Skip to main content
Log in

An Investigation of Multicultural Counseling Competence and Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy for Counselors-in-Training

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Counseling necessitates clinicians to be culturally competent and self-efficacious in order to ethically and effectively work with diverse client populations. This study investigated the relationship between counselor education students’ (N = 118) levels of self-reported multicultural counseling competence (MCC), multicultural counseling self-efficacy (MCSE), and demographic data (gender, ethnicity, level of education). Contrary to prior research, results indicated that student gender and ethnicity did not affect MCSE or self-reported MCC. However, students who had been in graduate education longer had higher self-reported MCC and higher levels of multicultural knowledge. Discussion and implications of findings are provided.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (Ed.). (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(3), 193–209.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barden, S. M., & Cashwell, C. S. (2013). Critical factors in cultural immersion: a synthesis of relevant literature. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 35, 286–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canfield, B. S., Low, L., & Hovestadt, A. (2009). Cultural immersion as a learning method for expanding intercultural competencies. Family Journal, 17(4), 318–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chao, R. C. (2012). Racial/ethnic identity, gender-role attitudes, and multicultural counseling competence: The role of multicultural counseling training. Journal of Counseling and Development, 90, 35–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chao, R. C. (2013). Race/ethnicity and multicultural competence among school counselors: multicultural training, racial/ethnic identity, and color-blind racial attitudes. Journal of Counseling and Development, 91(2), 140–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, H. L. K. (2004). Multicultural counseling competencies in a pluralistic society. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 26, 56–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, M. N. (2006). Critical incidents in multicultural training: an examination of student experiences. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 34(3), 168–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Constantine, M. G. (2001). Multiculturally-focused counseling supervision: its relationship to trainees’ multicultural counseling self-efficacy. The Clinical Supervisor, 20, 87–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Constantine, M. G., & Gushue, G. V. (2003). School counselors’ ethnic tolerance attitudes and racism attitudes as predictors of their multicultural case conceptualization of an immigrant student. Journal of Counseling and Development, 81(2), 185–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Constantine, M. G., & Ladany, N. (2000). Self-report multicultural counseling competence scales: their relation to social desirability attitudes and multicultural case conceptualization ability. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47(2), 155–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Constantine, M. G., & Ladany, N. (2001). New visions for defining and assessing multicultural counseling competence. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. (2009). The 2009 Standards. Alexandria: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeRicco, J. N., & Sciarra, D. T. (2005). The immersion experience in multicultural counselor training: Confronting covert racism. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 33, 2–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heppner, P. P., Kivlighan, D. M., & Wampold, B. E. (2008). Research Design in Counseling. Belmot: Thomson Brooks/Cole.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, N. R., Vereen, L. G., McNeal, D., & Stotesbury, R. (2013). Multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills among American counselor trainees: Group differences in self-perceived competence based on dispositional and programmatic variables. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 35, 261–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holcomb-McCoy, C. C., & Day-Vines, N. (2004). Exploring school counselor multicultural competence: a multidimensional concept. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 37, 154–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holcomb-McCoy, C. C., & Myers, J. E. (1999). Multicultural competence and counselor training: a national survey. Journal of Counseling and Development, 77, 294–302.

  • Holcomb-McCoy, C., Harris, P., Hines, E. M., & Johnston, G. (2008). School counselors’ multicultural self-efficacy: a preliminary investigation. Professional School Counseling, 11(3), 166–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, L. M., & Daniels, J. A. (1998). Review of the counseling self-efficacy literature. The Counseling Psychologist, 26(2), 179–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melchert, T. T., Hays, V. L., Wiljanen, L. M., & Kolocek, A. K. (1996). Testing models of counselor development with a measure of counseling self-efficacy. Journal of Counseling and Development, 74, 640–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pallant, J. (2010). SPSS Survival Manual. New York: Allen & Unwin Book Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Priester, P. E., Jones, J. E., Jackson-Bailey, C. M., Jana-Masri, A., Jordan, E. X., & Metz, A. J. (2008). An analysis of content and instructional strategies in multicultural counseling courses. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 36, 29–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheu, H.-B., & Lent. (2007). Development and initial validation of the multicultural counseling self-efficacy scale-racial diversity form. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 44, 30–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, T. B., Constantine, M. G., Dunn, T. W., Dinehart, J. M., & Montoya, J. A. (2006). Multicultural education in the mental health professions: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sue, D. W., Arredondo, P., & McDavis, R. J. (1992). Multicultural counseling competencies and standards: a call to the profession. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70(4), 477–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). New York: Allyn and Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Worthington, R. L., Soth-McNett, A. M., & Moreno, M. V. (2007). Multicultural counseling competencies research: A 20-year content analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(4), 351–361.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sejal M. Barden.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Barden, S.M., Greene, J.H. An Investigation of Multicultural Counseling Competence and Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy for Counselors-in-Training. Int J Adv Counselling 37, 41–53 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-014-9224-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-014-9224-1

Keywords

Navigation