Decolonizing & decentering oppressive structures: practical strategies for social justice in school and clinical counseling

ABSTRACT

Recent calls for social justice and advocacy in counseling have stressed the need to make all school and clinical settings socially just and free from oppressive White structures. This article focuses on the necessity of liberating and decolonizing through a review of the current and historical context of oppressive structures noted in both settings. We offer critical considerations and practical strategies to dismantle and decenter White hegemony in both domains.

KEYWORDS:

• Advocacy
• decentering
• decolonizing
• professional counseling
• school counseling
• social justice

The importance of including multicultural considerations has been in the collective consciousness of the counseling profession in both school and clinical mental health for over 50 years (Baima & Sude, 2019; Dollarhide et al., 2016, Kohli et al., 2010; Williams et al., 2021). The field of counseling ardently pursues multicultural competence, social justice, and advocacy work, and many counselor education programs boast mission statements surrounding these aims. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (2016) standards require counselor education programs to ensure that they have prepared students with sufficient knowledge and skills to address several contextual dimensions of counseling, including “cultural factors” (p. 23). Much of the literature identifies the theories and practices that fail to consider multicultural factors; however, it is imperative to conduct an examination into the settings where counselors serve. Schools, clinical mental health facilities, and community spaces further perpetuate themes of White supremacy as they embody the hegemonic principles which the counseling field aims to denounce. The dominant values and systemic oppression are evident in the settings, which through an allegiance to White norms (i.e., unwillingness to account for culture and unique needs, standardized testing, clinical assessment, treatment planning) imply White superiority.

The American Counseling Association (ACA) (Lee, 2020) openly criticized racism and White supremacy and implored its members to dismantle systems of oppression. White supremacy has been defined as the belief that the White race is superior to all other races, and through social, economic, and political systems thereby control other races (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). This is evident in any denials of cultural factors or unique needs of clients and students within public domains that are established and governed by White standards. However, irrespective of program standards, public statements, compelling research, numerous publications, and an increase in overall awareness through the years, a concern persist that the principles of social justice and multiculturalism may be a facade that is touted but not successfully carried out in these counselor training programs or the profession (Gorski & Goodman, 2015).

As is true of the range of related helping professions, Whiteness has been centralized in counseling since its beginning (Baima & Sude, 2019). Founded and advanced almost exclusively by White men, most theories, and frameworks on which the counseling profession was built and are performed center on the White, Western, Christian, middle-class, cisgender, heterosexual, male, neurotypical, able-bodied, and colonized experiences as the way of knowing, and as the norms from which all “others” are given meaning (Goodman & Gorski, 2015). There is no denying this origin and no doubt of its lasting impact. Williams et al. (2021) asserts that the counseling profession “has a moral and ethical obligation to examine the ways Whiteness and White supremacy are systematically embedded within the counseling profession (e.g., norms, values, policies, practices, educational training, leadership)” (p. 254). This call to action is particularly urgent if the field of counseling hopes to achieve its aim of social justice for its practitioners, clients, society, and its profession.

Counselor education programs, which frequently include only one course in multicultural counseling, may be reluctant to make substantive changes to their curriculum to include multicultural considerations that can be infused into clinical and school counseling settings. Purporting a mission of social justice, advocacy, and multicultural competency while asking students to view existing theories, interventions, and frameworks through the White-centric lens (White, Western, Christian, middle-class, cisgender, heterosexual, male, neurotypical, able-bodied, and colonized ways of knowing) is not tenable. It is no substitute for creating better strategies that establish comprehensive program frameworks for an authentic critical exploration of systemic racism in practice and settings. Furthermore, such practices may inadvertently reinforce the systems they seek to dismantle by perpetuating colorblind paradigms (Gorski & Goodman, 2015; Williams et al., 2021). Critical examination of the counseling field is therefore necessary and would include identification of colonized structures and systems, and an acknowledgment that one manifestation of such oppressive systems and structures is harm to fellow counselors and clients alike. To truly make strides toward the field’s aim of social justice, there must be a paradigm shift, a decentering of Whiteness, the decolonization of counselor education and counseling, and ultimately the decolonizing of the practice settings.

