Working with Marginalized Communities

Welcoming Borders

Counseling Today Nov 2024 Feature Article - Learning what refugee children and teens go through can improve your reach in counseling.

Coping with the stress and uncertainty of chronic health conditions

People with chronic health conditions often face uncertainty and psychological distress, which is why validation and emotional regulation are crucial in helping clients learn to cope and live productive lives.

Forming friendships as a neurodivergent adult

A common misconception about people who are neurodivergent is that they cannot or do not want to form friendships.

Conceptualizing diagnosis through a social justice lens

Approaching diagnosis through a lens that considers systemic, cultural and ecological factors leads to better treatment outcomes for clients.

Peer support, mad pride and disability justice

Turning toward the critical feedback that these social movements have for the mental health professions can aid counselors in repairing ruptures and strengthening the therapeutic work.

The unique challenges that face immigrant clients from Africa

Immigrants to the United States have one goal in common: to attain the American dream. For many, this dream means leading a life with fewer struggles than they experienced in their countries of origin.

Wanted: Bilingual and bicultural counselors

Successful therapeutic relationships are built on trust and understanding, so counselors can ill afford to have words and phrases become “lost in translation.” Cultural competency on the part of counselors is also crucial...

Reconciling disability studies with mental health counseling

Growing up Jewish and queer in a conservative part of Birmingham, Alabama, I faced some pretty severe bullying as a child and teenager. It was a common occurrence for me to be called anti-Semitic slurs and mocked for looking and acting different.

Fostering immigrant communities of healing

Providing counseling services to immigrant populations can sometimes feel like working in a hospital emergency room. “We’re just trying to stop the bleeding for a minute, and sometimes we don’t have time to look at some of the other concerns”...

Straddling two worlds

Because immigrants often feel like they are straddling two worlds — their origin country and their new one — identity development is complex and critical for this population.

The therapeutic triad of disability

For many counseling professionals, the exploration of forgiveness, self-compassion or resilience can seem daunting, particularly when determining ways to apply these concepts to people with disabilities and their specific needs. Where do I start?

Mental health implications of undocumented immigrant status

The phrase undocumented immigrant, or its less charitable counterpart, illegal alien, tends to cause a stir in the media. The focus is on the paperwork, the lack of permission or legal status to be in the United States.

Immigration’s growing impact on counseling

They come by air, land and sea. In airplanes, on overcrowded boats, aboard shipping vessels, by train or even on foot. They are immigrants and refugees looking for the same things as previous generations of people who willingly came to the United States

Focusing on ability, not disability

This excerpt from Courtney Vinson’s story describes her pathway to college and the workplace despite being diagnosed with an intellectual disability (ID) and told by educators that she had limited future options.

Multicultural counseling with the immigrant and refugee communities

“New word” is the empathic statement I find myself frequently using with my ninth-grade refugee group. As I attempt to explain what emotions are and as I ask each student how they are feeling today, I teach them a new word.

Seeing potential, not disability

When Chad Betters wants his students to grasp what it means to have a disability, he shares the story of a former client. The woman had been a nurse for 19 years but developed an allergy to latex as a result of her work.