A multicultural, gender, and sexually diverse affirming school‐based consultation framework

• Published in: Psychology in the schools 2022-01, Vol.59 (1), p.14-33
• Main Authors: Brown, Jeffrey M., Naser, Shereen C., Brown Griffin, Charity, Grapin, Sally L., Proctor, Sherrie L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adjustment; Cisgender; Consultants; Consultation Programs; Cultural competence; Cultural factors; Cultural Influences; Cultural Relevance; Educational Environment; Ethnicity; Gender; Health behavior; Health status; Heterosexism; Intersectionality; LGBTQ People; LGBTQ youth; Mental Health; Minority Group Students; Minority groups; minority stress; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Psychologists; Racial Bias; Racial identity; Role; school consultation; School Psychologists; School Safety; Social Bias; social justice; Student Diversity; Student Needs; Students
• ISSN: 0033-3085; 1520-6807
• DOI: 10.1002/pits.22593

Gender and sexually diverse (GSD) students face unique challenges in schools due to the privileging of cisgender and heterosexist norms in these settings. In particular, GSD youth who belong to ethnically and racially minoritized groups face further challenges within school environments that disregard their cultural contexts and intersectional identities. It is important for school psychologists to ensure safe and high‐quality mental health, educational, and behavioral supports for these students. One possible avenue for building these types of supports is through school consultation. When school psychologists collaborate with other professionals in a culturally competent, participatory way, their work has the potential to bolster behavioral, academic, and mental health outcomes at the individual, group, and/or systems levels. Adapting Ingraham's multicultural school consultation model, this article proposes a multicultural, GSD affirming school consultation framework that also approaches the experiences of racially and ethnically minoritized individuals through the lenses of intersectionality and minority stress frameworks. Across its five domains, this adapted framework aims to give practitioners and researchers a conceptual foundation to support GSD students of minoritized ethnic and racial identities by considering interactions among consultants, consultees, and clients within their wider school contexts.