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Examining the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Multicultural Counseling Competencies in Counselor Trainees

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Abstract

This exploratory study examined the relationship between mindfulness and multicultural counseling competencies (MCC) in counselor trainees. One hundred fifty-seven masters and doctoral students in counseling and therapy-related fields completed a survey containing the Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI), Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated between scales and subscales of the MCC, mindfulness, and acceptance. A hierarchical regression was used to examine the association of mindfulness and mindfulness practices (the total length of mindfulness practice and the duration of weekly mindfulness practice) on MCC along with multicultural training (number of multicultural counseling courses and practica completed) and demographic factors. The results of the study showed that mindfulness and MCC were positively and strongly correlated (r = .48, p < .01). Moreover, all mindfulness facets were positively and significantly correlated with MCC and majority of its subscales. The results suggested that individuals who believed themselves to be more mindful in their daily lives (especially those who reported observing and describing their experiences without automatically reacting) also tended to think of themselves as more multiculturally competent. In addition, mindfulness and mindfulness practices contributed a significant amount of additional variance on MCC and its subscales above and beyond the multicultural training and demographic variables. Study limitations and directions for future research were discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Counseling Psychology and School Psychology, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA

    Amanda Campbell & Stacy Rademacher Vance

  2. Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, College of Education, Florida State University, 3206J Stone Building, 1114 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4453, USA

    Shengli Dong

Authors
  1. Amanda Campbell
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  2. Stacy Rademacher Vance
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  3. Shengli Dong
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Contributions

AC: designed and executed the study, conducted data analyses, wrote paper, and participated in revisions process; SV: helped with data analysis and participated in the writing and editing of the manuscript; SD: assisted in conceptualizing and designing the study, conducted data analyses, revised the paper, and supervised the study.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shengli Dong.

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This research was not funded by any internal or external funding.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee at the authors’ institution.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Campbell, A., Vance, S.R. & Dong, S. Examining the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Multicultural Counseling Competencies in Counselor Trainees. Mindfulness 9, 79–87 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0746-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0746-6

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