Clinical and counseling psychology programs provide minimal training on disability, disability culture, and culturally informed psychotherapy for disabled clients.
Statement of the Problem
Disability concepts are often framed within the medical model, which pathologizes disability rather than recognizing disability as diversity.
Literature Review
This paper utilizes the social model of disability and disability affirmative therapy to discuss teaching graduate clinical students. We outline three teaching goals, activities to support them, assessments of goals, and challenges faced.
Teaching Implications
Drawing from our experiences, we suggest classroom activities, textbooks, and assignments to help future practitioners work effectively with disabled clients. We also address challenges in teaching disability, including teaching disabled and nondisabled students together, integrating disability understanding into clinical skills, and deepening insights into pain and fatigue.
Conclusion
We advocate for more research on the outcomes of various teaching approaches, particularly the impact of a disabled instructor.
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