Self-Knowledge and Identity in a Mexican American Counseling Course: A Qualitative Exploration

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Manuel X. Zamarripa, Ileana Lane, Eunice Lerma and Lyle HolinCourse: A Qualitative Exploration

Self-Knowledge and Identity in a Mexican American Counseling

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1Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi2Austin Independent School District

Corresponding Author:Manuel X. Zamarripa, Counseling and Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78412-5834 E-mail: [email protected]

Self-Knowledge and Identity in a Mexican American Counseling Course: A Qualitative Exploration

Manuel X. Zamarripa1, Ileana Lane2,Eunice Lerma1, and Lyle Holin, II1

Abstract

This study explores the lived experiences of Mexican American graduate students who completed a course on Mexican American counseling and mental health. The experiences of Mexican American students taking a mental health course that focuses on their own ethnic group has not been previously discussed in the literature. Given the history of exclusion in the educational system and the increase in the U.S. Latina/o population, it is important to give voice to the experiences of these students. A phenom-enological approach is utilized to reveal the essence of the students’ experi-ences. A total of 3 female and 3 male Mexican American graduate students participated in the study, and five themes emerged: history matters, personal connection, self-discovery, LGBT Mexican Americans, and “Wow!” The results of this study suggests that the course had academic and personal sig-nificance for these participants. Furthermore, these experiences may inform future course construction and training in the area of Latina/o mental health.



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Keywords

Mexican American counseling, Chicana/o psychology, Latina/o psychology, qualitative research, Mexican American students

The importance of multicultural courses in psychology and counseling training programs has become relatively accepted. Although ethnic-specific courses in psychology and counseling are not as integrated in graduate curriculum as multicultural counseling courses, there is a history of course offerings focus-ing on Mexican American Psychology/Counseling (de las Fuentes, Barón, & Vásquez, 2003; McNeil, 1999). A web search for course syllabi and listings focusing on Latino/as and mental health revealed classes in several colleges and universities across the nation. Sample course titles found were Mexican American psychology, Latino psychology: mental health and the Latino expe-rience, Chicano/a Latino/o psychology, mental health issues of Hispanics, and interventions with Latino families and children. These are primarily grad-uate courses in counseling psychology departments; however, some were undergraduate courses in psychology departments. These courses are being offered in such states as California, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Although not intended to be an exhaustive search, it does give a sample of these course offerings in various regions of the country. This gives an indication that there are departments in the country that are utilizing a Latina/o-specific course as additional training for psychol-ogy and counseling students.

While there are some courses in psychology and counseling that focus specifically on this group at various colleges and universities across the nation, the experiences of Mexican American and/or Latina/o students taking a course focusing on their own ethnic group have not been investigated. The history of Mexican American exclusion in the educational system has resulted in a reality where these students rarely encounter the experiences of their ethnic group reflected in school curriculum (San Miguel & Valencia, 1998). Sammons and Speight (2008) noted that more information is needed on eth-nic minority student experiences regarding multicultural counseling training. Given that Mexican Americans and other Latina/os have historically been marginalized in the U.S. educational system and that the multicultural coun-seling competencies (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992) emphasize the necessity of self-awareness, gaining an understanding of Mexican American experiences is important. This qualitative investigation is an initial explora-tion of Mexican American students who completed a course in Mexican American counseling and mental health.



90 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 33(1)

Student Experiences in Multicultural Counseling Courses

A literature review of this phenomenon is rather limited since the lived experi-ences of Mexican American graduate students in a Latina/o-themed mental health course has not been previously investigated. However, there have been studies looking at student experiences taking a general multicultural counseling course. Previous research in this area has often focused on experiences related to effectively facilitating multicultural counseling competency (Castillo, Brossart, Reyes, Conoley, & Phoummarath, 2007; Malott, 2010; Tomlinson-Clarke, 2000; Worthington, Soth-McNett, & Moreno, 2007). This is a bit distinct from simply exploring the lived experiences of students in these courses.

In addition, several studies have looked at the changes students experience as a result of completing a multicultural course. Increases in awareness and knowledge of cultural issues as well as increases in self-awareness are some of the most frequent changes reported by students (Castillo et al., 2007; Heppner & O’Brien, 1994; Sammons & Speight, 2008). In fact, Sammons and Speight found that more than 70% of their participants reported an increased level of knowledge and self-awareness as a result of taking a mul-ticultural counseling course. The elements that students perceived as the impetus for such changes ranged from in-class guest speakers and experien-tial activities to videos and class discussions (Heppner & O’Brien, 1994; Sammons & Speight, 2008; Tomlinson-Clarke, 2000). Students in these courses, then, were able to name particular events or course aspects that became mean-ingful for them as they reflected on their experiences.

