OXFORD, Miss. – Dr. Stephen Lenz, an associate professor of leadership and counselor education at the University of Mississippi, receives research funding through the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling.
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Lenz, along with co- investigators, Rochelle Cade from Stephen F. Austin State University and Danielle Pester from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, are conducting a research project engaging 60 licensed mental health professionals with implications for training and supervision to promote culturally-responsive mental health care.
The major project titled “Mixed Method Investigation of Counselors’ Accounting for Personal Privilege and Client Cultural Considerations in the Diagnostic Decision-Making Process” will investigate the relationships between clinician’s held privilege and perceptions of transcultural self-efficacy. It will also identify differences in estimations of client symptom severity and prognosis associated with race and gender.
“Based on conversations about these findings, we aim to develop a framework depicting the pathways of influence between held privilege, implicit bias, and diagnostic practices,” shared Lenz.
Before coming to UM, Lenz served as a professional counselor for community-based mental health agencies. His work involved gathering rich information from clients leading to case conceptualizations that informed therapeutic goal setting, treatment interventions, and progress monitoring. Lenz holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology and a doctoral degree in counselor education and supervision from Texas A&M University.
For more information about this project, contact Lenz at aslenz@olemiss.edu.