A Feminist Approach to Gatekeeping in Counselor Education: Andragogy and Theory in Action

Abstract

Gatekeeping is an essential yet challenging prospect for counselor educators to undertake. Furthermore, research seems to suggest a perceived lack of preparedness among counselor educators to engage students in the gatekeeping process. While standards in the counseling profession require programs to have policies and procedures surrounding gatekeeping, putting those policies and procedures into practice can be fraught with uncertainty and laden with subjectivity. In this chapter, the authors not only propose a trauma-informed, feminist framework to help guide gatekeeping practice but also assert that gatekeeping can be conceptualized as developmental mentorship, with principles of andragogy infused throughout. A case study is offered to illustrate putting principles into practice.