Mental Health Stigma of First-Gen College Students
Multicultural Counseling
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Description
Our project focuses on mental health stigma among first-generation college students and how counselors can better understand and address the unique cultural factors that influence help-seeking behaviors. First-generation students often navigate multiple cultural expectations, including family values, community beliefs, academic pressures and institutional environments that may not fully reflect their lived experiences. In many families and communities, mental health struggles may be minimized or viewed as a sign of weakness. As a result, students may experience internalized stigma, guilt about seeking help or fear of disappointing their families.
Purpose
Purpose
To support counselors working with this population, we developed a questionnaire resource designed to encourage culturally responsive conversations during counseling sessions. Instead of focusing only on symptoms, the questionnaire includes prompts that help counselors explore topics such as family messages about mental health, cultural beliefs about emotional expression and strength, feelings of obligation related to academic success, imposter syndrome and barriers to accessing campus counseling services. This tool encourages counselors to reflect on their own assumptions while gaining a deeper understanding of their clients’ cultural and social contexts. By using this questionnaire, counselors can adopt a multicultural counseling approach that prioritizes cultural humility, contextual awareness and individualized support. Ultimately, this resource aims to help counselors build stronger therapeutic relationships, reduce stigma-related barriers and better support first-generation students in accessing mental health care.
Our Research
Our Research
Our resource is informed by the research article by Garriott et al. (2017), which found that stigma plays a significant role in whether students seek counseling, particularly for first-generation students who are more likely to experience self-stigma and internalized negative beliefs about help-seeking. The study highlights that counseling attitudes and decisions are shaped by complex cultural and social influences, meaning a one-size-fits-all approach is often ineffective.
Our Source
Garriott, P. O., Raque-Bogdan, T. L., Yalango, K., Ziemer, K. S., & Utley, J. (2017). Intentions to seek counseling in first-generation and continuing generation college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(4), 432–442. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000210
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