Becoming a Multiculturally Competent Counselor (Counseling and Professional Identity)

Changming Duan, Ph.D. is a cisgender, female, heterosexual Chinese American psychologist and currently a professor in the Department of Psychology and Research in Education at University of Kansas. Changming Duan grew up in China and received all her post graduate education in North America, including a doctoral degree in counseling psychology and social psychology from University of Maryland. She has over 20 years of experience in teaching counselor preparation programs. One of the courses that she has taught most consistently is the multicultural counseling class. She feels she is always a beginner in teaching this class. Her professional interest also includes researching counseling processes and outcome in various cultural contexts. Changming Duan has been invited to speak on topics related multicultural counseling and multicultural training for counselors by various organizations both nationally and internationally. She travels back to China often conducting training and research.
?Changming Duan has authored or co-authored over 40 refereed professional articles and book chapters, with many in the area of cross cultural understanding of counseling and counseling processes. She is the recipient of many honors and awards, including Trustees' Award for Excellence in Teaching and Diversifying Curriculum Award from University of Missouri Kansas City, and Travel Award from American Psychological Association. Changming Duan has also been a licensed psychologist in the State of Missouri and Kansas.

Chris Brown, Ph.D. is a cisgender, heterosexual, middle-aged, female African American counseling psychologist who currently serves as interim dean of the School of Education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), and is also professor in the School of Education's Division of Counseling and Educational Psychology. She earned her doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology from UMKC, a master's degree in counseling from California State University, Long Beach, and a Bachelor's degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. Prior to her interim dean role she served as Chair of the Division of Counseling and Educational Psychology and also served as Coordinator of the Master's program in Counseling and Guidance (Mental Health and Couples and Family). She has over 21 years of teaching in counselor preparation programs and over 32 years of experience providing counseling to culturally diverse populations. She is a licensed psychologist in Missouri and Kansas and provides consultation to various organizations, including continuing education workshops on ethics and professional issues to mental health professionals.

Chris Brown has authored/co-authored over 45 refereed journal articles, many of which have a multicultural focus. Among the several courses she has taught: ethics and professional issues in counseling, couples and family therapy, theories and methods of sex therapy, career development, assessment and counseling practicum, she infuses the important role of multiculturalism in her training initiatives. The focus of Chris Brown's research is cultural dimensions of career development, gender transitions, and ethics and professional issues in counseling. She has received various acknowledgments and awards for her work, with the most recent being UMKC's Lavender Award for Outstanding Faculty for her multicultural sensitivity and emphasis on training counseling students to embrace and understand the importance of individual and cultural diversity. In her varied roles as educator, researcher, practitioner, and consultant, Chris Brown strives to generate knowledge that can be used to address social concerns and individual problems and is committed to educating and mentoring counseling students.