Counseling Tips continued from page 10 11
• Student : Miss , what is happening ? I notice that students like me end up in Special Ed . There were about seven of us in the regular class . We know the answers but are never called on . Then our parents get letters informing them that we will be moved into a Special Ed class .
• Counselor : You are observant . Looking at what is happening tells you that something is not right .
• Student : Yes , Miss . People like me are being stopped by the police on the street or called ugly names . It does not feel good . Should this be happening in school , Miss ?
• Counselor : How does what you are seeing and hearing make you feel ?
• Student : I feel that it is unfair , and I also feel helpless and worthless .
• Counselor : You feel that no matter how hard you try , you are not accepted .
• Student : Yes , Miss . The Special Ed teacher treats us as if we are stupid and ignorant . We cannot say anything right .
• Counselor : I see that you are beginning to question who you are and what your purpose is .
I also help adolescents understand that “ The best way to predict the future is to create it ” for yourself , an expression that has been attributed to management expert Peter Drucker .
THE ADVOCATE MAGAZINE : Does the counseling approach differ depending on whether the psychological trauma suffered was a singular event , or a series of ongoing microaggressions , microinvalidations , and microassaults ?
DR . SUSAN BRANCO : Race-based trauma , unfortunately , is a constant societal condition that many people may find very difficult to avoid . As a result , trauma-informed counseling approaches must be reinforced with advocacy work ( see the article in this issue on “ How to Advocate for Social Justice and Educate Future Social Change Agents ,” page 19 ).
Our article appears in the October 2021 issue of AMHCA ’ s Journal of Mental Health Counseling https :// doi . org / 10.17744 / mehc . 43.4.01 .
Above all , counselors must normalize , validate , and acknowledge client experiences with microaggressions and racism to avoid minimizing or dismissing the incidents .
ANNA MARIA MORA : Whether someone suffers a singular traumatic event or a series of ongoing events , the result is an indelible shift in that person ’ s reality system , and a loss of sense of self . Counseling is an effective tool for ameliorating trauma . I use art therapy with children and adolescents who experience destructive natural disasters as well as ongoing domestic violence or anger .
After working with individuals for seven sessions , I can sense when they are close to accepting their new circumstances . When a client confirms they are ready to move on , I invite them to join a group where they can share their experiences and how they plan to deal with these situations if they encounter them again . I offer families who have problems with ongoing domestic violence the opportunity to go to a shelter and continue counseling until their cases are resolved by either the justice system or the court ’ s mediation services .
THE ADVOCATE MAGAZINE : What do you wish more of your counseling colleagues knew about treating systemic racism-related psychological trauma ?
DR . SUSAN BRANCO : The current racial reckoning has illuminated the need for clinical mental health counselors to be aware of what racial trauma is , how to accurately diagnose race-based trauma , and how to engage in appropriate counseling interventions . These are all positive movements in our profession .
I would like more clinical mental health counselors to be aware of how racial trauma impacts BIPOC counselors . We know that professional identity as a counselor does not render a BIPOC counselor immune from racism , discrimination , and microaggressions from their colleagues , supervisors , and even clients .
Clinical mental health counselors can support clients to identify microaggressions , invalidations , and assaults as well as to begin the process of healing while simultaneously offering psychoeducation on how clients can advocate for and protect themselves . For example , research by Derald Wing Sue , PhD , and his colleagues on a microintervention framework https :// doi . org / 10.1037 / amp0000296 offers ample responsive strategies to targets of racism and their allies . My colleague , Connie Jones , PhD , and I expanded on the microinterventions framework to create adaptable counseling strategies for counselors to respond to client initiated microaggressions , discrimination , and racism .
Clinical supervisors can support BIPOC supervisees by maintaining vigilance to racial trauma in their supervisees ’ clinical cases , acknowledging and validating instances of race-based trauma , and supporting exploration of their own racial , ethnic , and cultural identities ( See the article on racial trauma in clinical supervision by Alex L . Pieterse , PhD , at https :// doi . org / 10.1080 / 07325223.2018.1443304 .) Counselor educators can also prepare BIPOC counselors , and all clinical mental health counselors , for the realities of racism not only from clients , but within the entire counseling profession . continued on page 13
12 The Advocate Magazine Summer 2021 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org