In early June, IUPUC Mental Health Counseling graduate student Austin Finney presented at the 2023 Indiana Counseling Association’s annual conference. His presentation, “Creative Approaches in Counseling Asian Americans,” focused on improving outcomes when counseling Asian American clients. His study gathered information from mental-health professionals working with Asian American clients using creative approaches that demonstrated positive results.

Finney’s project was also featured in IUPUC’s Office of Student Research exhibition on April 11. His faculty mentor is Debolina Ghosh, Ph.D., Director of Schoellkopf Community Counseling Center.

“Non-traditional approaches to counseling can instill further growth and development among our clients,” Ghosh explained. Several studies show that the Asian American population is the least likely to use mental health care services. Ghosh noted that Asian Americans are also more likely to terminate services early, and the reasons for that haven’t been fully explored.

Finney gave examples of creativity in counseling, including sand-tray therapy, art therapy and other methods that rely less on verbal communication and help bridge cultural differences. “Specifically, we wanted to see if using creative approaches would lead to more Asian Americans seeking out counseling and having better outcomes,” he explained.

“The Evolution of Counseling: Ethical Innovation & Diversity” was the theme of the state-wide conference where Finney presented his research. It took place at the William K. Nasser Simulation Center in Indianapolis on June 9 and 10.