Paper co-authored by professor, alumna recognized among year's best
A paper co-authored by a College of Education faculty member and an alumna has been named one of the year's best by a section of the Society of Counseling Psychology.
"Black Lives Matter: A Call to Action for Counseling Psychology Leaders," recently received the Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship on Race and Ethnicity Award from the Section for Ethnic and Racial Diversity (SCP/Division 17). The paper's authors include Candice Hargons (Ph.D. '15), an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky, and Anneliese Singh, professor and associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the College of Education.
The award was presented at the division's Town Hall and Awards Presentation earlier this month in San Francisco. It honors a scholarly contribution that advances the field's knowledge of people of color, race and ethnicity, or racism.
Singh, who directs the University of Georgia College of Education's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, co-founded the Georgia Safe Schools Coalition and the Trans Resilience Project, which helps translate her research over the past 15 years on the resilience of transgender and nonbinary people in their resistance of discrimination. She is also Co-PI on a national, multi-site NIH study, Project AFFIRM, which examines transgender and nonbinary risk and resilience.
At the University of Kentucky, Hargons directs the RISE2 Research Team, which comprises student researchers studying relationships, intimacy, sexual enrichment and social justice engagement. She is also the creator of the Ally + Accomplice Meditation for Cultivating an Anti-Racist Mindset and the Black Lives Matter Meditation for Healing Racial Trauma, featured in the Huffington Post and used by universities across the country. Her podcast, "How to Love a Human," focuses on the lives of marginalized people.
Another paper co-authored by Hargons, "Studying Sex: A Content Analysis of Sexuality Research in Counseling Psychology," received the Counseling Psychologist Outstanding Paper Award for a Major Contribution on Sex-Positivity and Counseling Psychology. The Counseling Psychologist is the leading journal in the field of counseling psychology, and the article appeared in the May 2017 issue—which was edited by Singh and two others. This paper was part of a group of papers selected to receive the award.
The paper concerning Black Lives Matter was published in September in The Counseling Psychologist. In it, the authors highlight what counseling psychologists are contributing to the Black Lives Matter movement and recommend further opportunities for counseling psychologists to become even more involved. "The purpose of this article is to articulate the overlap of Black Lives Matter principles with counseling psychology values and encourage spontaneous, consistent action from the Society of Counseling Psychology leadership and members as a complement to, and in support of, ongoing work in this area," the authors write.