure. Participants described requisite personal dispositions and institutional support as contributing factors. Recommendations include facilitating programmatic sociocultural awareness, assessing faculty experiences, and coordinating mentoring opportunities.

A national survey of counselor trainees was conducted to investigate variables that influence the development of perceived multicultural competencies. The development of multicultural counseling competencies from an integrative educational perspective was overviewed as a framework for empirically exploring these factors. The group differences on counselor trainees' scores of perceived multicultural competence was explored based on clinical supervision, number of multicultural classes, and number of non-White clients. Results indicate that receiving clinical supervision related to multicultural issues and conducting counseling with more non-White clients interacted significantly with higher scores of multicultural competence. Such findings highlight current curricular and practical issues within mental health counselor education and frame the need for ongoing research that evaluates our emphasis and commitment to multicultural counseling in the 21st century.

The authors provide an exploration of the philosophical concepts of Black existentialism. Black existentialism is presented as a philosophical alternative to European existentialismto inform humanistic practices in addressing racial and social inequality. Implications for scholarly discourse are provided, and areas for future research are explored.

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