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Targeted
Professionals’ Meeting for Psychological Counseling Hosted
by Barnard College on April 3, 2002 Hosted by Dr. Laura Smith and Dr. Marjorie Silverman, the Meeting was the first in a series designed to extend interest in promoting high achievement and satisfaction among students of color. The Meeting goals were the following:
The five-hour meeting opened with a presentation by keynote speaker Dr. Madonna Constantine, Associate Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Constantine focused on:
Dr.
Constantine challenged counselors to reconsider their roles in the
counseling setting and in relation to their university.
Several roles were offered as possibilities, including
consultant, advocate, and educator.
She also discussed connecting students with other helping
resources. Understanding
the situational and environmental impact on students’ psychological
issues was strongly emphasized, and is highly relevant for many students
of color whose experiences of prejudice exert influence on their college
experience. For
some participants, this approach represented a new way of working, as
their training and practice focused on concerns of the internal psyche,
and not the external environment. Action
plans will work towards resolving this challenge for counseling
services. Multi-cultural
counseling competence was a main theme.
In discussion, it became apparent that this concept is relevant
to sexual orientation and socio-economic class as well as race and
ethnicity. Outreach
was discussed as a means of overcoming the stigma attached to counseling
by some cultural groups, and the fear for some students of acknowledging
“weakness”. The
idea of conducting outreach programming presented difficulties for some
participants, however. Several
felt that a presence in the college community threatened their ability
to continue their particular method of counseling, as they did not wish
to be seen outside of their counseling role; others felt that they were
already understaffed, and were not sure that their staffs could meet
these additional demands. This
obstacle will also be addressed where necessary in Action Plans. The
possibility of group counseling was raised as a solution for serving
increased numbers of clients resulting from outreach work. The possibility of collaborating with other faculty and staff
in outreach work was proposed in response to reservations about engaging
in outreach. Assessing
client satisfaction was another important element. Constantine’s own research offered examples of variables to
consider. They include:
client demographics, ATSPPHS-S (cultural aversion to counseling),
counselor rating, and a cross-cultural counseling inventory.
For
all it is important to consider the cultural norms of their campuses and
counseling centers and what role the university expects them to play on
the campus. Commitments
were made to produce action plans for each attending campus by June 15.
The participants expressed the desire to meet again. |