Influences on Women Counseling Psychology Associate Professors’ Decisions Regarding Pursuit of Full Professorship

Twelve women tenured as associate professors in American Psychological Association–accredited counseling psychology doctoral programs were interviewed regarding their pursuit of promotion to full professor. Interview data were analyzed using a modified version of consensual qualitative research. Most participants indicated a strong desire to be promoted and stated that they would not change their minds about achieving this goal. Participants reported that their universities’ guidelines for promotion emphasized a strong publication record and evidence of a national reputation, but participants often described these criteria as vague. Pursuit of full professorship was encouraged by having a current mentor, receiving supportive feedback about applying for promotion, and publishing noteworthy research. Pursuit of full professorship was discouraged by negative prior promotion experiences, feelings that colleagues did not value the participant’s research, and conflicts between career and family obligations. Results are discussed within the context of Super’s theory of career development and social cognitive career theory

African American and European American Therapists’ Experiences of Addressing Race in Cross-Racial Psychotherapy Dyads

Using Consensual Qualitative Research, 12 licensed psychologists’ overall experiences addressing race in psychotherapy were investigated, as were their experiences addressing race in a specific cross-racial therapy dyad. Results indicated that only African American psychologists reported routinely addressing race with clients of color or when race was part of a client’s presenting concern. European American psychologists indicated that they would address race if clients raised the topic, and some reported that they did not normally address race with racially different clients. When discussing a specific cross-racial dyad, African American therapists more often than European American therapists addressed race because they perceived client discomfort. Only European American therapists reported feeling uncomfortable addressing race, but therapists of both races perceived that such discussions had positive effects

Supervisor Cultural Responsiveness and Unresponsiveness in Cross-Cultural Supervision

Thirteen supervisees’ of color and 13 European American supervisees’ experiences of culturally responsive and unresponsive cross-cultural supervision were studied using consensual qualitative research. In culturally responsive supervision, all supervisees felt supported for exploring cultural issues, which positively affected the supervisee, the supervision relationship, and client outcomes. In culturally unresponsive supervision, cultural issues were ignored, actively discounted, or dismissed by supervisors, which negatively affected the supervisee, the relationship, and/or client outcomes. European American supervisees’ and supervisees’ of color experiences diverged significantly, with supervisees of color experiencing unresponsiveness more frequently and with more negative effects than European American supervisees. Implications for research and supervision practice are discussed

African American counseling psychology doctoral students: Experiences with academic and non-academic support

Theoretical literature suggests that there are several support factors which African American students need in order to be successful in higher education; however, there is little research that examines the actual use of these support resources and their helpfulness to African American students. For a variety of reasons, such as lack of financial support or insufficient mentoring often leads African American graduate students to seek support outside of the university environment. Given the exploratory nature of this investigation, a qualitative research methodology was used to examine this phenomenon. This study discusses the experiences of African American doctoral counseling psychology students in their use of academic (i.e., resources related to their university, department, or program) and non-academic (i.e., resources outside of or unrelated to the academic environment) supports, and the role of race of the participants in use of resources