Title: If You See Something, Say Something: Responding to Student and Supervisee Microaggressions
Presenters: Anita A. Neuer Colburn, PhD; John Marszalek, PhD; Kevin Snow, PhD; and Mary Aab
Description: Counselor educators and supervisors train students and supervisees to become professional, ethical and competent counselors. However, some trainees are adamantly against working with LGBT people, some are insensitive about their language, and others don’t understand the inappropriate nature of their jokes. In this panel discussion LGBTQQIA counselor educators and supervisors discuss their own responses to slanderous speech, microaggressions, and overt ridicule regarding LGBTQQIA persons by students and supervisees. We will talk about our own emotional reactions and how they’ve changed over time, along with helpful and unhelpful responses to students/supervisees based on their own developmental level. Each panelist will briefly discuss one aspect of their experience, and we will then facilitate a discussion with attendees around best practices for managing emotional reactions while still offering appropriate responses to students and supervisees.