Although these studies give some insight into the phenomenon of com-pleting a multicultural course, the majority of the participants were European American students (Heppner & O’Brien, 1994; Sammons & Speight, 2008). Moreover, the universities where the studies were conducted were large universities with a predominantly European American student population (Castillo et al., 2007; Tomlinson-Clarke, 2000). Thus, a significant limitation in previous studies is the relative absence of ethnic minority and, in particular, Latina/o experiences.

Components of a Mexican American Psychology/Counseling CourseA course in Mexican American or Latina/o psychology and mental health typically includes components such as historical contributions made by Latina/o mental health professionals to the field, sociocultural factors facing



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the Latina/o population, a focus on ethnic identity and acculturation issues, family and cultural values, and appropriate counseling interventions (Castillo & Cano, 2008; de las Fuentes et al., 2003; McNeil, 1999; Velásquez, Arellano, & McNeill, 2004). Introducing students to the history of Chicana/o psychol-ogy and mental health sets the stage for the idea that Latina/o contributions to the mental health field are not “new” or “recent” but have simply been excluded from mainstream curriculum in psychology and counseling. The course that is the focus of the current study followed these core components and was titled Mexican American Counseling and Mental Health. One dis-tinction of this course compared to most others that have been surveyed is that it was offered in a counselor education department rather than a psychol-ogy department. In addition, the course was offered in a Hispanic Serving Institution, and the majority of students in the class were of Mexican descent. The course description in the syllabus was stated as

This course examines the current and historical status of Mexican Americans in the field of mental health. Counseling and psychological research and theory on the cultural, societal, and historical influences on the well-being and characteristics of Mexican Americans will be explored. Various counseling and psychological models and interven-tions responsive to this population will also be examined.

MethodParticipant Selection

Participants in qualitative research are not viewed as a “representative sample” as is the case with quantitative research (Polkinghorne, 2005). The participants need only be individuals who have experienced the same phe-nomenon. A purposive selection of Mexican American students (3 women, 3 men) who completed the Mexican American counseling and mental health course participated in this study. The respective ages of the female partici-pants were 27, 28, and 58 (M = 37.67), while the male participant ages were 41, 47, and 55 (M = 47.33). All participants were born in the United States, with the exception of one man who moved to the United States when he was 14 years old. All students, but one, were counseling students. One was a non–degree-seeking student. The course was a masters-level course; thus, all par-ticipants had a college degree. Each of the participants was a first-generation college student. For all students, this was the first course they completed in higher education that focused on Mexican Americans.




Procedure

Approval for the study was given by the university’s Institutional Review Board. One of the two interviewers (both doctoral students) visited the class on the last week of the semester to solicit participation for the study. The instructor (the primary researcher) left the room during this time so the poten-tial participants would not feel pressured to volunteer and the identities of those who expressed interest would be protected. The participants were told that the instructor would not know the identity of the participants. This included the instructor not listening to the recorded interviews, given that he might recognize the voices of participants who were all students in the course. The transcripts of the interviews were the first time the primary researcher had access to the data.

The two doctoral student interviewers contacted the participants after the course ended, to set up interview times, and informed consent was obtained at the time of the interviews. All interviews were recorded with a digital recorder and transcribed verbatim. Thus, the method of data collection was semistruc-tured interviews, done face-to-face in an informal, conversational style.

Moustakas (1994) suggested that there should be two broad questions posed to participants: What have you experienced (in terms of the phenome-non)? What contexts or situations have typically influenced or affected your experiences of (the phenomenon)? In a phenomenological study, the ques-tions are “successful” if they can elicit or capture the experiences of the participants that are distinct from current theoretical explanations (Colaizzi, 1978). Each participant was asked to respond to the following questions: “Can you tell me what it was like for you to take a course on Mexican American counseling and mental health? Which experiences stand out for you?” The interviewers utilized probing and follow-up questions as suggested by Creswell (2007) to gain an in-depth understanding to the participants lived experi-ences. Interviews lasted from 25 minutes to 1 hour.

