In Her Own Words: Ethnic-Minority Bisexual Women's Self-Reported Counseling Needs

Abstract

Literature on counseling competence with lesbian and gay clients has been growing; however, research on bisexual-specific counseling is in its early stages. The counseling needs of ethnic-minority and female bisexual clients remain largely unexamined. Qualitative interviews with 14 ethnic-minority bisexual women were conducted to investigate the counseling considerations for this population. Consensual qualitative research analysis was used. Analyses revealed that counselor knowledge of the ethnic-minority bisexual experience, client concerns regarding counseling, specific therapeutic tasks, counselor's need for awareness of biases and client preferences for counselor characteristics were important counseling considerations. Implications for theory, practice, and research are explored.