Decolonising Counsellor Education: Exploring an Emerging Paradigm

Abstract

Background

Decolonisation has become an ubiquitous concept applied to myriad disciplines and programmes in academia in the United States. For counsellor educators, the construct is newly emerging, differentially understood, and only marginally acknowledged.

Method

Through a consensual qualitative research study, we explored the definition and application of decolonisation through 20 in-depth qualitative interviews with 10 educators who train counsellors.

Results

Thematic findings related to the defining constructs of decolonising are reported, including the complexities in operationalising the paradigm within participants’ respective training settings.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that decolonisation in counsellor education involves complex, fluid, and ambiguous definitions. Findings also alluded to how counsellor educators should interrogate the histories of their training, models, and professional standards, especially if they are steeped in colonial histories that enact violence on Indigenous communities. Findings described how counsellor educators can train practising counsellors to invite their clients to reflect on ways that leverage their community, medicines, knowledge, and relationship to land as a vehicle to restore their culture, spirituality, mind-body connection, and Indigeneity. Related to policy, findings indicated that practising counsellors and counsellor educators dismantle healthcare guidelines underlying common treatment modalities, diagnosis and DSM structures, and insurance reimbursement, which can instigate harm and stigma for historically marginalised and Indigenous communities.