The Significance of Recent Events

Decolonization, or in its active form, decolonizing, speaks to the need to “remove a place from a colonial state or status” (Betts, 2012). “Colonized,” as used by Singh et al. (2020), describes the invisible and visible attempts of the dominant culture to enforce or reinforce ideologies and values incorporated to maintain “normalcy,” specifically order, power, and structural privilege. This “normalcy” comes with the embedded expectation that other cultures will accommodate, value, and acclimate to colonized structures and systems (Singh et al., 2020). As work to decolonize counseling practice within the school and clinical settings intensifies, counselors must be aware of the White hegemonic ideals, both visible and invisible, that impede viability for non-dominant groups. This awareness includes developing an enriched understanding of how structural racism appears in counseling and other systems (i.e., legal, education, and healthcare) that purport universal helpful intentions. The hidden agendas to maintain the status quo harm racial and ethnic minorities, placing them at a continual disadvantage, thus reinforcing a colonized status. Therefore, counselors must gain improved worldviews of the individuals served in their best efforts to advocate and provide interventions that are culturally responsive and affirming rather than colonizing (Ratts et al., 2016).

The Black experience can be used to illustrate the impact of structural racism. Police brutality toward racial and ethnic minorities serves as a constant reminder of how Whites continue to use systems layered in White hegemonic principles (i.e., legal, and criminal justice) to assert their power and privilege over non-dominant groups. The unjustified murder of George Floyd, a Black male, by Derek Chauvin, a White police officer was recorded and transmitted across numerous media platforms (Mayes & Byrd, 2022). Police brutality is not a new phenomenon, as violence and abuses of power are historically used to maintain colonized states (e.g., slavery, civil rights, school segregation, lynching’s, unlawful ordinances). The despicable actions observed during Floyd’s murder were astonishing to some but often the lived experience for racial and ethnic minorities (Mayes & Byrd, 2022). The power and privilege of law enforcement are evident, resulting in diminished trust in law enforcement and other systems (i.e., education, health care, and legal) for racial and ethnic minorities. Cultural mistrust permeates society, and non-dominant cultures are expected to accept and support systems perpetuating racism, oppression, and structural privilege in minoritized communities (Mayes & Byrd, 2022).

The power and privilege of Whites as manifested through systemic racism as observed in the murder of Floyd and other Black people (e.g., Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols) emphasized a message that the lives of Black people, racial, ethnic, and other minorities are insignificant, unworthy, and unprotected. Floyd’s murder refueled the advocacy and social justice efforts of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Founded in 2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin (Hoffman et al., 2016), BLM calls for increased awareness and urgency regarding anti-Black racism. BLM provides a voice to the voiceless and strives for equality for racial and ethnic minorities whose lives have often been minimized and devalued through unjustified actions with a hidden agenda of maintaining White dominance (Green et al., 2021). Systemic racism is rooted in White hegemonic practices, and the proliferation of these acts underscores the need for counselors to develop a lens of critical consciousness about power and privilege, as suggested by Ratts et al. (2016).

The murder of Floyd occurred as the nation was struggling from the impact of COVID-19, a global health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic also highlighted several deficits between Whites and racial and ethnic minorities, including equity and access relative to social determinants of health (i.e., healthcare and education, social and community context, economic stability, and neighborhood and built environments) (Paremoer et al., 2021). For example, studies have examined the negative impact of COVID-19 on students’ academic achievement and social-emotional well-being (Strear et al., 2021), in which racial and ethnic minorities experienced a drop in academic performance (Strear et al., 2021). Expressly noted was difficulty transitioning to the online platforms due to inconsistencies with access to technology, adequate learning spaces, and essential resources and needs (Goldstein et al., 2020; Strear et al., 2021). It is well-documented that psychological distress experienced during pandemics, epidemics, and crises (e.g., Hurricane Katrina and 9/11) for racial and ethnic minorities is further exacerbated due to cultural mistrust and dissatisfaction with public health entities and officials (Goldmann & Galea, 2014; Novacek et al., 2020).

The Current State of Counseling

Given historical treatment (i.e., slavery, civil rights) and current events mentioned above, racial, and ethnic minorities are reluctant to engage in helping relationships (Novacek et al., 2020). Validation and affirmation are key factors noted by racial and ethnic minorities that increase their likelihood to seek support (Grier-Reed et al., 2018). Support should counter the White centered colonized oppression faced daily; however, many spaces are microcosms of larger societal implications of cultural insignificance.

