Effects of a Workshop on Mental Health Practitioners' Attitudes Toward Homosexuality and Counseling Effectiveness

Abstract

The effects of a training workshop on mental health practitioners' attitudes toward homosexuality and counseling behavior were compared with the effects of no intervention. Treated subjects (n = 21) were enrolled in a 3-day multimodal workshop about gay/lesbian counseling, and no-treatment comparison subjects (n = 31) were enrolled in other counselor education coursework. Before and after the workshop, subjects completed homosexuality attitude questionnaires and a quasibehavioral gay/lesbian counseling effectiveness measure. Treated subjects improved significantly more than comparison subjects on all measures, and the gains remained in evidence at an 8-week follow-up. The multimodal training workshop thus appears encouraging as a possible means of instilling needed attitudes and skills in counselors of gay and lesbian clients.

The impact of acceptance and commitment training and multicultural training on the stigmatizing attitudes and professional burnout of substance abuse counselors

“…In order to promote more awareness of the client's worldview it is a required part of training for substance abuse counselors in many jurisdictions. Several descriptive studies and quasi-experimental studies have shown that Multicultural Training can reduce counselor's prejudice toward clients from minority cultural groups (e.g., Paradis, 1981;Parker & McDavis, 1989;Rudolph, 1989), but both outcome and process research are still somewhat limited (Kieselica, Maben, & Locke, 1999). It is not known if Multicultural Training can reduce stigma toward substance abusers in treatment, but logically it may, since the larger message of Multicultural Training is that each person must be understood in their historical and social context.…”

Impact of a Homonegativity Awareness Workshop on Attitudes Toward Homosexuality

“…Nevertheless, quite a few panel presentations and similar interventions have been evaluated in terms of how effective they are in reducing homonegativity. A large number of studies found immediate (Burkholder & Dineen, 1996;Cramer et al, 1997;Gaesler, Croteau, Heineman, & Edlund, 1995;Lance, 1987;Morin, 1974;Pagtolun-An & Clair, 1986;Wells, 1991) or lasting effects (Anderson, 1981;Nelson & Kreiger, 1997;Reinhardt, 1995;Rudolph, 1989), suggesting that a contact approach is effective in reducing homonegativity. However, some failed to find any effect (Black, Oles, Cramer, & Bennett, 1999;Chng & Moore, 1991;Cotten-Huston & Waite, 2000), and some found inconsistent effects (Green, Dixon, & Gold-Neil, 1993, e.g., found an effect only for female participants).…”

“…In many cases, the authors give little detail concerning the nature of the presentation itself (e.g., Cotten-Huston & Waite, 2000;Lance, 1987;Morin, 1974). Other authors used panel presentations in conjunction with other educational interventions (e.g., videos or class lectures) without distinguishing the source of the effects (e.g., Rudolph, 1989;Wells, 1991). It is possible then that disparate interventions are evaluated as panel presentations; still, the literature suggests that these interventions generally seem effective in reducing homonegativity.…”

Contributions of Multicultural Counseling to Counselor Competence With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients

“…Although studies have dethcted changes in counselors' attitudes toward lesbian and gay clients following multimodal educational interventions (Gilliland & Crisp, 1995;Rudolph, 1989), the specific mechanisms of attitude change, knowledge acquisition, and skill development remain unclear. Outcome evaluations and rigorous research designs could also help to inform both multicultural and LGB counselor training.…”