TPC Journal-Vol 10- Issue 2-FULL ISSUE

266 Ian P. Levy, Edmund S. Adjapong Toward Culturally Competent School Counseling Environments: Hip-Hop Studio Construction Literature on the physical design of counseling spaces suggests that calm and comfortable school counseling offices support students’ emotional disclosure. However, many counseling environment design studies fail to consider the perspectives of clients. Scholars have called for school counselors to invite youth to co-create interventions as a means to promote cultural responsiveness and honor students’ cultural knowledge. The goal of the current exploratory action research was to bring visibility to the experiences of students who participated in a classroom-based school counseling intervention in which they co-created a hip-hop studio as a social and emotional support space. Specifically, focus groups on the value of the co-creation of a hip- hop studio for urban youth were employed. Results suggested students experienced the studio as a shared space for inclusivity, comfort, and belonging; a place to make their own design choices; and a practice space to garner peer support, engage in personal self-development, and support others. Keywords: counseling environment, urban youth, classroom-based, hip-hop, cultural responsiveness The physical design of counseling spaces by counseling professionals has been well explored in counseling literature (Devlin et al., 2013; Liddicoat, 2010; Miwa & Hanyu, 2006; Pressly & Heesacker, 2001). Counselor office design has primarily focused on the counselor’s preference for office design and has failed to take into consideration the psychological state of clients who are in pursuit of counseling services (Sanders & Lehmann, 2019). Historically, researchers explored how counselors’ control over their office design mitigated stress and increased job satisfaction (Pressly & Heesacker, 2001). Pressly and Heesacker (2001) found that counselors who were unhappy with their office may communicate that frustration to their clients. Further, pleasant environments were found to foster creativity, a sense of well-being, and job satisfaction for practicing counselors (Ceylan et al., 2008). More recently, school counselors reported that their creation of calm and comfortable counseling offices supported students’ emotional disclosure (Cook & Malloy, 2014). Counseling office design elements that have been found to be important for the satisfaction of counselors and clients include overall aesthetics and layout, particularly dim lighting (Liddicoat, 2015; Miwa & Hanyu, 2006; Phelps et al., 2008), as well as access to daylight and space for privacy (Huffcut, 2010). In addition, the layout of a counseling office is strongly correlated with a client’s psychological state, suggesting that environmental structure can allow clients to evoke emotions and confront discrepancies in their self- concept (Liddicoat, 2015). Goelitz and Stewart-Kahn (2008) expressed a need for counselors to consider the experiences of their clients when designing a counseling environment. Although research shows that aesthetic changes to a counseling environment can support a variety of client outcomes, a specific process for the creation of counseling offices is missing within the literature (Pearson & Wilson, 2012). Additionally, given the current body of research, scholars note the importance of creating counseling environments that align with client preferences. A recent qualitative study conducted by Sanders and Ian P. Levy, EdD, is an assistant professor at Manhattan College. Edmund S. Adjapong, PhD, is an assistant professor at Seton Hall University. Correspondence may be addressed to Ian Levy, 4513 Manhattan College Pkwy, The Bronx, NY 10471, ilevy01@manhattan.edu. The Professional Counselor™ Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 266–284 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2020 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi:10.15241/ipl.10.2.266