Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies: Guidelines for the Counseling Profession

Abstract

In 2014, the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) appointed a committee to revise the Multicultural Counseling Competencies developed by Sue, Arredondo, and McDavis in and operationalized by Arredondo et al. in . This article reflects the updated competencies, titled the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC; Ratts, Singh, Nassar‐McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, ), which were endorsed by AMCD on June 29, 2015, and by the American Counseling Association on July 20, 2015. A conceptual framework of the MSJCC visually depicts the relationships among the competencies' key constructs: multicultural and social justice praxis, quadrants, domains, and competencies. Implications are discussed. En 2014, la Asociación para la Consejería y el Desarrollo Multicultural (AMCD, en sus siglas en inglés) formó un comité para revisar las Competencias en Consejería Multicultural desarrolladas por Sue, Arredondo y McDavis en 1992 y operacionalizadas por Arredondo et al. en 1996. Este artículo refleja las competencias actualizadas, denominadas Competencias en Consejería Multicultural y de Justicia Social (MSJCC, en sus siglas en inglés; Ratts, Singh, Nassar‐McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2015a), que fueron avaladas por la AMCD el 29 de junio de 2015 y por la Asociación Americana de Consejería el 20 de julio de 2015. Un marco conceptual de las MSJCC muestra visualmente las relaciones entre los constructos principales de las competencias: la praxis multicultural y en justicia social, los cuadrantes, dominios y competencias. Se discuten las implicaciones.

Infusing Social Justice Advocacy into Counselor Education: Strategies and Recommendations

“…This increased attention has come about due in part to the multicultural counseling competency movement. Attention to the Multicultural Counseling Competencies (MCCs) developed by Sue, Arredondo, and McDavis (1992) and revised in 2016 (Ratts, Singh, Nassar-McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2016) has led to increased awareness of the impact of oppression, prejudice and inequality on diverse clients at multiple levels. For example, at the individual level clients may experience internalized oppression around biopsychosocial characteristics that do not reflect mainstream norms; appropriate and relevant services may be unavailable in schools and communities, or worse clients may experience outright discrimination in education or employment; and state or national policies and laws may exclude protections or rights for vulnerable populations.…”

Stigma of mental illness and multicultural counseling self-efficacy : investigating the implications of the multicultural training environment, mental health literacy, and empathy.

“…An investigation of the intersection of mental illness stigma and multicultural counseling competence is made more complex by literature indicating that measures based on this model have yielded mixed findings (e.g., Constantine & Ladany, 2000). In addition, and relevant to a discussion of multicultural counseling competencies (MCC; Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992), is the recent revision of these competencies, now entitled the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC; Ratts, Singh, Nassar-McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2016). The revised version takes a more humanistic and relational approach to counselor competence, evidenced by language that indicates diversity among both clients and counselors.…”

“…Multiculturalism is now expected to be an integral part of counselor preparation programs and a counselor's practice lexicon, as evidenced by specific standards of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs (CACREP, 2009) and the MSJCCs (Ratts et al, 2016). Since the birth of the multicultural counseling in the 1950s (Robinson & Morris, 2000), the field of counseling has gradually adapted to the needs of the diversity of groups it serves by making multiculturalism an important part of counselor training and professional practice.…”

“…In the years since attitude and bias became a creditable focus of attention, research interest in the effects of counselor attitudes has expanded to include multicultural counseling, and to a lesser degree, stigmatized groups. This dichotomy can be seen perhaps most clearly in counselor preparation programs, where an emphasis on multiculturalism is secured by accrediting bodies such as CACREP (2015) and the recent publication of the MSJCC (Ratts et al, 2016). No such means of comprehensively addressing stigma of mental illness at the counselor preparation level, perhaps due to an assumption that counselor trainees and counselor educators are tacitly considered to be immune to the stigma of mental illness.…”

“…Practicing counselors are expected to be multiculturally competent (CACREP, 2015;Ratts et al, 2016), and this competence could be expanded to include the culturebound nature of mental illness stigma. Acknowledging that internalized mental illness stigma, or self-stigma (e.g., Krajewski, 2013), for clients from different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds informs how they respond to their own diagnosis has the potential to yield valuable information for counselors who seek to help individuals meet and overcome barriers to successful treatment.…”