Specific to school and mental health counseling, association ethical statements form the foundation of ethical decolonized practice. According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) ethical standards, school counselors promote social justice by implementing an ASCA National Model-based school counseling program that addresses disparities that may exist related to things such as gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (American School Counselor Association, 2016). The American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics (2014) recognizes the promotion of social justice as a core professional value of the counseling profession. ACA stresses a commitment to nondiscrimination and the protection of human dignity and diverse individuals by urging counselors to advocate for equity and fair treatment for all people and groups to end oppression afflicting clients/students and their environments (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014).

While the statements of both entities support social justice and inclusivity within school and clinical domains, counselors are not prepared to use effective strategies aimed at decolonizing practice. Ratts et al. (2016) revised the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC) to reflect the knowledge, skills, and ability necessary for counselors to provide culturally competent counseling and supervision services. The most salient aspect of the MSJCC is its role in providing a framework for operationalizing the ethical mandates through practical strategies. Adherence to the competencies requires counseling professionals to be proactive in evaluating their self-awareness, understanding the clients’ worldview, and establishing the foundations of the counseling relationship. Singh et al. (2020) recognizes the effectiveness of MSJCCs when implemented as a tool to provide equity and social justice to marginalized populations by providing practical ways to address systemic, structural, and institutional injustices. While the competencies suggest the minimal level of understanding for working with diverse populations, criticisms of the MSJCCs note a lack of competency assessment or measurement researching implementation within each domain, suggesting that the competencies are performative rather than transformative (Hays, 2020; Presseau et al., 2018).

Professionals who wish to infuse the concepts of MSJCC into their work may recognize the necessity for self-evaluation, understanding, and skills but may feel hindered by the limited utility and a lack of clarity on effectively integrating cultural and social justice components (Hays, 2020). Moreover, though these concepts likely resonate with professionals whose practices are informed by engaging in self-reflexivity, an awareness of clients’ worldviews, and their impacts on the counselor-client relationship (Ratts et al., 2016), they are no substitute for practical strategies (Hays, 2020). Tangible and action-oriented transformative practices for multicultural and social justice work are tantamount to possessing requisite knowledge and competencies

Practical Strategies

Counselors in clinical and school settings need to recognize how the power and privilege encountered in the environment are reinforced through the practical application of helping relationships (Dollarhide et al., 2016; Ratts et al., 2016; Singh et al., 2020). Dismantling power dynamics within the counselor-client relationship is foundational in establishing and maintaining a healthy therapeutic alliance. Clear strategies are necessary for professionals to work toward this goal in their practice and for the future of the counseling field. Therefore, the subsequent sections explore crucial considerations for conceptualizing critical consciousness (Mayes & Byrd, 2022) and detail practical strategies to provide professionals with an access point for employing related approaches.

Essential Skill for Decolonizing: Broaching

Within both the clinical mental health and school counseling contexts, broaching is the foundation of the counseling relationship. Broaching, as coined by Day-Vines et al. (2007) refers to the counselor’s deliberate and intentional efforts to discuss how race, ethnicity, and culture impact the client’s presenting concerns. Broaching requires a deep level of understanding one’s own identities, as well as the ability to explore the identities of others (Day-Vines et al. (2007). The growing number of clients and students holding minoritized identities will increase the urgency of these broaching skills (Colby & Ortman, 2015) and provide near certainty that counselors will engage in cross-racial counseling (Day-Vines et al., 2021). Effective broaching consists of the counselor’s willingness to initiate conversation, or respond to racial, ethnic, or cultural stimuli during treatment (Hays, 2020). Through this acknowledgment of identity and culture, counselors not only validate client and student uniqueness, but also acknowledge that White norms can no longer be consider the “norm” and therefore set the stage to dismantle White supremacy in this setting.

Trust within counseling relationships is paramount to success, and counselors in clinical and school settings need to recognize how the power and privilege encountered in the environment are reinforced through the practical application of helping relationships (Dollarhide et al., 2016; Ratts et al., 2016; Singh et al., 2020). Counselors in both domains should seek to establish a safe environment where the client/student feels free to discuss complex issues related to race and culture. Counselors can facilitate trust through an exploration of cultural differences and similarities that exist between them and the client/student (Day-Vines et al., 2021). Counselors must recognize that cultural misunderstandings can create an unhealthy power dynamic, and their ability to acknowledge the perceived power imbalance can work to solidify an authentic relationship and dispel White supremist thought with meaningful dialogue and increased awareness.

