Counseling Multiethnic College Students 
Goal
The goal of this five-week workshop is to prepare college counselors to work with multiethnic/racial college students by utilizing some suggested interventions as well as exploring one's own cultural awareness.
Rationale
As college campuses continue to diversify programming to suit the needs of all of its students, college counselors must also prepare to work with students from a multitude of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. One population of students that continues to grow in number is the multiethnic/racial student population. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (n.d.), 6.8 million people checked more than one box designating race on the 2000 census. Incidentally, the Census 2000 was the first opportunity for Americans to officially designate more than one race (Nishimura, 2004).
College is an important period of students’ identity development, and ethnic identity is a significant part of this development (Chickering & Reisser, 1993). Jourdan’s (2006) research suggests that “developing a secure attachment to an ethnic group increases minority college students’ feelings of self-esteem and heightens their self-awareness while lowering their feelings of anxiety and inferiority" (p. 328). However, for many multiethnic college students, this can be challenging without the assistance of a knowledgeable counselor. Though multiethnic college students experience the same issues related to identity development as their monoracial peers, multiethnic persons must be more conscious of their racial “choice.” This is due to the fact that racial self-labeling is usually affected by how one is viewed by others (Nishimura, 1998). However, with multiethnic individuals, others often pressure the individuals to make a single choice regarding ethnicity and race, excluding one or more parts of the individuals’ ethnic background. Nishimura (1998) states that this often leads individuals to assume “different racial identities depending on the social context" (p. 46), which can lead to turmoil within the individual who feels like he/she has chosen one parent’s ethnic heritage over the other parent’s heritage. This turmoil may lead to lowered self-esteem and feelings of marginalization in multiple cultures (Constantine & Gainor, 2004).
Though important to recognize the challenges facing multiethnic college students, counselors can better assist these students in their identity development through a focus on the strengths of being multiethnic (Edwards & Pedrotti, 2004). College counselors can help multiethnic students identify the strengths of each of their cultures and empower them to utilize these strengths in a positive way through the use of solution-focused therapy, narrative approaches, fostering resilience, and hope therapy (Edwards & Pedrotti, 2004). In order to best serve the whole student, counselors need to explore the student’s worldview, the role of race in choosing a partner, relationships in general, how each of the student’s ethnic backgrounds were emphasized or deemphasized during the student’s upbringing, and the positive and negative aspects of the student’s multiethnic identity (Roberts-Clarke, Roberts, & Morokoff, 2004). It is also imperative that the counselor be aware of his/her own cultural identity as well as any preconceived ideas about multiethnic individuals, recognizing that the student’s view of himself/herself might be very different from the counselor’s perception of the student (Nishimura, 2004). Through counseling, college counselors can assist multiethnic college students in developing a healthy ethnic identity that can enrich the campus community.
References
Chickering, A. W., & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Constantine, M. G., & Gainor, K. A. (2004). Depressive symptoms and attitudes toward counseling as predictors of biracial college women’s psychological help-seeking behavior. Women & Therapy, 27(1/2), 147-158.
Edwards, L. M., & Pedrotti, J. T. (2004). Utilizing the strengths of our cultures: Therapy with biracial women and girls. Women & Therapy, 27(1/2), 33-43.
Jourdan, A. (2006). The impact of family environment on the ethnic identity development of multiethnic college students. Journal of Counseling & Development, 84(3) , 328-340.
Nishimura, N. J. (1998). Assessing the issues of multiracial students on college campuses. Journal of College Counseling, 1, 45-53.
Nishimura, N. J. (2004). Counseling biracial women: An intersection of multiculturalism and feminism. Women & Therapy, 27(1/2), 133-145.
Roberts-Clarke, I., Roberts, A. C., & Morokoff, P. (2004). Dating practices, racial identity, and psychotherapeutic needs of biracial women. Women & Therapy, 27(1/2), 103-117.
U.S. Census Bureau: United States Department of Commerce (n.d.). The two or more races population: 2000. Retrieved July 18, 2006, from www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-6.pdf
E-Mail: Jennifer E. Tomon
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