Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Chet Lesniak

Abstract

Previous research has consistently showcased disparities in the prevalence of physical and psychiatric disabilities amongst individuals in the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community when compared to the general population. As a profession focused on assisting persons with disabilities achieve full participation in society, there is a strong likelihood that rehabilitation counselors will encounter a client who identifies as both LGB and as a someone with a disability. Therefore, multicultural counseling competence is paramount in ensuring rehabilitation counselors are prepared to provide culturally appropriate services to their clients. Applying a social cognitive theory framework, 204 graduate-level students were recruited from accredited programs to participate in a quantitative study to examine their multicultural competence in addressing the intersection of sexual orientation and disability status. Using a combination of Pearson's r and one-way analyses of variance, a significant relationship was found between the completion of a multicultural counseling course and outcome scores on the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (SOCCS). Additionally, a positive relationship between a participant's program type and outcome scores on the SOCCS was also confirmed. Finally, significance was found between participants who had completed additional training hours compared to those who had not, in relation to outcome scores on the SOCCS. Collectively, the findings of this study may promote social change by offering academic programs with suggestions as to how best to address limitations in multicultural counseling curricula to better prepare professionals to work with clients with intersecting minority statuses.

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