Research DesignPhenomenology is one of many approaches in qualitative research. Creswell (2007) explained that phenomenological research “describes the meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences” (p. 57). Polkinghorne (1989) recommended including at least 5 to 25 participants when utilizing this methodology. Through this method, students were able to convey their stories and give weight to their experiences, allowing freedom to articulate their views and to get an accurate picture of individual reflections of their



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participation in the course. More specifically, the researchers chose to use a phenomenological approach to gain a better understanding of the experi-ences of Mexican American graduate students in a course designed to address mental health issues of their own ethnic group.

Bracketing is an essential aspect of the research design. This is a process of putting aside one’s prior assumptions of what he or she believes are impor-tant aspects and/or causes of the phenomenon, including prior theories, hypotheses, and scientific knowledge (Creswell, 2007; Wertz, 2005). It is this “refraining from judgment” (Patton, 2002, p. 484) that may help the researcher become aware of and remove any possible personal bias that may exist pertaining to the phenomenon being explored. Bracketing, then, allows the researcher to approach the phenomenon with a “new” or “fresh” perspec-tive so that he or she may be attuned to the lived experiences and descriptions presented by the participants.

Data AnalysisFollowing Colaizzi’s (1978) phenomenological method, the research coding team (comprised of the primary researcher and two doctoral students) care-fully read and reread each transcript several times before following through with the analysis. The data were then reduced into significant phrases or sentences in each transcript that related directly to the lived experiences of the participants who took the course. Formulated meanings from these direct statements are then constructed, and these formulated meanings are clustered into themes. This process, called horizontalization, was done independently by each coder and was compared and cross-checked among the coding team to ensure the validity of the themes (Creswell, 2007; Denzin, 1989; Patton, 2002). The emergence of the themes allows an in-depth description of the phenomenon under study.

Several measures were taken to establish trustworthiness in the current study. Confidentiality and anonymity were and continue to be maintained through the selection of pseudonyms. Another effort of establishing trustwor-thiness for this study was the use of the digital recorder as way of not missing out on any information during the interviews. In addition, the research team was also made up of three individuals who conducted the coding. This was an intentional effort to establish credibility in the current research, which also served as an alternative to member checking. Finally, the use of transcripts also allowed the research team to read and reread the interviews for a careful analysis and consensus of the data.




Results

Sixty-eight significant statements were extracted from the six transcripts that were analyzed. A sample of these significant statements with their corre-sponding formulated meanings is included in Table 1. Formulated meanings were then arranged into clusters that resulted in five distinct themes.

Theme 1: History MattersEvery participant indicated that the inclusion of historical content in the course had a significant impact on them. Some participants discussed how the discus-sion of the history of Mexican Americans in the mental health field highlighted their lack of knowledge in this area. One female participant stated,

The first part of the course . . . was a lot of Mexican American history, which I felt we lacked here in this area even though the main popula-tion is Hispanic. There was a lot that . . . I really was not aware of.

Similarly, another participant stated, “What’s funny is that, you know, being a Mexican American, I thought that I knew a lot about my culture, but . . . the history of it, I didn’t know a lot of that.” A male participant in his early 40s who has been in the educational field for several years also stated his surprise at his lack of knowledge in this area, “A LOT of the material he presented I didn’t know about! I sat there going, ‘This is your own race! This is your people!’”

The significance of history for other participants motivated them to continue learning more after the class. For example, a male participant stated that the course motivated him to “go out and do my own research and find out my own history.” A 55-year-old woman expressed that as a result of the course she

started reading books on, like Dolores Huerta, uh, uh, Cesar Chavez, and, and I come to understand more of what he did. Uh, Dr. Hector Garcia. And I’m still doing that. I’m still reading into these Hispanic people and what they did.

The significance of history was experienced as an “eye opener” for most participants. In fact, several participants chose to use the words “surprised” and “wow” frequently when describing their experience of learning the his-tory that was presented in class. The fact that they were also unaware of the sociopolitical struggles, particularly during the civil rights era, of Mexican



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Americans was described by many as the single most important experience of the course. It motivated them to continue doing their own research in this area. Finally, several participants discussed how they came to realize the impor-tance of history, especially the history of Mexican Americans in counseling and psychology, in order to understand present circumstances for Mexican Americans and to understand the progress that has been made over the years.

Table 1. Examples of Significant Statements and Corresponding Formulated Meanings

Significant statement Formulated meaning

I felt like it is on Mexican American, you know, Psychology. That, that history is important so we know like how we can relate it back to how we are right now.

History is important because it has current relevance.

