The document discusses broaching, which refers to counselors considering how a client's race, ethnicity, and culture influence their counseling concerns. It provides definitions of broaching and rationales for why it is important, such as disparities experienced by minority groups and ethical responsibilities of counselors. The document also outlines a model of broaching that involves intra-counseling, intra-individual, intra-racial/ethnic/cultural, and inter-racial/ethnic/cultural dimensions.

1. Norma L. Day-Vines, Ph.D.
Johns Hopkins University
Broaching:
Strategies for Initiating
and Responding to Clients’
Cultural Context

2. Please take this quick
survey
Type in “kahoot.it” into your web
browser

3. Broaching Survey
Item 2.
I experience awkwardness when I
address racial and cultural
factors during counseling

4. Broaching Survey
Item 3.
I generally broach racial and
cultural factors throughout my
counseling sessions with
clients.

5. Broaching Survey
Item 4.
As a counselor, I am committed
to the eradication of all forms
of oppression

6. Broaching Defined
Broaching the subjects of race, ethnicity, and culture during the
counseling process refers to the counselor’s consideration of racial
and cultural factors that may influence the client’s counseling
concerns.
Broaching behavior involves selective attention to cultural factors
that may impact the client’s socio political experience.
During the broaching process, the counselor does not define the
client’s race or culture as the primary source of concern, but rather
considers the client in a cultural context. That is, the client and
counselor work together to determine how race and culture may
impact certain counseling related concerns and generate a plan of
action for easing certain problem situations
(Day-Vines, Wood, Grothaus, Craigen, Holman, Dotson-Blake, & Douglass, 2007; Pope-Davis, Toporek, Ortega-Villabos,
Ligiero, Brittan Powell, Liu, Bashshur, Codrington, & Lang, 2002)

7. Broaching Defined
Racial, ethnic, and cultural factors may not impact every
presenting concern but the counselor has an obligation to
consider the extent to which culture does serves as a context for
the client’s concerns. That is, the counselor’s broaching behavior
serves as a diagnostic tool.
Given the power dynamics that govern the counseling
relationship, avoidance of the client’s cultural context may
prevent the client from addressing pertinent counseling concerns.
Previous research indicates that cultural misunderstanding
contributes to premature termination among clients from
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
(Day-Vines, Wood, Grothaus, Craigen, Holman, Dotson-Blake, & Douglass, 2007; Pope-Davis, Toporek, Ortega-
Villabos, Ligiero, Brittan Powell, Liu, Bashshur, Codrington, & Lang, 2002)

8. Introduction Exercise
1. Write down 10 descriptors about yourself on a piece of paper
2. Introduce yourself to your neighbors
3. What does this feel like?

9. Rationale for broaching
• Demographic Shifts in Population
• Homogeneity of counseling force
• Disparities (e.g. health, mental health,
education, income)
• Race Assumes More Significance for
Students of Color
• Autocolonialism (Utsey, Bolden, & Brown,
2001)
• Negative Perceptions of Others
• Ethical responsibility
• CACREP competencies

10. Rationale for broaching
• Across the developmental spectrum, people from culturally
and linguistically diverse backgrounds experience racialized
stressors
• Van Ausdale & Feagin (2001) conducted an ethnographic
study to determine whether preschool students confronted
issues of race and representation. They maintained that
many adults presume that children do not encounter
racialized stressors, based on the research of authors such
as Piaget; however, when the researchers studies children in
their natural environment, they found that students enacted
numerous racial incidents among themselves. For instance,
children used racial epithets, included and excluded peers
on the basis of racial characteristics, and expressed their
own racial identities. Many of these behaviors remained
unnoticed by adults.

11. Rationale for broaching
• Lewis (2005) conducted an ethnographic study of children in
a suburban elementary school to examine parents’ and
teachers’ concept of race, their own racial identities, and the
impact of race on opportunity structures. Findings
suggested that even though respondents vehemently denied
the role of race within the school and community, race
operated as part of the hidden curriculum. Essentially, race
was very salient.
• Constantine (2002) found that counselor trainees who self-
reported a preponderance of racist attitudes and those with
less well-developed racial identity development attitudes also
had lower levels of multicultural counseling competence.

