ABSTRACT
This chapter makes the case that counselor education programs need to adapt to an evolving social/relational outlook evident both within the field and in society more broadly. Proposing that sociopolitical inequities are ubiquitous, the authors argue that empowerment both within counselling relationships and society begins with acknowledging these disparities. This entails encouraging sometimes uncomfortable self-examination into counselor education to uncover the intersectional aspect of identities—the way that persons may experience both privilege and marginalization in different contexts of their lives. The authors cite psychology’s dominant individualistic perspective as a barrier to infusing counselor education with the sort of critical, reflexive perspective that foregrounds the operations of power within counseling. They recommend a pedagogy that involves “getting personal,” which entails discovering unearned privilege or passive collusion with marginalizing practices. This inherently systemic view attends to counselor education across a variety of levels, calling for a revamping of not just classroom practices, but hiring practices and admission standards.
