The 2020 Counseling Psychology Conference and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned in Cultivating Change Through Liberation

Simultaneous to the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, the 2020 Counseling Psychology Conference was in the final stages of preparation. It was impossible to hold the conference in the midst of university restrictions on nonessential travel and government restrictions of large gatherings. We document the 2020 Counseling Psychology Conference as originally planned for historical purposes and describe the leadership challenges associated with cancellation. Further, we describe the virtual events arising from the 2020 Counseling Psychology Conference that were held to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of Counseling Psychology. Finally, we make recommendations for the field's constituent professional organizations and future leaders for planning future national conferences based on these experiences. Consistent with the theme of the conference, “Counseling Psychology at 75 Years: Reflections on Shared Identity, Cultivating Change, and Building a Counseling Psychology of Liberation,” our manuscript is framed from a liberation psychology perspective.

An Emancipatory Communitarian Approach to Vocational Development Theory, Research, and Practice

Building on recent calls for a more explicit and intentional endorsement of social justice goals within counseling psychology and vocational psychology, this article proposes Prilleltensky’s (1997) emancipatory communitarian approach to psychological practice as a useful framework for vocational theory, practice, and research. Such a framework emphasizes the distinction between the concepts of work and career and illuminates the extent to which traditional vocational psychology has attended to the needs of the people who experience little, if any, volition in their choices of career or line of work. We present a rationale for integrating an emancipatory communitarian approach into vocational psychology theory and the implications of this approach for future research and practice.

Social Justice Beyond the Classroom

Counseling psychology doctoral programs across the country are working to develop new approaches to bring social justice to the curriculum. Boston College has done so, in part, through a course titled Counseling in Context. The three core emphases are (a) ongoing self-examination of power and privilege, (b) applying traditional counseling skills to community-level problems, and (c) building from a clear intellectual and values framework. Building on an ally development conceptual frame, we illustrate how these principles were used to develop an intervention to combat Islamophobia on campus in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. The Don’t Meet Hurt With Hate. Love Islam Campaign served to support Muslims and engage non-Muslims in ally behavior, engaging more than 400 students on campus and 10,000 people virtually. In demonstrating how students can act with and for oppressed communities, we hope to provide a template for similar actions on other campuses.

Advocating Student-Within-Environment

The authors present an overview of a therapeutic perspective for school therapists (counselors, psychologists, social workers) based on humanistic and social justice principles called Advocating Student-within-Environment (ASE). An ASE-influenced school therapist is directed by the assumption that the student has to be a participant in any social change that is proffered on that student’s behalf. To operate on this assumption, an ASE school therapist is concerned with maximizing student agency by supporting the development of the student’s regulatory and connectedness skills, while advocating for that student with stakeholders and through relevant social structures. In this article, the philosophic bases will be introduced, in addition to recommendations for incorporating this approach into practice in schools.

Motivation and Autonomy in Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Behavior Change: A Look at Theory and Practice 1ψ7

Motivation has received increasing attention across counseling approaches, presumably because clients’ motivation is key for treatment effectiveness. The authors define motivation using a self-determination theory taxonomy that conceptualizes motivation along a relative-autonomy continuum. The authors apply the taxonomy in discussing how various counseling approaches address client motivation and autonomy, both in theory and in practice. The authors also consider the motivational implications of nonspecific factors such as therapeutic alliance. Across approaches, the authors find convergence around the idea that clients’ autonomy should be respected and collaborative engagement fostered. The authors also address ethical considerations regarding respect for autonomy and relations of autonomy to multicultural counseling. The authors conclude that supporting autonomy is differentially grounded in theories and differentially implemented in approaches. Specifically, outcome-oriented treatments tend to consider motivation a prerequisite for treatment and emphasize transparency and up-front consent; process-oriented treatments tend to consider motivation a treatment aspect and give less emphasis to transparency and consent.

Multicultural Competence and Social Justice Training in Counseling Psychology and Counselor Education

This article presents the findings of a descriptive content analysis of 54 multicultural and diversity-related course syllabi drawn from counseling and counseling psychology programs accredited by the American Psychological Association and the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs. Results suggest that most courses adhere to the knowledge, awareness, and skills paradigm of multicultural competence. However, actual course content varies considerably. Whereas the findings identify social justice content as a growing presence in multicultural courses, there is a need to more clearly outline the fundamental points of distinction and overlap between multicultural competence and social justice advocacy in counselor and counseling psychology training.

Challenges of Work

Because of recent advances in medications and treatment regimens, persons with HIV disease are maintaining better health status and living longer. Thus, greater opportunities exist for these individuals to either continue their current employment or return to the world of work. The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide in-depth descriptions of related vocational experiences of persons with HIV. Data were collected from eight focus groups consisting of a diverse sample of people living with HIV (N = 93). Results support the need for counseling psychologists and other mental health professionals to address real and perceived barriers, both internal and contextual, while also becoming advocates for persons with HIV who want to work. A model derived from qualitative data analysis provides visual representation of the work experiences of people living with HIV, for potential application in assessment and treatment.