Building cultural empathy and deconstructing Whiteness in counselor education

Abstract

Counselor training that does not attend to dynamics of cultural differences and oppression can run the risk of promoting false empathy that serves the voyeuristic purpose of the counselor rather than achieving accurate empathy for the client. In this article, we discuss the differences between true and false empathy and how Whiteness, racial identity and culture, and classroom dynamics can impact the ability to engage in cultural empathy development. We present a model for cultural empathy training that attends to each of these dynamics.

An ecologically informed transdisciplinary prevention model for Black and Latine family wellbeing

“…Counseling relationships and therapeutic skills/techniques are theorized to originate from a counselor's genuine empathic way of viewing and being with others, where we are reverently connected by our shared sense of humanity (Davis et al, 2020;Fife et al, 2014). However, Bayne et al (2023) highlighted several examples where counselor education classroom strategies or white helper internalized processes may impede a genuine empathic presence and way of being. Bayne et al (2023) defined false empathy (as opposed to true cultural empathy) as the egocentric attempts to convey an understanding of another based on the counselor's own positionality and personal experience.…”

“…However, Bayne et al (2023) highlighted several examples where counselor education classroom strategies or white helper internalized processes may impede a genuine empathic presence and way of being. Bayne et al (2023) defined false empathy (as opposed to true cultural empathy) as the egocentric attempts to convey an understanding of another based on the counselor's own positionality and personal experience. To approach empathic connection in this way limits a counselor's ability to fully take on the experience of another (i.e., listen for culturally relevant content and connect to a client's meaning-making process) and may result from internalized racial dynamics (i.e., empathy as a form of white imperialism), limited knowledge of cultural differences (i.e., empathic exploration motivated in support of personal learning rather than as a part of healing/wellness of Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color [BIPOC] individuals), or misconceptions that only BIPOC individuals can know or discuss racial issues.…”

“…However, Bayne et al. (2023) highlighted several examples where counselor education classroom strategies or white helper internalized processes may impede a genuine empathic presence and way of being.…”

Addressing elements of white supremacy in counselor education: The path forward for racial justice in the counseling field

“…These dynamics are also attributed to what Accapadi (2007) and DiAngelo (2011) describe as white fragility, in which white people may exhibit a distressed state of being when confronted with the possibility that they engaged in racially harmful behaviors. White fragility behaviors distract from the racial harm caused to community members of color and leave these community members feeling unsupported when experiencing racism (Accapadi, 2007; Bayne et al., 2023; DiAngelo, 2011; Sue, 2015). Counselor educators must be aware of how these behaviors can manifest when trying to avoid distressing thoughts about participation in racist behaviors, so that white counselor educators can identify ways to lean into discomfort and address racially harmful behaviors with themselves and white students in counselor education contexts.…”

A 50‐year content analysis on Black males' experiences in counseling

“…Scholars have noted that the greater counseling profession literature reflects the traditional worldviews of White Europeans and White Americans (Gonzalez & Cokley, 2021;Steen & Prasath, 2023;Washington & Henfield, 2019). This has been evident from the theoretical frameworks of counseling (Helms, 1984), majority White practitioner representation (Bayne et al, 2023), and majority White faculty and student representation (Steen & Rose Prasath, 2023). Despite the overrepresentation of Whiteness, counseling researchers have made efforts to illuminate the experiences of Black males.…”