Broaching is an on-going behavior, attitude, and strategy utilized by counselors (Day-Vines et al., 2007). Despite the importance of this act, many counselors refrain from addressing issues of race and culture out of fear of offending the client, among other factors (Jones & Welfare, 2017). Refusal to address cultural factors within the counseling relationship has been described as microaggressive acts (Hook et al., 2016). Day-Vines et al. (2021) conceptualized broaching through the Multidimensional Model of Broaching Behavior. This model incorporates guidelines for implementing broaching, while also recognizing the need to focus not solely on racism and discrimination, but also other realities that affect clients. Specifically, counselors’ attunement to the oppressive nuances of client/students’ lives is imperative to cultivate a genuine broaching conversation (Day-Vines et al., 2021). Broaching allows the counselor to be genuinely curious about the client/student’s experience instead of assuming which can lead to racial invalidation (Durham, 2018; Griffin et al., 2020).

Members of minoritized communities face daily microaggressions that influence how they present in counseling. For example, African American males report that they are treated as untrustworthy and as if they are criminals (Durham, 2018), as well as being questioned about their intelligence as a means of racial invalidation (Griffin et al., 2020). A counselor may see this person show up as apprehensive and distrusting of educational or mental health systems. It would be necessary for the counselor to address this and to communicate an environment of trust and non-judgment. This validation is facilitated through broaching behaviors where social justice materializes from theory into practice (Day-Vines et al., 2021). Broaching in and of itself can create a socially just counseling relationship, as it provides transparency within the dynamic and attempts to minimize the barrier or power through acceptance and appreciation of difference.

As mentioned, broaching is not limited to conversations about racial, ethnic, and cultural (REC) issues. Day‐Vines, Cluxton‐Keller, et al. (2021), outline four dimensions into which broaching behaviors may fall (a) intracounseling, (b) intraindividual, (c) intra-REC, and (d) inter-REC. To capture the functionality and versatility of the technique, the following strategies are detailed:

Intracounseling Broaching Techniques focus on the examination of interpersonal aspects of the counseling dyad, such as:

• exploring students’ and clients’ reactions to working together considering shared and different identities

• acknowledging limitations in understanding student’s or client’s REC perspectives by decentering the expert perspective

Intraindividual Broaching Techniques focus on the examination of the student or client’s experience as impacted by their unique identities:

• exploring the impact of students’ and clients’ identities (e.g., race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, social class, national origin, migration status, and linguistic diversity) on their positionality and power

• assisting students and clients in analyzing their values, attitudes, and beliefs to develop a more holistic understanding of their identity

• examining the various interactions and intersections of students’ and clients’ identities

Intra-REC Broaching Techniques focus on within-group interpersonal interactions, those between students and clients and individuals with the same REC identities:

• exploring the presence of discrimination based on ingroup stratifications and validate how these are also harmful forms of prejudice that impact the student or client

Inter-REC Broaching Techniques focus on how oppressive systems and structures affect the student or client:

• examining how various forms of systemic and structural oppression and discrimination and their intersections impact the student or client

To summarize, use of the model will serve counselors in both domains with not only acknowledging the racism and discrimination that exists, but also through a validation of interpersonal experiences and intersections of identity that are impacted for individuals that they support (Day‐Vines, Cluxton‐Keller, et al., 2021). Through this exploration of various domains, counselors can gain a holistic understanding of challenging circumstances and aide with suggestions that are culturally meaningful, practical, and evidenced based.

Essential Skill for Decolonizing: Advocacy

As social justice developed into the “fifth force” of counseling, the need to become more action-oriented with dismantling the systems of oppression impacting clients and students became more apparent (Ratts, 2009). The concept of advocacy in counseling is nearly synonymous with the field’s inception; however, the explicit understanding of its role and utility within the field has continued to evolve (Toporek & Daniels, 2018), as the underpinnings of advocacy in counseling have invariably been understood as incorporating the essential acts of supporting and empowering clients (Storlie et al., 2019). The ACA Advocacy Competencies provide a foundation of understanding for the engagement of counselors in advocacy work based on various critical contextual factors and help situate the role of advocacy at the center of the counseling profession (Toporek & Daniels, 2018). In concert with the development of a deeper understanding (i.e., critical consciousness) and bolstered by imperative broaching skills, practicing counselors can utilize this framework as a guide to make better-informed decisions regarding advocacy interventions across a continuum informed by multicultural and social justice considerations.

