Title: Newly Arrived Afghan Refugees: What Counselors Need to Know, Part 1

Presenters:

Description: Part 1 of this two-part series will provide important background information about newly arrived Afghans, including a brief historical and cultural overview of Afghanistan, the events leading up to the U.S.-led evacuation, and the migration journey. Newly arrived Afghans’ experiences at “safe havens” and resettlement in the U.S. will then be discussed with an emphasis on challenges in resettlement and the complex mental health and psychosocial issues that result when trauma and daily stressors interact within the context of resettlement.

Title: Pioneers in Counseling: The Life and Work of Clemmont Vontress

Presenters: Clemmont Vontress, PhD and John P. Duggan, EdD

Description: On April 10, 2021, Dr. Clemmont Vontress, a pioneer in cross-cultural counseling, died just 12 days before his 92nd birthday. His career was devoted to expanding the counseling profession’s understanding of culture, existentialism, and humanity. This video, recorded in 2018, is the final interview with Dr. Vontress that offers tribute to his life, work and legacy.

Title: Racial Bias in Mental Health Assessments: Shifting Standards Paradigm and Racial Triangulation Framework

Authors: George Vincent Gushue, PhD; Tina R. Lee; and Jung Fun Kim

Description: Racial triangulation and shifting standards in mental health assessments (Gushue, Lee, & Kim, 2021) use the shifting standards paradigm and the racial triangulation framework to investigate the presence of racial bias in mental health assessments that White mental health trainees and practitioners apply to Black and Asian clients. This Continuing Professional Development resource provides counselors with a rationale to explain the shifting paradigm and the racial triangulation framework, understand the contexts an instance in which racial biases potentially shape the clinical judgments of White examiners in their mental health assessments, and describe the implications for multicultural competence in counseling training, research, and practice.

Title: Strategies for Broaching the Subjects of Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

Authors: Norma L. Day-Vines, PhD; Fallon Cluxton-Keller, PhD; Courtney Agorsor, MS; and Sarah Gubara MS

Description: The Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC; Ratts et al., 2015) offer guidelines for counselors to deliver culturally responsive care to clients. This Continuing Education resource provides counselors with specific strategies for discussing topics of race, ethnicity, and culture with clients.

Title: Vulnerable Populations: Cultural Responsive Interventions

Presenters: Danielle Irving-Johnson, EdS; Jessica Fripp, PhD; Patricia Joyce, PhD; and Dee Ray, PhD

Description: The Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development (JMCD), Journal of Counseling and Development (JCD), and Counseling and Psychotherapy Research (CPR) came together to create a joint virtual issue on the topic of Counseling in Challenging Times and Sociocultural Contexts. This Professional Development opportunity zeroes in on three articles from each of those journals with a focus on culturally responsive interventions for vulnerable populations.

Title: When Being “Essential” Illuminates Disparities: Counseling Clients Affected by COVID-19

Authors: Stacey Diane Aranez Litam, PhD and Carlos P. Hipolito-Delgado, PhD

Description: The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has highlighted social disparities in the United States. This continuing education article examines how preexisting racial and ethnic disparities, exacerbated by COVID-19, have negatively affected communities of color, who tend to be overrepresented in lower socioeconomic groups, have limited access to health care and education, be undocumented, and work in jobs considered “essential.” Counselors must be prepared to support communities of color, as well as other marginalized clients with intersecting identities and multiple concerns who may be exacerbated by COVID-19-related stress.