RaceCrits in Counselor Education: Pedagogy for Unforgetting Histories and (Re)Imagining Client Futures

• In Event: Advancing Equity and Cultural Responsiveness in Counselor Education and Practice

Abstract

This qualitative case study investigates how counselors-in-training engage with RaceCrit frameworks—specifically BlackCrit, LatCrit, AsianCrit, TribalCrit and MusCrit—within a graduate multicultural counseling course. Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC), the study centers unforgetting historical racial traumas and systemic oppression that have shaped counseling education and practice. Thematic analysis of student reflections revealed heightened awareness of systemic racism and historical inequities, practical implications for counseling practice, emotional challenges in confronting complicity, and appreciation of counternarratives often absent from the traditional counseling curriculum. Findings contribute to Division E’s theme by illustrating how RaceCrits restore historical truths, advance social justice advocacy, and co-create equitable futures for counseling and human development.

Author

• Demetrius Cofield, The Ohio State University