The Need for a Counseling Psychology Model Training Values Statement Addressing Diversity

Abstract

The authors articulate the need for a Counseling Psychology Model Training Values Statement Addressing Diversity (henceforth “Values Statement”). They discuss the historic unwillingness of the field to address values in a sophisticated or complex way and highlight the increasingly common training scenario in which trainees state that certain professional requirements are in conflict with their personal values. The authors explain that the Values Statement grew out of trainers' expressed need for guidance in dealing with these complex and often emotionally charged value clashes in training. They explain how the Values Statement can assist training programs to (a) clearly articulate the profession's diversity-related values, (b) connect individual and professional values to societal value structures that either reinforce or challenge systems of oppression, and (c) help students to develop the philosophical sophistication to reconcile their personal values and the profession's values. Overall, the authors explicate that the Values Statement is needed to assists trainees to comprehend and perform required diversity-related professional behaviors.