Perceived Multicultural Competency of Certified Substance Abuse Counselors

Abstract

In this study, the authors explored the self-perceived multicultural counseling competencies of substance abuse counselors. Overall, the results indicate that substance abuse counselors perceived themselves to be competent; however, differences existed on the basis of race and educational level. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Current Expectations and Existing Deficits among Addiction Specialists

“…Furthermore, SUD can exact disproportionate consequences based on differences in health status (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2010), gender (Briggs, 2008), sexual orientation (Ibanez, Purcell, Stall, Parsons, & Gomez, 2010), ethnic/cultural differences (Lassiter & Chang, 2006), and age of onset (Kessler et al, 2005). As a result of the myriad issues that are often directly intertwined with addiction, it is not enough for the addiction specialist to be well versed in simply understanding addiction as a psychological and physiological disorder today.…”

An exploration of factors contributing to multicultural counseling self‐efficacy in addiction counselors

“…The third research question sought to examine differences in MCSE based on counselor training (education level, credentials, CACREP attendance, and multicultural education). The majority of the participants in this study held a master's degree (74%), which was higher than several previous studies that sampled addiction counselors (Culbreth, 1999; Culbreth & Cooper, 2008; Lassiter & Chang, 2006; Toriello & Benshoff, 2003). There were no significant differences based on education level, though participants with a doctoral degree did report higher mean scores across all scales except multicultural assessment.…”

“…The sample of participants for this study were addiction counselors recruited from a state credentialing board. North Carolina was chosen for this study due to being recognized for its credentialing standards and tiered certification licensure system (Lassiter & Chang, 2006; Miller et al., 2010; Morgen et al., 2012). North Carolina offers a tiered system of various credentials that allows for greater flexibility than non‐tiered systems (Morgen et al., 2012) and has a long history of advanced credentials and higher training standards for addiction counselors (P. Lassiter, personal communication, June 23, 2020).…”

“…Given the lack of research examining factors that contribute to multicultural counseling self‐efficacy in addiction counselors, this study was conducted to address this gap in the literature. Previous studies have examined self‐efficacy of licensed counselors to provide substance abuse services (Chandler et al., 2011) and multicultural competence in substance abuse counselors (Lassiter & Chang, 2006). This study expands on previous literature by conducting exploratory analyses regarding how recovery status, training, and counselor demographics explain multicultural counseling self‐efficacy in addiction counselors.…”

LGBTQ+ Addiction Research: An Analysis of the Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling

“…Similarly, Dew, Elifson, and Sterk () described the sexual orientations of their participants as 82% heterosexual but did not report the sexual orientations of the other 18%; however, they collapsed lesbian, gay, and bisexual into one categorical group to be included in analyses of MDMA use among young adults. Lassiter and Chang's () sample of 98 substance abuse counselors included 88 heterosexual individuals (89.8%) and 10 lesbian, gay, or bisexual individuals (10.2%). Here, lesbian, gay, and bisexual were collapsed into one categorical group, without a gender breakdown, and the researchers did not include sexual orientation as a variable to be analyzed in their study.…”