Exploring Trainee Counselors' Implicit Bias Towards Sexual Minority Men: Investigating the Impact of Client Sexual Orientation on Perceptions of Locus of Causality and Symptom Severity

Ethical obligations for counselors at all stages of professional identity development and training mandate that counselors promote the general welfare of their clients and avoid causing harm. Moreover, counselors at all levels of experience must refrain from imposition of values and treat a diverse range of clients with dignity, respect, and clear therapeutic judgement. Counselor educators work to facilitate growth and development within counselors-in-training toward integration of professional and personal values to help achieve these ethical obligations. The present study utilized Microaggression Theory and the Shifting Standards Paradigm as a foundation and conceptual framework to assess the effectiveness of current pedagogical efforts to teach and facilitate the understanding and internalization of the ACA Code of Ethics and the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies. A sample of 65 counselors-in-training were recruited from across the United States. Participants read a fictional case vignette and then completed two quantitative survey instruments followed by a brief demographics questionnaire. The General Linear Model was utilized to conduct univariate analysis between the predictor variable of the sexual orientation of the fictional client and the criterion variable of the participant scores on the Initial Client Impression Inventory – Revised and both the composite and locus of causality subscale of the Causation Dimension Scale – II. Several significant results were found, including significant main effects and interactions regarding age range and sexual orientation. Moreover, a higher than expected non-response rate was reviewed and analyzed.