Counselor Preparation in Working with African American Adolescents in Group Counseling

ABSTRACT In addition to the normal developmental tasks, racial and ethnic minority youth may experience other unique challenges that are related to their social, cultural, and structural positions in the US. Specifically, African American adolescents are at increased risk for dropping out of schools and engaging in health risk behaviors due to contextual stressors such as poverty, neighborhood disorder, community violence, and racial discrimination. Group counseling is a developmentally appropriate approach for working with adolescents; however, the counselor training concerning culture-specific considerations for working with African American adolescents in group settings was rarely explored. Therefore, this article aims to serve as a fundamental conceptual framework for working with African American adolescents in groups across different settings by addressing the appropriateness of group counseling for African American adolescents; reflecting on the current counselor preparation and training in group work with African American adolescents; discussing the development, culture, stressors, and strengths of African American adolescents; and providing implications and practical suggestions.