Becoming Culturally Competent School and School-Based Mental Health Counselors for Gifted and Talented Black Students: Theories and Practices for Support

There is a myriad of scholarship on helping educators (i.e. teachers and administrators) to be (more) culturally competent in working with students of color. However, this is not often the case for school and mental health counselors. This article discusses two theories and one set of organizational standards that school and school-based mental health counselors can use in their efforts to become culturally responsive/competent with Black students in Gifted and Talented Education (GATE). These theories (i.e. racial identity development, Afrocentric Cultural Styles, and Social Justice Standards) can assist professionals in recruiting and retaining Black GATE students, as well as training colleagues on how to equitably work with this population. This manuscript is dedicated to understanding and addressing the social-emotional, psychological, and mental health development and needs of P–12 advanced Black students.