Journal Special Issue Spotlights Disability in the Black Community and the Need for Culturally Appropriate Counseling Interventions

Alexandria, Va. (August 6, 2025) — People with disabilities often struggle to find licensed professional counselors who have the training needed to help them navigate their unique challenges and circumstances. Black people with disabilities — whose conditions are compounded by race and other intersecting identities — often struggle to an even greater degree.

In a newly released special issue of the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, a journal of the American Counseling Association (ACA), counseling researchers focus on what professional counselors can do to more effectively serve the counseling needs of African Americans with disabilities.

In an introduction to the special issue, guest editor and rehabilitation counseling scholar Keith B. Wilson, PhD, of the University of Kentucky in Lexington emphasizes the importance of solutions and culturally responsive services and interventions and notes the need for further advocacy and research to improve outcomes for Black people with disabilities.

Articles in the special issue highlight the strengths, dignity and humanity of African Americans while exploring innovative solutions in rehabilitation counseling and vocational rehabilitation services — a specialized type of counseling and career services that focus on individuals with disabilities — including employment and job training, that effectively address the needs of Black clients. A sampling of articles include the following:

• In the article, “Navigating Identity and Resilience: Supporting Black Women with Multiple Sclerosis,” a team led by Jessica S. Henry, PhD, from The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, takes an in-depth look at Black women with multiple sclerosis (MS), noting that these women continue to maintain cultural expectations that many Black women display, including strength, self-reliance and the idea of being a superwoman. Researchers examined how these cultural expectations manifest very differently in Black women with MS and the implications for the counselors who work with them.
• In the article, “Who Benefits from Counseling? A Longitudinal Analysis of Psychological and Academic Distress Among Black and White College Students with Disabilities,” Kyesha M. Isadore, PhD, and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin-Madison examined counseling’s effectiveness for Black college students with disabilities, focusing on psychological and academic distress. The results indicated that counseling helps both Black and White college students with disabilities experience reductions in their stress. However, the results revealed that Black college students with disabilities tend to have a faster reduction in symptoms compared to their White counterparts, demonstrating the particular usefulness of counseling for Black students. Researchers emphasized the importance of counseling centers, behavioral health agencies and other behavioral health organizations to deliver culturally responsive and disability-informed behavioral health care to Black college students with disabilities and promote equitable therapeutic outcomes.
• In the article, “The Application of 4E Cognition to Counseling and the Intersectional Experiences of Black Individuals with Disabilities,” a team lead by Aaron Albright, PhD, of Old Dominion University in Norfolk provide an overview of existing models of disability used in counseling, health care, research and educational settings and their shortcomings as they relate to Black people with disabilities. Researchers suggest a new framework, one that is rooted in cognitive sciences, philosophy and neuroscience. This framework, they say, is better suited to the Black disability community because it takes into account lived experiences, which are critical in understanding and treating the whole person.
• In the article, “Breaking Barriers: The Economic Realities of Self-Employed Black Women with Disabilities,” Gemarco J. Peterson, PhD, of Georgia State University in Atlanta and Bridget E. Weller, PhD, of Wayne State University in Detroit explored the prevalence of disability among Black women who were self-employed in the U.S. and the relationship between disability status and income. Findings indicate, among other things, that nearly 67 percent of self-employed Black women with disabilities experienced a mental health condition.

“This special issue is significant in our field because rarely, if at all, do counselor education publications address the unique experiences of clients, particularly adults, with disabilities, and virtually none address the impact of race and/or Blackness in the lives and services received by African American men, women and children with disabilities,” said Carla Adkison-Johnson, PhD, the journal’s editor-in-chief and professor emeritus at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.“This special issue showcases innovative thinking and research in rehabilitation counseling, offering important insights into current thought and practice regarding the counseling needs of Black Americans with disabilities,” added Adkison-Johnson.

Click here to view the special issue.

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: To schedule an interview with members of the research teams, please contact Karen Addis at karen@addispr.com or news@counseling.org.

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About the American Counseling Association
Founded in 1952, the American Counseling Association (ACA) is a not-for-profit, professional and educational organization that is dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the counseling profession. ACA represents more than 60,000 members and is the world’s largest association exclusively representing professional counselors in various practice settings. Driven by the belief that all people can benefit from the power of counseling, ACA’s mission is to promote the professional development of counselors, advocate for counselors, and ensure that ethical, culturally inclusive practices protect our members’ clients and all people who seek counseling services. For more information, visit the ACA website and follow them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.