According to Toporek and Daniels (2018), advocacy interventions can be organized around two primary dimensions: the Level of Advocacy Intervention and the Extent of Client Involvement. The level of advocacy intervention refers to the ecological system, from the micro level to the macro level, that will be the target of the intervention. This dimension describes the represented population and can vary from individual students and clients to classroom/community groups or organizations to the public (Toporek & Daniels, 2018). The extent of student or client involvement considers whether advocacy efforts will be conducted in concert with students and clients or in favor of students and clients (Toporek & Daniels, 2018). Once the target population and the intervention have been established, the counselor can determine the focus of their energy. Toporek and Daniels (2018) outline six domains in the ACA Advocacy Competencies that capture the convergence of intervention levels and participant involvement, which they define as (a) empowerment, (b) client advocacy, (c) community collaboration, (d) systems advocacy, (e) collective action, and (f) social/political advocacy (See Toporek and Daniels (2018) for more details).

Clients and groups working in collaboration with counselors will likely benefit most from counselors focusing on being supportive in their advocacy efforts (e.g., client empowerment, community collaboration, and collective action interventions) (Toporek & Daniels, 2018). In contrast, clients and groups who need counselors to advocate on their behalf will typically benefit from counselors who act directly to work as an intermediary (e.g., advocacy interventions on a client, systems, or social/political level) (Toporek & Daniels, 2018).

For example, advocacy within the school setting provides a basis for how the student body and staff perceive social justice. Black students are often met with resistance when trying to advocate themselves for fairness and just policies (Griffin et al., 2020), so it is necessary to provide this level of advocacy at a tier 1 (universal or school-wide) level as a proactive and preventative measure rather than intervening after an incident occurs. Advocacy at this level would involve highlighting equity in policies and practices related to how students are treated in the school. Counselors can champion school-wide advocacy efforts for curriculum representative of Black experiences that highlight accomplishments, while presenting Black role models that can benefit the student body. Underscoring more positive experiences of Blackness will encourage and empower Black students to adopt a stronger racial identity, which correlates with more positive school adjustment (Dotterer et al., 2009).

Counselors working with students can ensure that Black students are placed in classes that challenge them and prepare them for college or a career. If there are identified Black students who are struggling academically, the school counselor could create BIPOC support groups and Afrocentric group experiences as a tier 2 intervention, requiring advocacy for specific students who are struggling. At this level, counselors can also monitor progress and identify if their mental health needs are being addressed. Counselors can also validate students who report experiencing macro or microaggressive behaviors and work to identify allies and create safe spaces for Black students. Cultivating these equitable practices may provide positive strides in both the intrapersonal and microsystemic realms and would foster decolonization through action-oriented approaches that can impact not only the dyad counseling relationships but the profession.

Decolonizing the Counseling Setting

Decolonizing School Counseling

Betters-Bubon et al. (2022) suggest that antiracism is the commitment to interrupting systems of racism in society and affirming students, families, and communities of color. Ways to address these systems of racism include active interrogation and dismantling racist practices, policies, and systems that focus on power and privilege in education and society (Betters-Bubon et al., 2022). Educators are responsible for dismantling racism and oppression built and wired into schooling, testing, response to behavior, and curriculum (Kawi, 2020).

