Developing an Original Framework for Intersectionality Analysis in Nigerian Counselling Research and Practice

Intersectionality, the simultaneous operation of multiple identity dimensions including gender, ethnicity, religion, class, and disability in shaping individual experience, is theoretically compelling for Nigerian counselling given the country's extreme social diversity, yet a systematic framework for applying intersectional analysis in Nigerian counselling research and practice is absent. This study developed an original intersectionality analysis framework for Nigerian counselling contexts. A framework development methodology was employed across four phases: systematic review of intersectionality in counselling research (58 publications, 2015 to 2024) and its application to sub-Saharan African contexts; theoretical analysis of the specific Nigerian intersectional axes most clinically significant for counselling; original framework construction through participatory consultations with 30 counselling practitioners, 15 researchers, and 20 clients from diverse social locations across all six geopolitical zones; and expert validation. The systematic review confirmed that intersectional analysis is largely absent from Nigerian counselling research, with 91 percent of identified publications treating single identity dimensions. Participatory consultations identified six primary intersectional axes for Nigerian counselling: gender-ethnicity, religion-class, disability-gender, conflict displacement-ethnicity, generational-educational level, and migration-class-gender. The original Nigerian Counselling Intersectionality Framework specifies five methodological principles for applying intersectional analysis: multiple simultaneity, context specificity, power relational mapping, lived experience primacy, and transformative orientation. Research design guidelines, clinical assessment tools, and supervision integration procedures are provided for each principle. Expert review confirmed the framework's original theoretical and methodological contribution.

Keywords: intersectionality, counselling framework, Nigeria, social diversity, original contribution