12. Rationale for broaching
• Hook, Farrell, Davis, DeBlaere, Van Tongeren, & Utsey
(2016) conducted a study of an ethnically sample (N = 2,212)
clients and concluded that general competence,
multicultural competence and cultural humility were
inversely related to microaggressions. The majority of
microaggressions occurring in this study involved
counselors’ avoidance of culturally based discussions and
denial of having cultural biases.

13. 13
Rationale for Broaching
• Howard (2003) - African American students
reported that low expectations of teachers and
counselors directly impact academic self-
concept.
• Davison Aviles et al. (1999) – Latino students
attributed their dropping out of school to
personnel who encouraged them to opt out of
mainstream education
• Thao (2003) Although Asian students are often
regarded as the model minority, certain Asian
ethnic groups such as the Hmong, are referred
to Special Education when the culture of the
home and school are not synchronized.

14. Rationale for Broaching
• Berriz (2006) - Anti-immigrant sentiment in eighteen states
have mandated English as the national language, limited the
amount of time that English language learners have to acquire
Standard English proficiency and ended immigrant students’
equitable access to public education
• Al-Timmini (2001) – Following the events of 9/11, the number
of hate crimes, daily hassles, and discriminatory treatment
against Arab Americans has increased exponentially.
• Scott & House (2005) – High levels of discrimination distress
associated with avoidant coping styles, whereas feelings of
mastery and control correlated with coping strategies such as
seeking social support and problem solving in a sample of high
school students.
• Powell & Jacob Arriola (2003) – examined the relationship
between psychosocial functioning and GPA in students of color.
Talking about unfair treatment was associated with higher
GPAs.

15. Acknowledgement of Cultural
Factors Contributes To:
¨ Counselor Credibility
¨ Client Satisfaction
¨ Depth of Client Disclosure
¨ Willingness to Return for
Follow-Up Sessions
(Sue & Sandberg, 1996)

16. Race-Related Stress &
Response to Political
Climate
· Racism
· Discrimination
· Linguistic bias
· Acculturative stress,
· Anti-immigrant
sentiment
· Income inequality
· Sexism
· Religious bias
· Homophobia
· Microaggressions
(Constantine & Sue, 2007; Lewis, 2005; Rivera-Mosquera, Mitchell-Blanks, Lopez-Garcia, & Fattal, 2010;
Rivera-Mosquera, Mitchell-Blanks, Lopez-Garcia, & Fattal, 2010; Smedley & Smedley, 2005;
Suarez-Orozco, Suarez-Orozco, & Todorova 2010; Valdes, 2001; Van Ausdale & Feagin, 2001)

17. Therapeutic Alliance &
Premature Termination
· Higher levels of race neutral attitudes are associated with endorsement of racial and
gender intolerance, racist attitudes, victim blaming perspectives and lower levels of
multicultural counseling, (Burkhard & Knox, 2004; Neville, Spanierman, & Doan, 2006;
Spanierman, & Heppner, 2004; Neville, Lilly, Duran, Lee, & Brown, 2000)
· Clients reporting higher levels of cultural concealment and had less effective treatment
outcomes compared to clients who were more forthcoming about their cultural values and
viewpoints; moreover, particular counselors’ caseloads reported higher levels of cultural
concealment than others (Drinane, Owen & Tao, 2018)
· Compared to White clients, ethnic minority clients have higher rates of unilateral
termination that scholars have linked, in large measure, due to cultural
miscommunication (De Haan, Boon, De Jong, & Vermeiren, 2018; Kearney, Draper, &
Baron, 2005; Owen, Tao, Imel, Wampold & Rodolfa, 2014; Owen, Imel, Adelson, Rodolfa,
2012).
· General competence, multicultural competence and cultural humility were found to be
inversely related to microaggressions with the majority of microaggressions involving
counselors’ avoidance of culturally based discussions and denial of having cultural biases
(Hook et al., 2016)

