Book Review: Diversity and social justice in counseling, psychology, and psychotherapy: A case study approach

Abstract

Kassan and Moodley are well positioned to provide a critical perspective on counseling, psychology, and psychotherapy practices that are born out of White, European psychological traditions. Kassan, director of Vividathà Research Group in the School and Applied Child Psychology program at the University of British Columbia, and Moodley, director of the Center for Diversity in Counseling and Psychotherapy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, bring a wealth of experience, both personal and professional. Their goal, it seems, was to bring both a discussion that centers on race through an anti-racism lens while inviting the complicating aspects of intersectionality. Each author in the edited book provides a practical case study that applies the information from the chapter to a real case from their professional practice. This section brings the challenges alive and highlights the nuances of the complex presentation of the many multis of our multifaceted identities; culture, ethnicity, race, gender, sex, class, ability, faith, age, to name a few. Each chapter ends with a section that explores implications for practice, training, research, and policy. The book, divided into five sections, draws authors from across North America and beyond with varied professional and personal positionalities. Part I deconstructs the Western scientific worldview that privileges it over other ways of knowing by exploring Indigenous knowledge, critical race theory, and a critical review of multicultural and social justice (SJ) competencies. The final chapter in this section offers a “third space of counseling” (p. 54), where clinicians are called to put SJ and diversity into action by seeking to address causes of oppression moving beyond simply trying to reduce individual suffering. Part II and III more specifically speak to understanding how well-known theories of psychology are conceptualized through an SJ lens and from the perspective of contemporary diverse lenses. Thankfully, the authors do not shy away from providing practical suggestions for clinical practice. Although hard to choose the most impactful chapter, Cheshire and Noldy-MacLean’s chapter on Slow Intersectionality offers up pragmatic guidance on how to avoid a reductionist approach and bring a multifaceted perspective of identity into clinical work. Part IV introduces the Group of Seven Identities, race/culture/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability/spirituality, and age while providing space for weight bias and ethical nonmonogamy. And finally, Part V steps outside the borders of Canada and the United States to address the internationalization of counseling, psychology, and psychotherapy. This section pushes anticolonial thinking by considering systemic disparities utilizing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, the newcomer experience of youth seeking education in North America, a human rights perspective of ethical practice, and finally a look at lessons from global psychologies and ways of healing. The edited book is comprehensive, inclusive, and user friendly. The how is often missed when SJ and diversity are the topics—it is often all too easy, and safe, to stick to theory. Kassan, Moodley, and their authors provide a welcome balance of theory and actionable guidance. Despite pushing the bounds of traditional counseling, psychology, and psychotherapy, the material presented in the text remains mostly on helping individuals heal in ways that align with most helping professions. Clinicians would benefit from a more explicit bridge between western and traditional practices. Perhaps Kassan and Moodley are considering a Volume 2? They do, however, push the reader to embrace controversy and to become more comfortable with the discomfort this may bring. Indeed, with a forward offered by Courtland Lee that suggests Kassan and Moodley pushed the envelope, who can argue this book should not be on the bookshelf of those purporting to integrate social justice into their teaching, practice, and indeed, being.