TPC Journal Volume 11 Issue 2

The Professional Counselor | Volume 11, Issue 2 235 decolonization is also crucial to informing multicultural counseling and education (Goodman & Gorski, 2015; Singh et al., 2020). Within CE programs, Singh et al. (2020) argued that social justice theories should be “taught alongside traditional counseling theories” to provide culturally responsive counseling and challenge colonizing educational practices (p. 262). Despite the persistent calls to incorporate the MSJCC and decolonizing practices into counseling and educational paradigms, scholars have continued to note deficits within multicultural education (Barden & Greene, 2015; Singh et al., 2020). Deficits in Multicultural Education The literature reveals gaps between the pedagogical practices, acquired skill development and theory integration, and personal awareness needed to become culturally competent and prepared to work with diverse clients (Barden & Greene, 2015; Priester et al., 2008). CITs have also indicated a lack of self-efficacy in essential multicultural competencies upon entering their practicum sequence (Flasch et al., 2011). In addition, graduates of counseling programs have reported feeling unprepared to work with culturally diverse clients (Barden et al., 2017; Bidell, 2012; Schmidt et al., 2011). This issue reflects the current deficits in multicultural education among CE programs. Many definitions of multicultural education exist in the literature. For this study, we define it as a holistic approach to critically analyzing systems of power and privilege and inequitable policies that serve to disenfranchise marginalized group members; at the same time, multicultural education centralizes matters of social justice and the decolonization of discriminatory educational practices (Gorski, 2016; Singh et al., 2020). Across CE programs, one notable factor that influences multicultural education is educational delivery method. Swank and Houseknecht (2019) conducted a Delphi study of teaching competencies in CE, which revealed that students were twice as likely to rate a professor as effective based on their content knowledge and delivery method. Thus, educational delivery method may play a significant role in facilitating multicultural competence among CITs. As such, there is a need for more effective diversity training approaches in CE programs, with an emphasis on fostering CITs’ ability to integrate theory and therapeutic techniques to fully meet clients’ needs with diverse and deep intersectional ties (Killian & Floren, 2020). Although studies conducted on multicultural education have increased (Chang & Rabess, 2020; Uzunboylu &Altay, 2021), there remains a paucity of available research on integrating culturally responsive models in CE programs (Pieterse et al., 2009; Shelton, 2020; Trahan & Keim, 2019). Similarly, researchers in related fields, such as teacher education, have also noted ongoing challenges pertaining to multicultural education, including minimizing or avoiding challenging conversations about race and privilege, misrepresenting the voices of marginalized group members, integrating content over equity- based practices, and underemphasizing the factors that impact the teaching practices of multicultural educators (Chouari, 2016; Gorski, 2016; Kim, 2011; McGee Banks & Banks, 1995). Relational-cultural theory (RCT) and Adlerian theory are detailed and presented as grounding for a proposed pedagogical approach to address these training limitations. Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) RCT is a feminist approach rooted in Jean Baker Miller’s (1976) Toward a New Psychology of Women . In collaboration with colleagues Judith Jordan, Janet Surrey, and Irene Stiver, Miller developed RCT and challenged Westernized psychotherapy theories that portray human development as a journey from dependence to independence (Jordan, 2010). From an RCT lens, healing occurs in the context of mutually empathic, growth-fostering relationships. Rather than focusing on separation and self- sufficiency, RCT is grounded in the assertion that human beings need connection to flourish. J. B. Miller