18. Brainstorm adjectives that describe your
personal feelings and level of efficacy
towards broaching behavior
Possible Feelings of:
•Resentment
•Embarrassment
•Fear
•Excitement
•Enthusiasm
•Curiosity
•True Rapport
•Incompetence
Address
Countertransference
Issues
Normalize
Student
Feelings

19. Therapeutic Alliance &
Premature Termination
• The counselor’s ability to broach or discuss issues that impact the client’s lived
reality may increase the client’s likelihood for returning for follow-up counseling
sessions, enhance the depth of client disclosure, and increase counselor credibility
(Gim, Atkinson, & Kim, 1991; Sue, Carter, Casas, Fouad, Ivey, Jensen,
LaFromboise, Manese, Ponterotto, Vasquez-Nutall, 1998).
• Several studies have documented that the counselor’s willingness to have explicit
discussions about how race, ethnicity, and culture influence the client’s presenting
concerns can enhance the counseling relationship and perceptions of the
counselor’s credibility (Atkinson et al., 1992; Fuertes et al., 2002; Gim, Atkinson, &
Kim, 1991; Zhang & Burkard, 2008; Chang & Yoon, 2011).
• Need for Professional Development training that promotes cultural self-awareness,
more nuanced understandings of how the client’s worldview and specifically how
power, oppression and marginalization shaped their experience (Sue, Riveria,
Capodilupo, Lin & Tonino, 2010)

20. Continuum of Broaching
Behavior
Avoidance of
Broaching
“Way of Being”
Infusing
Lowest Level Highest Level
Isolating
Integrated/Congruent
Broaching
Behavior/Attitude
Moderate to Advanced
Continuing/Incongruent

21. 21
Avoidant Counselor
¨Ignores, minimizes racial/cultural factors; Maintains race neutral or
colorblind perspectives about sociopolitical issues
¨Adopts a posture of oblivion, resistance, and defensiveness. Feels
broaching is unnecessary
¨Resulting Behavior: Refuses to consider contextual dimensions of race,
ethnicity, and culture
Representative BABS Items
¨The client's race does not matter because good counseling is good
counseling
¨Broaching racial and cultural factors represents the client's effort to avoid
taking responsibility for her or his actions
¨If my client were to bring up racial and cultural factors, I would politely
redirect the conversation.
¨I am not sure that broaching is an effective counseling strategy.

22. 22
Isolating Counselor
¨Agrees to broach but harbors reservations due to limited sense of
personal efficacy and a concern about potential client reactions.
¨Recognizes the need but has reservations due to discomfort, lack
of skill & concern about negative reactions. Expresses
apprehension.
¨Broaches in a superficial manner but returns the counseling focus
to more "etic" concerns
¨Resulting Behavior: Broaches reluctantly and in a simplistic and
superficial manner.

23. 23
Continuing/Incongruent
Counselor
¨Maintains an openness towards broaching cultural factors but
lacks accompanying skill set.
¨Attitude reflects acknowledgement of the importance of
broaching
¨May broach several times albeit mechanically:
–Understands cultural factors from stereotypical standpoint
–Cannot translate recognition of cultural factors into effective
counseling strategies and interventions.
Representative BABS Items
¨I experience a sense of awkwardness when I address racial and
cultural factors during the counseling process.
¨Sometimes I have difficulty identifying facilitative responses once
the client begins to talk about racial and cultural factors.

24. 24
Integrated/Congruent Counselor
¨Accepts and encourages client to make culture specific
¨Accepts and encourages client to make culture specific interpretations of
their counseling concerns.
¨Values importance of broaching in order to strengthen therapeutic alliance.
¨Broaches effectively during counseling process. Integrates broaching
behavior into professional identity. Can distinguish between cultural specific
behaviors and unhealthy human functioning. Recognizes complexities
associated with race & culture
Representative BABS Items
¨I generally broach racial and cultural factors throughout my counseling
sessions with clients
¨I initiate discussions that help my clients understand that their problems
may be connected to a larger set of systemic issues such as racism and
discrimination
¨I invite my clients to explore the relationship between their presenting
problems and issues related to race, ethnicity, and culture.

