University of Florida College of Education, Gainesville, Florida

1
Advocacy Outreach in Southern Africa Using
Critical Consciousness to Engage in Social Justice
Rachael D. Goodman, Cirecie A. West-Olatunji,
Sejal Mehta
University of Florida College of Education,
Gainesville, Florida
Introduction
Future Research
Outreach Project Outcomes
Background Significance Counselor identify is
shifting to include both advocacy and outreach in
order to meet the needs of communities that may
not access traditional mental health services or
who are impacted by community-wide disasters
(Lewis, Lewis, Daniels DAndrea, 2003).
However, counselors may not know how to
operationalize this new commitment to social
justice. Critical Consciousness Theory Action
that is based on reflection, awareness,
collaboration, and empowerment is liberating and
humanizing for both service providers and
communities (Freire, 2000). Purpose
Statement Presented are recommendations for how
counselors can provide social justice oriented
outreach services, based on our experiences in
South Africa and Botswana.

• Future research can focus on
• Forming interdisciplinary outreach teams
• Using outreach as a component of training in
  counselor education programs
• Identifying how engaging in outreach impacts
  traditional or non-outreach counseling practice
• Developing a training model for social
  justice-based outreach

Meta-Knowledge Through the dialectic process,
outreach team members demonstrated new skills and
thinking, which was facilitated through the
formation of group cohesion and through
mentoring. The members also conceptualized
themselves differently, expressing a sense of
agency and both personal and professional
transformation. Critical Consciousness Outreach
team members were able to provide strength-based,
culturally appropriate counseling services due to
the focus on awareness, reflection, and
responsiveness.
Selected References
Outreach Recommendations
Burnett, J. A., Hammel, D., Long, L. L. (2004).
Service learning in graduate counselor education
Developing multicultural counseling competency.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and
Development, 32, 180-191. Freire, P. (2000).
Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York Continuum
International Publishing Group, Inc. Ivey, A. E.,
Collins, N. M. (2003). Social justice A
long-term challenge for counseling psychology.
The Counseling Psychologist, 31, 290-298. Lewis,
J. A., Lewis, M. D., Daniels, J. A., DAndrea,
M. J. (2003). Community counseling Empowerment
strategies for a diverse society (3rd ed.).
Pacific Grove, CA Brooks/Cole. Nelson, M. L.,
Neufeldt. S. A. (1998). The pedagogy of
counseling A critical examination. Counselor
Education Supervision, 38, 70-88. Roysircar,
G., Gard, G., Hubbell, R., Ortega, M. (2005).
Development of counseling trainees multicultural
awareness through mentoring English as a second
language students. Journal of Multicultural
Counseling and Development, 33, 17-36. Vera, E.,
Daly, B., Gonzales, R., Morgan, M., Thakral, C.
(2006). Prevention and outreach with underserved
populations Building multisystemic youth
development programs for urban youth. In R. L.
Toporek, L. H. Gerstein, N. A. Fouad, G.
Roysircar, T. Israel. (Eds.), Handbook for
social justice in counseling psychology
Leadership, vision, and action (pp. 86-99).
Thousand Oaks, CA Sage Publications,
Inc. West-Olatunji, C., Watson, Z. (1999).
Community-as-client mental health needs
assessment Use of culture-centered theory
research. The Community Psychologist, 31, 36-38.
Review of the Literature
I Planning Planning for the outreach began by
assessing the communitys needs in order to
determine what services will be provided and how
(Lewis et al., 2003 West-Olatunji Watson,
1999). II Partnering Collaborative partnerships
were established (1) with organizations that
could provide resources (Watson, Church, Darville
Darville, 1997), and (2) with the community in
order to create empowering relationships (Nelson
Neufeldt, 1998 Weah et al., 2000). III
Attending to Group Dynamics Group process was a
critical component of the development of critical
consciousness and cultural competence through
reflection and feedback (Burnett et al., 2004
Roysircar et al., 2005). IV Preparing the
Site Site preparation established partnerships
with community stakeholders that enabled the
outreach team to gain the communitys trust,
critical when entering as outsiders (Vera, Daly,
Gonzales, Morgan Thakral, 2006). V
Establishing Procedures Both clinical procedures
and group process procedures were established in
order to ensure that service delivery is aligned
with the outreach philosophy and that team
members have opportunities for reflection and
process.
Multicultural Counseling Advocacy Multicultural
counseling is now considered a core competency of
the profession (Sue Sue, 2003). As an extension
of this, advocacy is also focus of recent
scholarship as critical to meeting the needs of
marginalized populations and addressing systemic
barriers to psychological functioning (Lewis,
Arnold, House Toporek, 2003). Social Justice
Action Counselors have also been increasingly
engaged in action for social justice as a
necessary component of multiculturalism (Vera
Speight, 2003). Recent disasters and acts of
systemic oppression have placed greater emphasis
on the need for counselors to be involved in
social justice action. Outreach Critical
Consciousness Outreach guided by critical
consciousness theory offers a way for counselors
to engage in social justice action that provides
service to communities in need in a culturally
competent, humanizing manner.
Outreach in Southern Africa

• Primary activities included
• Tour of historic and culturally significant sites
• Training, direct services, and collaboration with
  community agencies in South Africa and Botswana
  focusing on HIV/AIDS, womens empowerment,
  children and adolescents, and crisis response.
• Round table discussions with universities on
  advocacy and outreach in community counseling.