The purpose of the assignment is to reflect upon identities, worldviews, and biases that shape
your perspectives and interpretations as a counselor-in-training. This assignment is intended to
stimulate students’ thinking about how their various group memberships (your racial, gender,
social class, sexual orientation, ability and/or ethnic identities) have influenced or not influenced
awareness. For this assignment, students will focus their reflection on the development of 4
group membership identities (e.g., race, social class) and consider strategies to further progress
development of these identities (this assignment will build from the in-class identity wheel
activity completed during week 1 or 2).
The following content must be included in your autobiographical sketch:
1) Describe developmental milestones for each of the four identities, according to…
a. how salient the identity is to your overall personhood,
b. your level of awareness of holding this identity,
c. your affinity to this identity group,
d. how your level of understanding of these identities influences aspects of work,
mental well-being, relationships, and/or other factors,
e. how your present identity developmental status has (or has not) changed over
time, including discussion of key events or factors that have influenced the
change,
f. the nature of ingroups, outgroups, and group norms and dynamics, based on your
personal experiences as a member, according to principles of Social Identity
Theory.
2) Your autobiography must apply one of the identity developmental models presented in
class for at least one of the four identities, according to…
a. which stage of development you feel best describes you based on one of the
identity developmental models, if any. If none, explain why you believe no single
stage fits.
b. how your identity development has changed or progressed across different stages
over the course of your life.
The following questions are presented to guide your autobiographical sketch:
● Please describe each identity and what these identities mean for you.
● How did you come to recognize each of your specific identities?
● How have you affirmed or rejected various aspects of your identity?
● What are some identities of yours that people do not see, if any? How has this impacted
you?
● Which identities are most and least salient for you and why?
● At what point did you realize that your identities may influence how others perceive you?
● How does your understanding of your identities influence aspects of work, mental wellbeing, relationships, and other life roles and factors?
Students are encouraged to write about at least one group identity they feel is well developed and
another that is less developed (for example, being a Black male may be an important part of your
identity, but maybe you have thought less about what it means to be from a middle-class family).
If you are having trouble reporting your identification with a particular group (i.e., racial), you
should discuss and speculate about your lack of awareness in this particular area. You should be
specific about the incidents that have influenced your level of awareness, or lack thereof. You
can describe aspects of personal experiences that were powerful for you. Be open and honest!
The autobiographical sketch should be completed as a recorded presentation (including both
visual and audio) using either Zoom or Panopto (accessible through DePaul’s D2L). You can
either use Jamboard (through google) or PowerPoint presentation to complete the visual
component of this assignment. Your presentation should highlight all content described above
including an audio walkthrough of the visual content. You are welcome to include pictures,
symbols, text, and other mediums to sketch your autobiography. Your recording should be at