25. 25
Infusing Counselor
¨Regards broaching as important and related to other efforts to eliminate
oppression and promote social justice and equality.
¨Demonstrates a commitment toward broaching race, ethnicity and culture.
Feels a sense of responsibility towards eradicating all forms of oppression.
¨Broaches as a way of being and not as a professional obligation. Broaches as
a lifestyle orientation.
¨Works within and outside the counseling relationship to provide systemic
interventions that improve client well-being
Representative BABS Items
¨As a counselor, I am socially/politically committed to the eradication of all
forms of oppression.
¨Disagreeing with racial discrimination is not enough because counselors
must be willing to engage in advocacy and system change efforts.
¨If a client is the victim of overt or institutional racism, I act as a change
agent and advocate for that client.

26. Instrument
Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Survey (BABS) measures counselors’ attitudes towards
discussing race, ethnicity, and culture with clients.
Avoidant Subscale (14 items)
Reliability (α = .88)
Sample Items:
“The client’s race does not matter because good counseling is good counseling”
“If my client were to bring up racial and cultural factors, I would politely redirect the
conversation.”
Continuing/Incongruent Subscale (10 items)
Reliability (α = .88)
Sample Item:
“I experience a sense of awkwardness when I address racial and cultural factors during the
counseling process.”
Integrated/Congruent Subscale (10 items)
Reliability (α = .80)
Sample Item:
“I invite my clients to explore the relationship between their presenting problems and issues
related to race, ethnicity, and culture.”
Infusing Subscale (9 items)
Reliability (α = .78)
Sample Item:
“Disagreeing with racial discrimination is not enough because counselors must be willing to
engage in advocacy and systemic change efforts.”

27. Multidimensional Model
of Broaching Behavior
4 Dimensions
•Intra-Counseling
•Intra-individual
•Intra-Racial, -Ethnic, -Cultural
•Inter-Racial, -Ethnic, -Cultural
(Day-Vines et al., 2007; Day-Vines, Cluxton-Keller, Agorsor, Gubara, & Otabil, 2018; Day-Vines,
Cluxton-Keller, Agorsor, & Gubara, in press; Day-Vines & Holcomb-McCoy, 2013)

28. Intra-Counseling
Dimensions
• Intra-counseling dynamics refer to the interpersonal
processes that govern the counselor-client relationship.
Cultural differences and misunderstandings between the
counselor and client have the potential to create an
unhealthy power dynamic within the counseling dyad, which
may contribute to counter-transference.
• Broaching Example: "I know that this can sometimes be a
difficult topic to discuss, but I was wondering how you feel about
working with someone who is from a different racial/ethnic
background? I ask because although it is certainly my goal to be as
helpful to you as I possibly can, I also know that there may be times
when I cannot fully appreciate your experiences. I want you to know
that I am always open to talking about the topics whenever they are
relevant." (Cardemil & Battle, 2003)
28

29. 29
Intra-Counseling Dimensions

30. Intra-Individual
Dimensions
vRace
vEthnicity
vCulture
vGender
vSocial Class
vSexual Orientation
30
v Religious Orientation
v Ability/Disability
v Geographic Location
v Immigration Status
v Linguistic Diversity
v Occupation
Sample Broaching Statement: "Often I ask my clients about their
racial and ethnic background because it helps me have a better
understanding of who they are. Is that something you'd feel
comfortable talking about?" Cardemil & Battle (2003)

31. Intra-Racial, -Ethnic, and
-Cultural Dimensions
• Intra-Racial, -Ethnic, and -Cultural
dimensions refer more to sociocultural or
within group issues that may arise between
the client and people with whom he or she
shares a common heritage. That is, the client
may have personal beliefs, value orientations,
and behaviors that are at odds with values
and viewpoints sanctioned by the cultural
group (e.g. bicultural socialization).
31
Sample Broaching Statement: Marisol, it sounds like you are feeling
rejected by your friends because they say you are not Hispanic
enough. Is that your sense of what is going on?

