Addressing Heterosexist Privilege During Orientation: One Program's Experience

Faith, Race, and LGB Affirmation: Experiences of African American Counselors‐in‐Training

“…They identified the multicultural course as being pivotal in their development. However, their responses seemed congruent with the literature (Bidell, ; Cannon, Wiggins, Poulsen, & Estrada, ; Robertson & Avent, ; Whitman & Bidell, ) that one class is not enough. In fact, one of the participants stated that her transformative moment came in a child and adolescent class.…”

“…Often, counselors are unprepared or unwilling to provide affirmative counseling to LGB clients (Cannon et al, ; Walker & Prince, ). Counselor educators and supervisors may feel uncomfortable or inadequately prepared to address issues of sexuality with their students or supervisees, particularly when the issue of sexuality intersects with religious or cultural values (Whitman & Bidell, ).…”

African American Counselors‐in‐Training, the Black Church, and Lesbian‐, Gay‐, and Bisexual‐Affirmative Counseling: Considerations for Counselor Education Programs

“…It is clear that a more comprehensive and interpersonal approach is needed (Cannon & Frank, 2009;Endicott et al, 2003). Counselor educators can integrate LGB-affirming counseling throughout the program curricula (Whitman & Bidell, 2014), starting with the counselor education program orientation (Cannon et al, 2012). Students need ample time to integrate their personal values with values that are congruent with the professional ethical identity of a counselor (Ametrano, 2014;Minnix, 2015;Whitman & Bidell, 2014).…”

“…Given that many religious groups perceive LGB people as immoral, some counselors, particularly those with conservative religious leanings, may feel at odds with their profession (Whitman & Bidell, 2014). Researchers have noted that the majority of students leave counseling programs unprepared to work with LGB clients (Cannon, Wiggins, Poulsen, & Estrada, 2012;Walker & Prince, 2010). Many counselor education programs address working with LGB individuals only during the multicultural course.…”

The State of GLBT Family Research: An Opportunity to Critically Reflect

“…Recognizing a severe gap in GLBT-competent family practitioners, Cannon, Wiggins, Poulsen, and Estrada (2012), as well as , have developed training models to help clinicians and family scholars expand on their own cultural competency and address heterosexism and heterosexual privilege in their professional practice. Furthermore, the AAMFT Task Force on Core Competencies emphasized the need for adopting client feedback protocol into accredited clinical programs.…”