When I took the course and [the professor] started with the history, I thought . . . that’s what everybody needs to start out with. We’ve got to go back to the beginning and figure out . . . well . . . where did you come from?

Understanding origins and history is a necessary starting point for self-understanding

I guess talking about all of that and what they went through and how they struggled ‘cause in my own personal way, we struggled, me and my family. We still struggle.

Identifying with the struggles of other Mexican American families as shared experiences

I always thought, when I’m 60 I’m just gonna retire and enjoy my grandchildren, but I come to realize that, no, even when you’re 60 there’s so much in you to continue to do and give of yourself.

Realization of a new sense of purpose.

To hear it firsthand. And then to able to use that, and save it, and refer back to it. that’s, that’s a little gold, piece of gold right there

Guest speaker brought important, applicable knowledge.

I was feeling kina of like, uh self-therapy in a way. Uh . . . learning about myself.

The class brought healing via self-discovery and self-awareness.

Then I go to go home and share it with my own kids, something they had no idea.

There was a personal/familial impact.

Never, uh, imagining that I would ever sit down and be, uh, be like in an environment where I could recall, uh, and try to trace those things that go back to my ancestors, my roots.

Genuine surprise that the Mexican American experience was the subject of a formal, academic course.




Theme 2: Personal Connection

Participants discussed how their experiences in the course had a personal connection and/or effect on them. Responses such as “touched on things in my personal life when I was a teenager,” “reflected personal experiences of living in two cultures,” and “an awaking of issues that occurred growing up” were used to describe this experience. The theme of personal connection manifested itself in several different ways for the participants.

Some participants felt a general sense of connection to the course material and/or discussions (e.g., “So that’s why I’m saying I liked the class in general because I knew or in some way I could relate to experiences I heard . . . you know.”). Some connected with the material because they found similarities between what was being learned and experiences in their own families. One 29-year-old woman stated,

I guess talking about all of that and what they went through and how they struggled, ‘cause in my own personal way, we struggled, me and my family. And you know, we still struggle. I think that personal experience was probably the one that stood out the most. Yeah.

Another female participant, 28 years old, also had a similar experience as she described one of the documentaries shown in class.

I think we saw like a clip on youtube or something. It was about a young lady whose dad was really strict. And that’s how my parents were with me, you know, and that kind of brought it home. I could relate to what she was going through because I went through it until I finished college and was on my own and stuff.

The personal connection of some of the assignments in the course also served to bring new understanding to observed family traditions. A Mexican American man in his early 40s discussed how making his own home altar (class assignment) had a powerful effect on him.

It brought back a lot of memories because of the little altar that my grandmother had . . . when we were growing up. So once I put it all together I thought . . . now I understand, you know, why it’s special. I’m getting emotional. I don’t know why.



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Also, participants experienced as sense of personal connection because they were able to go home and share what was discussed in class with their family. Two female participants expressed this experience: “I went home that day and I was talking to him (dad) and I was telling him what we had learned in class,” and “then I got to go home and share it with my own kids, something they had no idea .”

Theme 3: Self-DiscoveryA third theme that emerged was broadly related to the idea of self-discovery. Here participants described experiences during the course that lead them to have a new or deeper understanding of themselves as Mexican Americans. More than just identifying with aspects of the course, as was the case in the earlier theme of personal connection, the self-discovery theme highlighted new understandings or awareness for the participants’ identities.

The sense of self-discovery manifested itself with some participants hav-ing a new understanding of their previous feelings of fitting or not fitting in U.S. society. One 47-year-old man expressed, “It answered some of the rea-sons why I wasn’t able to fit in with either one when I was going through that acculturation . . . it was kind of like self-therapy in a way.”

This participant continues:

It’s one of those classes that . . . you hope that there would be some . . . type of continuance because I think it’s important to have that espe-cially when you’re discovering certain things about yourself or trying to explain certain things to yourself, at least in my situation.

One female participant found the discussion of different ethnic labels par-ticularly significant and “discovered” that she had a sense of pride in choos-ing one of these labels for herself.

I know we talked about how we label ourselves like Hispanic, Chicano, Latino. And, um, I always thought, like, Chicano was like eww a gross word, you know. And now I’m like, No, I have to have pride. And I am a Chicana.

