Using Relational Cultural Theory as a Pedagogical Approach for Counselor Education

ABSTRACT

In the article the authors will discuss core concepts of RCT in greater detail while relating these concepts to the counselor education classroom setting. There are many aspects of the counseling process that are open-ended due to the necessity of counselors needing to be responsive to the client’s needs in the moment. It is the assertion of the authors that using RCT in the classroom as a pedagogical framework may be beneficial to the growth of CITs. Through creating and maintaining an environment that supports growth fostering relationships, mutual empathy, authenticity, recognition and healing of disconnection, identification of central relational paradoxes, and processing relational images can all lead to developing relational competence in the CITs who will become the next generation of counselors. Additionally, the authors provide examples of the core concepts in action that are grounded in their experiences, blending RCT into their instructional delivery in their course.

KEYWORDS:

• Counselor education
• relational cultural theory
• experiential teaching
• creativity in counseling