To approach racist and oppressive practices, educators must be aware of politics and power inside the classroom by understanding how classrooms function as political spaces where power is exerted, resisted, and yielded. According to Mayes and Byrd (2022), school counselors are “uniquely positioned to be leaders in anti-racist efforts and can influence a shift in school culture by using evidence-based practices across academic, career, and social/emotional domains” (p.1). As anti-racist educators, school counselors should involve themselves in the ongoing process of (a) believing racism is ever-present in all systems of society, including education, (b) unlearning colonial ways of being, (c) learning about the roots of racism, and how oppression is intersectional, (d) addressing one’s racist behaviors, (e) challenging ways of thinking, (f) using critical theories to develop a lens to identify oppression, and (g) engaging in rooting out oppressive beliefs and policies wherever they are present (Mayes & Byrd, 2022). Counselors can advocate for strategies designed to increase equity in learning experiences, including but not limited to:

• diversifying approaches to include more creativity and allow the recentering of students’ stories; for example, expanding materials used and content covered (e.g., references, examples, handouts, tools), ensuring intentional representation of marginalized voices and varying sociocultural identities

• discussing students’ social justice goals and exploring related clubs, groups, or initiatives

• inviting and involving students from multicultural backgrounds into the curriculum-building process

• embracing diverse language in interactions, writing, and testing; and

involving oneself in local, state, and federal advocacy for equity (Mayes & Byrd, 2022; Decolonizing the Classroom: Step 1, 2019).

Decolonizing Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Methods to decolonize clinical counseling settings must begin with a review of how counselors perceive clients. This conceptualization begins with analyzing clients as unique individuals and further extends to an understanding of clients as they are culturally and contextually situated. To start, Gorski and Goodman (2015) highlight the importance of considering clients as multifaceted individuals with multiple identities. This requires counselors to take an approach that recognizes and centers on intersectionality (Crenshaw et al., 2019). Counseling has attempted to integrate multicultural frameworks when working with diverse clients. However, models such as the MSJCC, which depict culture as merely pertaining to race or ethnicity, offer limited understandings of its multidimensional nature (Hays, 2020). Such dichotomous thinking is the hallmark of a colonial ideology and has impacted the counseling relationship’s effectiveness, thus reinforcing White hegemonic practices (Shirazi, 2011). For example, categorizations such as white/of color, gay/straight, and Christian/non-Christian have further disenfranchised people through homogenized practices and neglected an admission of complex identities and White supremacy (Leigh, 2009; Racine & Petrucka, 2011). Counselors can work together with clients to embrace their identities within and among systems of intersectionality through the following:

• improving intake assessments framed in systemic models that account for multiple identities and environments (i.e., cultural, religion, policies, social determinants of health) that may impact treatment or outcomes

• expressing awareness of and exploring cultural differences, group identity, and differences in power, access, and opportunity

• engaging in clinical diagnosing and treatment planning that includes culturally relevant practices and strategies that serve to tie in social community to curriculum, consider strategies that consider ethnicity and racial backgrounds, and

• utilizing instruments and measures inclusive of the client’s unique cultural values, practices, and perceptions rather than universal models designed by White hegemonic systems (Hernandez-Wolfe, 2011; Tate et al., 2015)

Counselors can also work to discontinue and dismantle White hegemonic practices that omit to identify the impact of cultural and contextual considerations. Battiste and Laenui (2000) asserts that colonization occurs through (1) denial of subjects’ cultures, (2) attempts to destroy the culture, (3) belittlement and insult of culture, (4) tokenism and accommodation of certain aspects, and (5) attempts to control the expression of cultural values and practices. Therefore, in continued efforts to begin a process of liberation from White supremacist, Martin-Baro and Martín-Baró (1994) suggests the following:

• looking for information that was excluded or hidden in the colonization process (i.e., etiology of systemic oppression and subsequent problems)

• critically examining the truth of the idealized reality of marginalized and oppressed clients as defined by White hegemony in daily dominant cultural messages to “de-ideologize” and break away from the White centered understanding

• implementing a strengths-based approach to enhance liberation from oppressive circumstances

• identifying and investigating the colonized or lost history of the client to understand problems faced and gain an enriched understanding of clients’ lived experiences; and

• exploring research processes and methods to improve social conditions

Conclusion

Decolonization and decentering the counseling profession is a necessary and critical step toward liberating minoritized populations from White hegemonic systems of oppression. As evident through the examples of structural oppression identified, often helping relationships can reinforce idealized values of the White dominant culture. Structural and systemic oppression has minimized and devalued the lives and lived experiences of non-dominant cultures. Clinical and school counselors have an opportunity to advocate for minoritized racial and ethnic groups through social justice efforts that expose the truth. The hope is that the practical strategies outlined can be used to dismantle ideologies that have impeded engagement in both settings, thus impacting the viability of racial and ethnic minorities.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.