By: Allison Weliky, MA

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This paper begins an examination into the possible characteristics of a non-racist white therapeutic Counselor. To begin addressing this topic, many questions must be asked around the history of race in this country. Therefore, significant energy is put into understanding the origins of what we call “race” and “white” in the United States. The history of counseling is examined, in its beginnings as a predominantly white professional group and clientele, and its first attempts to deal with “multicultural concerns.” This discussion brings to light, that as with other aspects of “American” life, the counseling profession has been embedded in a racist system. The discourse suggests that as counselors come to terms with this reality, they must ask themselves what their agenda is in counseling people of any race and how willing they are to acknowledge their own racial privileges. (more…)

By: Jeanine Austin, Ph.D.

Several months after my puppy dog Grace had been weaned, my children and I took her back to speak with the breeder and to visit her mother Sweet Pea. My dog was so excited to see her mother. She jumped all over her and licked her and did whatever she could to get her attention. As it turned out, Sweet Pea could not be bothered. She didn’t acknowledge Grace in any way, shape or form. This behavior rather alarmed my young children; they weren’t expecting Grace to be ignored by her own mother. (more…)