Thus, for some this process of self-discovery or awareness also elicited a sense of cultural pride. Along with the above statement, other participants made statements such as, “I am proud of who I am, and you know, my heri-tage, my culture. I’m not ashamed to say I’m Mexican American or I grew




up poor. I’m just proud of who I am.” Similarly, another 60-year-old female participant described, in a very heart-felt manner, her self-discovery process as a result of taking the course. She states:

Well, there was a lot of meaning considering . . . it, it was something to me to find out . . . oh, I cried . . . “THIS IS WHO I AM” (beginning to cry). When you don’t know who you are (crying) . . . and then when you find out who you are (crying) and you do research (crying) you get this . . . “Oh my god! This is me. This is where I’m from.” It’s still . . . umm . . . it’s very sentimental to me. Even now, you know.

Theme 4: LGBT Mexican Americans: An Appreciation of Lived ExperiencesThe course covered several aspects of Mexican American identities (e.g. eth-nicity, gender, and socioeconomic); however, the discussion of sexual orien-tation emerged as a prominent theme when participants were discussing significant experiences. In particular, the first-hand experience of a guest speaker on this topic seemed to have a powerful effect for the participants. This was the only guest speaker during the course, and he addressed the class midsemester. From the statements gathered during the interviews, it appeared that this was also the first time many participants had the opportunity to listen to the experiences of a gay Mexican American male. They were able to gain a different perspective or an enhanced sense appreciation for these experiences as expressed through the voice of the guest speaker. Sometimes there was a greater appreciation of how the guest speaker navigated tradi-tional cultural values with his sexual orientation (e.g., “We got to hear what his view was, especially being, um, Hispanic male and machismo and all that stuff.”), while for others a sense of appreciation spilled over into a new sense of empathy. This feeling was exemplified by the following statement of a 47-year-old male participant. “Though I didn’t partake much of their life-style, I could understand certain emotions that they went through. It’s going to sound funny, but I see them in more of a human level.” Although this statement shows that the participant is only at the beginning stages of true acceptance, it does indicate as shift in perspective.

The first-hand experience of listening and learning from the guest speaker was particularly important because this allowed participants to apply what they heard to their own life or work. One 29-year-old female participant revealed that the guest speaker’s words helped her better understand the situation of a close friend who is also a gay Mexican American. “So yeah, the guy helped me



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out . . . kind of helped me a little on understanding.” Another male participant shared how applicable and special the experience was for him.

To hear it first hand and then to able to use that, and save it, and refer back to it. That’s, that’s a little piece of gold right there that you can go back and say, “Wow, I know I’ve had somebody talk to me openly about their experiences and how they felt.” And I thought now I can use that somewhere else

Theme 5: “Wow!”Finally, an interesting theme of surprise emerged from the data. A sense of surprise has already been noted in some of the previous themes discussed; however, it was also found in response to other various individual experi-ences discussed by participants. Although the statements in this category refer to various topics, the sense of surprise itself emerged as a significant theme in its own right. Thus, for these participants, it was not only describing their lived experiences but the affect they conveyed during the interviews that was rather poignant. For example, the word “wow!” was mentioned numer-ous times throughout the interviews. “I thought, ‘Wow!’ this, this is some-thing”; “Wow . . . I didn’t even know I was migrant farmer!” A couple of participants also described their experiences as “eye openers.” “It was for me, like, surprising to find out, you know, the people who struggled to get me to where I am. That was surprising. . . . All that was like an eye opener.” For others, the mere existence of the course was surprising to them. This is reflected in the statement of one 55-year-old male participant as he reflected, “. . . Never, uh, imagining that I would ever sit down and be like in an envi-ronment where I could recall things that go back to my ancestors.”

DiscussionThis study represented an initial effort at bringing forth the voices and experi-ences of Mexican American students who completed a graduate mental health course focused on their own ethnic group. Participants expressed significant and powerful reactions to the experience. Many of the responses indicated that participants experienced some degree of personal change. The partici-pants focused on the significance of history, feeling a personal connection with aspects of the course, a sense of self-discover, an appreciation of the experiences of LGBT Mexican Americans, and an overall sense of surprise related to various experiences. The significance of history highlighted the lack




of awareness and knowledge in this area, which is an interesting discovery, given that the course was offered in an Hispanic Serving Institution (HIS) situated in a community where the majority of the population is Mexican American. Thus, the inclusion of Latina/os in history, particularly in the con-tributions for the mental health field, was largely absent in the education these participants received. This issue has been discussed previously in the litera-ture (Padilla & Olmedo, 2009). Although there was a general lack of histori-cal knowledge, the students’ ethnicity did facilitate a personal connection to the course material, especially related to their experiences about or with their families. The cited Latina/o cultural value of familismo (Santiago-Rivera, Arredondo, & Gallardo, 2001) may have played a significant role in how per-sonal connections were related to familial experiences.

