Teaching Implicit Bias in Multicultural Counseling Courses: Framework, Tools, and Limitations

Enabling counselor trainees to recognize their own implicit bias and its impact on potential counselor-client interactions is an essential part of every multicultural counseling curriculum. This article describes the research and rationale for incorporating implicit bias into training programs, as well as the use of implicit bias tools, techniques, and activities used in a graduate-level multicultural counseling course that align with the American Counseling Association-endorsed Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competency (MSJCC) framework (Ratts et al., 2016). Benefits and challenges for counseling faculty and students are reviewed, with sample implicit bias activities shared.