Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Counseling Psychology

Committee Chair

Suzanne Lease

Committee Member

Sara K Bridges

Committee Member

Leigh M Harrell-Williams

Committee Member

Elin Ovrebo

Abstract

This study addressed facets of counselor trainee cultural competency (e.g., perceived attractiveness, assessments of clinical severity and treatment planning, self-efficacy) when working with Black bisexual clients as compared to White bisexual or Black or White heterosexual clients. Due to a paucity of literature addressing Black bisexual clients (Ghabrial & Ross, 2018; Muñoz-Laboy, 2019), complexity of client needs due to balancing intersecting identities (Mays et. al, 2002), and the discrimination clients with multiple diverse identities encounter (Castro & Carnassale, 2019), it is important to assess counselor trainees’ multicultural counseling competence with Black bisexual clients to increase the likelihood they receive competent care. Participants were 151 mental health trainees from graduate counseling, psychology, and related programs in the U.S. who responded to one of four clinical vignettes portraying a cisgender woman, which varied by race (Black/White) and sexual orientation (bisexual/heterosexual). Major findings indicated a significant difference in clinical attractiveness with the Black and bisexual vignette clients perceived as being more attractive clients. No significant differences were found in trainees’ perception of psychological distress, and personal clinical expectations regarding client concerns and identities between vignettes. When identifying top three most salient presenting concerns, depression and academic concerns were appropriately identified for all vignettes, however both the Black and White bisexual clients were identified as having specific relationship concerns as a top salient concern more often than the heterosexual client vignettes. Implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Comments

Data is provided by the student

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open Access

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