Although participants experienced a sense of personal connection in the course, they also experienced a process of self-discovery that clarified or brought a new sense of identity for them. These discoveries also brought forth a sense of pride in their ethnic identity for some participants suggesting the potential for similar courses to facilitate a sense of cultural pride or “dis-covery” for Mexican American students. For the participants in this study, the effects of this self-discovery was a positive experience as it helped some understand their acculturation process and others to gain a sense of ethnic or cultural identity they had not previously experienced. Some of the positive descriptions of these experiences were, “self-therapy,” “pride,” and “senti-mental.” The result of completing this course caused a notable shift in partici-pants’ self-perceptions. This is similar to the findings previously mentioned where students who completed a multicultural counseling course reported increases in cultural and self-awareness (Sammons & Speight, 2008).

This increased awareness of cultural issues is also similar to the fourth theme that emerged in this study where an appreciation for and increased knowledge of the experiences of gay Mexican Americans was discussed by the participants as one of the most significant aspects of the course. This seemed to shed light on the ways in which some gay Mexican Americans navigate both their sexual orientation and common aspects of Latina/o culture such as the construct of machismo. The presence of a guest speaker on this topic was cited as particularly important. Although this was the only guest speaker during the semester, it was the first-hand experiences of this person, rather than the mere experience of simply having “a guest speaker,” which was meaningful for the participants.

Finally, listening to the voices of the participants to gain an in-depth understanding of how they experienced the phenomenon of taking a course that focused on their own ethnic group, we observed a distinct sense of



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surprise emerging from the transcripts. This theme was labeled “Wow!” because that was the word most frequently used by participants when sharing their response to various aspects of the course. They expressed a genuine sense of surprise in their reactions to different aspects of the course such as specific activities, topics, personal discoveries, and to the course itself. Each step of the journey, each week, seemed to be a new, surprising, and exciting discovery. Thus, the sense of surprise became a lived experience that emerged as its own theme.

Limitations and Future ResearchQualitative research is not focused on the generalizability of results but is focused on capturing the distinct experiences of the participants under study. Thus, the “small” sample, for example, would not be considered a limi-tation. However, additional sources of data may have allowed for a more in-depth description of these participants’ lived experiences. For example, the use of reflective journals and focus group interviews, in addition to the indi-vidual interviews, may have been utilized for this initial investigation. Thus, future research should incorporate these procedures to help produce a more “rich” description of the phenomenon being studied. Another avenue would be to investigate the experiences of Latina/o students in general who enroll in a Latina/o mental health course (not specifically Mexican American). This research may provide a broader profile of broader experiences while potentially highlighting common threads of the Latina/o experience. Finally, future studies could include all students who enroll in such a course, not only Latina/o students. The current study sheds light on the experiences of Mexican American counseling students, thus contributing to the literature by giving voice to members of a specific ethnic group. These voices give us a glimpse into the significant experiences of these participants and can inform future course construction and training in the area of Latina/o mental health.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the author-ship and/or publication of this article.

Financial Disclosure/Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.




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Bios

Manuel X. Zamarripa, PhD, is currently an assistant professor at Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi in the counseling & educational psychology department. His research interests include Latino/Chicano ethnic identity development, sociocul-tural factors influencing Latina/o achievement, and the history and current devel-opment of Chicana/o psychology and counseling. His counseling is guided by multicultural and social constructionist perspectives as they apply to working with marginalized populations.

Ileana Lane, PhD, is currently a school counselor with the Austin Independent School District. Her research interests include effective practices for teaching multicultural supervision, the psychological effects of microaggressions, and appropriate interventions with children with developmental disabilities, particu-larly autism.




Eunice Lerma, MEd, is a doctoral candidate in the counseling & educational psy-chology department at Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi and school counselor with the Corpus Christi Independent School District. Her research interests include the integration of multicultural counseling principles in school counseling and the educational experiences of graduate Latina/o students.

Lyle Holin, II, MA, is a doctoral candidate in the counseling & educational psychol-ogy department at Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi. His research interests include applying multiculturalism to existential counseling, existential supervision, and the role of emotions in decision making.



Self-Knowledge and Identity in a Mexican American Counseling Course: A Qualitative Exploration

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