Counter-storytelling Archetypes: A School Counseling Intervention for Chicana Girls

Abstract

Through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT) composite counter-storytelling, this manuscript explores the academic, social, and mental health issues faced by adolescent Chicanas, and the impact of internalized and institutionalized racism and sexism on their development. Four Mexican archetypal female characters—La Llorona, La Virgen, La Malinche, and La Adelita—representing the majoritarian narrative inform a school counseling intervention grounded in literature on anti-racist and emancipatory school counseling, narrative therapy, and cuento therapy. The counterstory focuses on the transformative impact of the group counseling experience and the potential for increased self-awareness and capacity for meaningful connection, resistance, and self-determination for Chicana adolescents.