32. Inter-Racial, -Ethnic, -Cultural
Dimensions
• Inter-Racial, -Ethnic, and -Cultural dimensions
refer to efforts to help the client negotiate cultural
differences between her- or himself and people
from at least one other racial, ethnic, or cultural
group. This would also include efforts to help the
client negotiate encounters with the sociopolitical
dynamics of racism, discrimination, oppression,
and powerlessness.
32
Sample Broaching Statement: What has it been like for you
as a gay Latino male to work in an organization that is
inhospitable to sexual minorities?

33. Broaching Examples
Integrated Congruent Counselor
Trainee
• IV…when I was little I definitely like did what I could to like try
to fit in like I would always want to fit in and you know what I
mean and like it was hard for me like having a white step-dad
um and being Puerto Rican…It was hard because it’s like okay
so I’m too White for the Hispanic kids but I’m not White
enough for the White kids, so what do I do? So I always had a
really hard time trying to find my place with a certain group of
people because you know when you’re in school it’s very
cliquey. You know what I mean? Like so I just, I don’t know. I
bounced around so much, just trying to like find myself. I was.
• CT Right. It sounds like you were kind of like in Limbo like you
were straddling between two worlds: the White world and the
Puerto Rican world.
33

34. Broaching Examples
Integrated Congruent Counselor
Trainee
• IV…when I was little I definitely like did what I could to like
try to fit in like I would always want to fit in and you know
what I mean and like it was hard for me like having a white
step-dad um and being Puerto Rican…It was hard because
it’s like okay so I’m too White for the Hispanic kids but I’m
not White enough for the White kids, so what do I do? So I
always had a really hard time trying to find my place with a
certain group of people because you know when you’re in
school it’s very cliquey. You know what I mean? Like so I
just, I don’t know. I bounced around so much, just trying to
like find myself. I was.
• CT Right. It sounds like you were kind of like in Limbo like
you were straddling between two worlds: the White world
and the Puerto Rican world.
34

35. Broaching Examples
Integrated Congruent Counselor
Trainee
• IV - I was. Yeah. Yeah. Because like all the Puerto Rican
kids like my cousins they would just be like “Oh, you’re so
Gringa.” You’re so Spanish (IV corrects herself) or you’re
so white, you know blah blah blah. You’re American. Like
all this crap and I’d just be like ‘shut up, you’re so
stupid’…(IV mumbles here).
• CT - So Hispanic people would be like “you’re too white”
kind of thing.
35

36. Broaching Examples
Integrated Congruent Counselor
Trainee
• IV - Yeah like definitely like my dad who he still lives in Puerto Rico,
he’s always like you know back then when I used to talk to him he’d
be like, “You’re forgetting your Spanish, like you’re getting
Americanized. You’re mom’s not like keeping up with you. You need to
keep reading in Spanish, you need to keep talking in Spanish. Like
you’re forgetting it” He’d just get really pissed. It’s hard like my mom
was the only other person that spoke Spanish. Like I had my little
sister but when she moved here she was three so it’s different you
know what I mean? She barely knew anything. I only had my mom
and my grandmom, and my grandmother didn’t really live too close to
us. So, but it was just my dad, my step dad didn’t know Spanish so
what was I gonna do? Just be like talking in Spanish and my step-
dad’s just sitting right there and doesn’t know what we’re saying. It’s
rude, I’m not going to do that. My dad would just be upset. So…
• CT - So your birth dad kind of like put you down because you’re
pretty much not being Hispanic enough for him, yet you felt like you
were forced to be that White English-speaking girl because of your
step-father. 36

