A Qualitative Analysis of Counseling Psychologists’ Engagement in Social Justice Advocacy

Abstract

Drawing upon their professional history embracing a social justice perspective in psychology, counseling psychologists have made substantial attempts to adopt social justice advocacy roles in research, practice, and training. Responding to social justice-oriented scholars’ call to promote mental health by creating positive social change, counseling psychology training programs across the United States have integrated principles of social justice work into the training of future counseling psychologists since the early 2000s. While previous literature has provided thought-provoking discussions on conceptual aspects of social justice advocacy as well as advocacy training, these studies mostly reflected the voices of psychologists in academia; therefore, advocacy work of those in clinical practice has been neglected. In addition, practical outcomes of social justice training in counseling psychology have not received enough scholarly attention. In an attempt to address these concerns, the present study has utilized a qualitative research methodology to explore the advocacy experiences of licensed clinicians who were trained in social justice-oriented counseling psychology doctoral programs. Specifically, I have employed a narrative inquiry method to analyze the interviews with 11 counseling psychologists across the United States. Using critical psychology as the theoretical framework of this study, interviews focused on participants’ personal and professional narratives, training experiences, and the factors that affect their engagement in advocacy roles in clinical work. In addition to the inspiring ways of advocacy in psychological practice, narratives of the participants depicted resources and challenges regarding incorporating an advocacy agenda into clinical practice. These factors have significantly shaped participants’ involvement in advocacy, indicating that counseling psychologists continue to grapple with systemic barriers which at times limit their advocacy actions— particularly macro-level advocacy. Implications for social justice research, practice, and training in counseling psychology are discussed.