Strategies to Address Therapist Resistance to Exploration of Culture

NBCC CE Hours: 1 (ACEP Number: 7197)

Consideration of cultural factors during therapy enhances counseling outcomes. Yet, some clinicians and trainees are challenged in their ability to address race/ethnicity and culture during therapy due to fear and other difficult emotions that arise when opportunities to explore culture occur. Accordingly, faculty and supervisors often experience resistance or other challenges when preparing clinicians to examine aspects of culture with clients. During this webinar, Drs. Janeé Steele and Charmeka Newton will discuss the continuum of broaching behavior (Day-Vines et al., 2007), a model delineating the clinician’s intentional efforts to discuss race/ethnicity and culture, and describe how faculty and supervisors may use strategies from cognitive behavior therapy and other supervisory support to address defensive reactions that arise during broaching training. The learning objectives for the webinar are as follows:

• Define integrated/congruent and infusing broaching styles
• Identify counseling skills and dispositions necessary for various domains of broaching
• Teach trainees how to conceptualize negative reactions to broaching during training or in sessions with clients
• Teach trainees how to use cognitive restructuring and mindfulness techniques to examine and respond to cognitions that lead to negative reactions to broaching during training or in sessions with clients
• Create classroom and supervision environments that facilitate openness to learning and receiving feedback

About the presenters:

Dr. Janeé Steele is the co-author of Black Lives Are Beautiful: 50 Tools to Heal from Trauma and Promote Positive Racial Identity and author of the forthcoming book Racism and African American Mental Health: Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Empower Healing with foreword by Judith Beck. Dr. Steele is also a licensed professional counselor, counselor educator, and diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies, where she serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. She owns Kalamazoo Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy, PLLC, where she provides therapy, supervision, and training in CBT. She has published articles, books, and book chapters focused on CBT, social justice advocacy, and counselor training. Her webinar discussing her cognitive model of internalized racism is one of the American Counseling Association's bestselling products and was featured by the organization as part of its 2022 BIPOC Awareness Month programming.

Dr. Charmeka Newton is the co-author of the book Black Lives Are Beautiful: 50 Tools to Heal from Trauma and Promote Positive Racial Identity. She is also a clinical assistant professor, fully licensed psychologist, and owner of Legacy Mental Health Services, PLLC. Her areas of expertise include multicultural counseling and clinical supervision of master’s-level counseling practitioners and students. In addition to her clinical and teaching expertise, Dr. Newton is a member of the Michigan Board of Psychology, appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and was honored with the Distinguished Psychologist award by the Michigan Psychological Association. Her video "The Hate They Give, The Love We Have," is included in the American Psychological Association’s Culturally Informed Trauma Recovery Toolkit. Dr. Newton additionally is an Appointed APA Advocacy Coordinating Committee member, and an Elected Member-at-Large Community Engagement Representative for Division 45 of APA.

Kalamazoo Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy, PLLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7197. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Kalamazoo Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy, PLLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.