37. Broaching Examples
Integrated Congruent Counselor
Trainee
• IV - Exactly like I mean he never, like my step-dad’s never like
judged me in any kind of way like as far as that comes
….ummm…but..I don’t know I just when I was younger I just tried
to please, you know, my family when it came to like that kind of
stuff. I don’t know, my mom she never she never said anything
about it. It was definitely like my dad being like you know you’re
losing your Puerto Rican. But I was a kid I’m trying to fit in. We
moved from like another country to here you know and I wanted to
be like everyone else, like I just want to fit in. And I never fit in like
ever. I never…in anytime in school did I ever feel like I was with
people that I fit in with. It was always something. Like I never had
a group of friends that I was like these are my best friends forever
like we’re all the same you know.
• CT - So you had a choice to kind of like either pursue that White
American English-speaking role or stay back and fall into the
Hispanic role and… 37

38. 38
Broaching Examples
Integrated Congruent Counselor
Trainee
• IV - And also the Black role because most people thought I was Black
too. So I kind of tried that. Kind of weird.
• CT - So you kind of jumped around to kind of see what would work for
you.
• IV- Yeah definitely. That’s definitely what happened. Like I definitely
started hanging out with Black kids, because you know they’re like “Oh
you look Black” blah blah and I was like cool I look Black. I’m about to
hang with ya’ll. And then I was like not Black enough for them. So I’m
like I’m going to go back to my people, “what’s up Bouricas?” and
they’re like “yeah well you’re Spanish is not that good so you can’t hang
out with us.” And I was like alright fine I guess I’ll just hang out with
the White kids. And you know that, you know at that time after that I
was a senior like and just hung out with them whatever umm… and it
is what it is…and I graduated and didn’t speak to anyone.

39. 39
Broaching Examples
Microaggressions
¨ Counselor trainee conducts a broaching interviewee with her
best friend. The trainee is Caucasian female and the interviewee
is a person of color. In an effort to address Intra-Counseling
Dimensions, the interviewee says:
¨ “I’m a White woman and you’re a Hispanic girl.”
¨ Counselor trainee conducts a broaching interviewee with her
fiancé’s co-worker. She makes an effort to open the session and
states inadvertently:
¨ “I can tell you’re an Asian male.”

40. Consequences of Avoiding
Cultural Factors with Clients
Loss of counselor credibility
Client dissatisfaction
Client censure of own thoughts
Client accommodates the counselor’s inability to broach racial
and cultural factors
Client educates counselor in ways that detract from the
counseling process
Forgiveness
Premature termination
(Day-Vines, Wood, Grothaus, Craigen, Holman, Dotson-Blake, & Douglass, 2007;
Pope-Davis, Toporek, Ortega-Villabos, Ligiero, Brittan Powell, Liu, Bashshur, Codrington, & Lang, 2002)

41. Competencies Needed for Broaching
Basic Counseling Skills:
¨Ability to ask open-ended questions
¨Ability to reflect content and affect
¨Ability to use foundational counseling skills
Provider’s Will-The ability to discern and translate client’s cultural concerns into
discussion points:
Movement from recognition to action
-¨Ability to manage facilitate the discussion of client values, viewpoints, and
experiences that may differ from one's own
¨Healthy level of racial identity functioning in client and mental health provider
Multicultural Case Conceptualization Skills:
¨Ability to differentiate between universal and culture-specific issues
¨Ability to recognize client strengths as opposed to client deficits
¨Ability to identify/state/discuss the impact of sociopolitical issues on the client
(racism, discrimination, power, powerlessness, oppression, privilege)
¨Ability to gauge own/client's level of racial identity functioning
¨Ability to identify culturally relevant strategies and interventions

42. Broaching Video Examples

43. Broaching Video Examples

44. Strategies for Broaching
JOINING:
Validate the client’s concerns
Empower client (i.e., accept the feelings and meanings the client attaches to problem, identify
the client strengths and resources)
ASSESSMENT:
Engage in multicultural case conceptualization by considering cultural information that may
impact the client's presenting problem(s)
Observe the client’s verbal and non-verbal behavior that pertains to race, culture, and
ethnicity
Concept Map - Identify salient racial, ethnic, and cultural issues that emerge
IMPLEMENTATION OF BROACHING:
Set your intention
Develop a Broaching Statement
Deliver the Broaching Statement
Allow silence so the client can reflect on the Broaching Statement
Use reflective statements
Use information from the client’s responses to discuss any sociopolitical concerns

47. Case Example #1:
Jacqueline
Jacqueline is an active duty military officer of Filipino
descent. She entered the military in order to finance her
college education. More recently, she has sought counseling to
deal with stressors related to balancing multiple roles that she
experiences as intense and unrelenting, such as her marital
discord. Jacqueline and her husband are in an interracial
marriage. They are both military officers but she outranks her
husband and believes that her rapid mobility has strained
their marriage. To complicate matters, Jacqueline and her
husband are often at odds about how to raise their son.
Whereas Jacqueline tends to be more strict, her husband is far
more permissive, which results in added marital conflict. As
one of few female officers in her military unit, Jacqueline
perceives that people experience her as a docile model minority
and she works constantly to combat this perception.

48. Case Example #2: Darien
Darien is a gay African American 30 year old male who lives in a
rural community in the southeast. He grew up in a religious
household, but he largely felt rejected by the members of the church.
There is a mental health provider shortage in the region where Darien
resides. He has never sought counseling before but decided to seek it
because he recently experienced a very difficult breakup with long-
term partner. Because he lives more than 50 miles from the closest
city, he decided to seek counseling in his local community. When he
met his psychologist, who is a middle aged African American woman,
he expressed a disappointed facial expression and worried that he
would be judged by the psychologist due to his sexual preference. He
was hoping to have a gay therapist who understood the complexities
of being an African American homosexual male in predominantly
white heterosexual community. Darien noted that the psychologist
also reminded him of the church women in his family who held
conservative viewpoints about sexuality.

49. Case Example #3: Grace
Grace is a 29-year old doctoral student who was born in the United States to
parents who immigrated from Sudan. She reported that as a child, she visited
Sudan regularly. During this particular counseling session, Grace described her
most recent visit to Sudan and noted the rejection she experienced from family
members who questioned her commitment to Sudanese culture and accused her of
being “too” American. She commented that in the United States because she looks
African American, but identifies as a Sudanese American who is proud of her Arab
heritage, people question her blackness. She talked about the elementary school
where she volunteers and noted that the children teased her because she does not
speak African American Vernacular English. Due to the increased internal tension
she was feeling from her recent visit to Sudan, Grace made an appointment with
the counseling center on campus.
In particular, Grace identifies strongly with her religion as a Muslim woman,
her cultural heritage as Sudanese, her languages of origin which are Arabic and
English, her national identity as an American, and her shared racial connections
with African Americans. Although she has reconciled each of these identities for
herself, people whom she encounters are unaccepting of her multiple identity
statuses. As a consequence, Grace experiences psychological distress because she
feels powerless to respond to such hurtful accusations. She worries that
confronting her accusers will exacerbate the problem causing unnecessary tension;
however, remaining silent leads to internalized resentment and oppression.

50. Case Example #4: Raj
Raj is a 16-year old Indian American male high school student whose parents
immigrated from India almost 20 years ago in order to complete their doctoral studies in
engineering. Raj has grown up in a loving household and his parents have worked incredibly
hard to provide him with a comfortable upper middle-class lifestyle. Although Raj shares the
same racial, ethnic and cultural group membership with his family members, there are
acculturative differences, that distance him from his family of origin. Raj’s parents struggle to
accept his growing sense of autonomy and contempt for his Indian heritage, which in their
estimation is unacceptable and inconsistent with the traditional Indian cultural values they
have instilled in him. They experience Raj as selfish and oppositional and believe he is
becoming entirely too American. His parents are especially concerned about his blatant
disregard for certain cultural expectations. Raj rejects Hinduism, balks at going to the
temple, refuses to speak Hindi, except when he is at home with his family.
Raj’s parents regard his behavior as a personal affront and repudiation of his culture
and have decided to have him meet with the Indian psychologist in a nearby city. Although
they do not see counseling as a viable option because it conflicts with their cultural values,
they feel reassured because the therapist shares their cultural background and other Indian
families they know tout her effectiveness. Raj feels that his parents have compelled him to
reject his traditional culture and asserts that he is less connected to his Indian community
because he lives in a predominantly white suburb and has grown up primarily alongside
white children. His primary friendship group has been the white children in his community.
He maintains that although his parents want him to have a healthy appreciation of Indian
culture, they have made very few provisions for him to interact directly and consistently with
other Indian youngsters. He can respect his culture of origin even as he identifies aspects of
mainstream culture he finds desirable. His parents believe that the two cultures are mutually
exclusive. Although he appreciates all that his parents have sacrificed to give him the
accoutrements of success, he describes feeling a sense of shame and guilt because his
parents experience him as both ungrateful and disloyal. Raj is caught between two cultures,

51. Case Example #5: Ebony
Ebony, a 14 year old African American female, earned a coveted spot at an independent boarding
school in a rural community outside the major metropolitan city in which she lives. She was recruited for
her academic, leadership and athletic abilities. Her first three years of high school went exceptionally well.
She excelled on and off the basketball court, was inducted into the National Honor Society, named to the
All-Conference basketball team, and voted class president by her peers. Ebony was hoping to parlay her
academic and athletic ability into a college scholarship. During her senior year, she was playing in a regular
season game and was fouled by a player on the opposing team. Her opponent dysregulated emotionally and
became disgruntled when it was apparent that her team was losing. As Ebony approached the foul line, her
opponent pushed her from behind, Ebony responded by shoving her opponent. A scuffle ensued and the
two were separated.
Ebony neither instigated the fight nor caused injuries to the other child, however, the school
administration disciplined Ebony harshly. Regrettably, Ebony lost her status as class president along with
her leadership role in several other student organizations. She received a suspension from the basketball
team and was assigned to cleanup detail around the school every Saturday morning for six weeks. Because
the clean-up detail overlapped with winter break, Ebony was not permitted to go home in order to satisfy
the terms of her punishment, yet this was a critical moment when she needed the emotional support of her
family most. The school convinced Ebony that the punishment was fair, that she could learn from her
misdeeds, and that if she accepted the punishment they would not forward her disciplinary record to
colleges. Ebony’s parents didn’t contest the punishment for fear she might lose her financial aid award and
prospects for postsecondary education.
Because Ebony felt the punishment was excessive and felt unfairly treated and recollected instances
where her African American male peer athletes and white female peer athletes received less harsh
punishments. Because if this unfairness, she contacted the school psychologist. She confided to the
psychologist that although her peers rallied around her, teachers shunned her. She was conflicted by the
fact that she was positioned first as a leader and now as a predator. Ebony also shared that she felt
strongly that had she been a white student, she would have been seen as a victim, not a perpetrator. She
also said that when the parents of the child who pushed her heard about the severity of the punishment,
they reached out to her and apologized.

52. Relationship Between Client's Response to Counselor's
Broaching Efforts and the Client's Racial Identity
Functioning
52
Client's Racial
Identity
Functioning
Client's Response to
Counselor's Broaching Effort
Counselor Considerations
Low Commitment
Levels
¨May reject counselor’s
invitation to broach
¨May have Low Salience
attitudes about Race
¨Accept and explore the client’s
reaction to issues of race and
representation
¨May help prepare the client to
deal effectively with racist
encounters
Strong Commitment
Levels
¨May have strong reactions to
counselor's broaching efforts
¨Do not personalize client
reactions
¨Identify experiences that may
have led to strong reactions
¨Develop interventions that help
client function more effectively
Balanced Racial
Identity Levels
¨May appreciate counselor’s
willingness to explore how race
shapes their presenting
problems
¨Broach using recommended
guidelines

53. Questions?