Black Therapists Research Articles

The predictive efficacy of racial identity attitudes, historically Black college/university attendance, and sources of motivation in Black therapists’ career choices.

The predictive efficacy of racial identity attitudes, historically Black college/university attendance, and sources of motivation in Black therapists’ career choices.

A qualitative exploration of black psychotherapists’ personal experience of racism and the challenges that exist for black therapists who work with clients in therapy who have also experienced racism. A pilot study using interpretive phenomenological analysis

Abstract The impact of racism to the individual is arguably immeasurable; however, the impact on psychotherapists who themselves have personally had either one or multiple experiences of racism and work with clients in therapy who have also experienced racism is an area with very little research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with black cognitive behavioural therapists who have personally experienced racism and have also worked with clients who have experienced racism; data were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. As this was a pilot study, only two participants were recruited to the study. Superordinate and subordinate themes were identified from the data and explored. The study highlighted that the impact of racism, racist experiences and microaggressions can lead to mental health problems, and there is need for further support for therapists, especially within the contexts of clinical supervision and from their organisation leadership. In addition, the need for further research was also identified, as well as improved training in working with disclosures of racism, and racial trauma within a therapeutic context was considered as important to the therapists of this pilot study. Key learning aims (1) To explore and understand the personal experiences of black therapists who have personally experienced racism. (2) To identify some of the challenges that exist for black therapists who work with clients who have experienced racism and to explore possible solutions to overcome such challenges.

Bodily Contraction Arises with Dukkha: Embodied Learning to Foster Racial Healing

Black somatic therapist Resmaa Menakem has persuasively argued that racism exist in our bodies more than our heads and that racial healing requires learning to become mindful of our embodied states. The reason that racism remains prevalent despite decades of anti-racist education and the work of diversity and inclusion programs, according to Menakem, is that racist reactions that shun, harm, and kill black bodies are programmed into white, black, and police bodies. The first step in racial healing, from this point of view, is to shift the focus from cognitive solutions to an embodied solution, namely, embodied composure in the face of stressful situations that enables everyone to act more skillfully. Similar to how racial healing has been hampered by a misguided overemphasis on cognitive interventions, might our teaching be analogously encumbered by lack of attention to the bodies of teacher and students? In this article, I emphasize the value of cultivating body awareness in the classroom. I introduce an embodied exercise that teaches students to recognize embodied clues of the experience of dukkha, the first āryasatya. Through such exercises, students take a step towards acting more skillfully and intentionally in stressful situations.

Advocacy, Social Justice, and Counselor Identity During the Black Lives Matter Movement

Advocacy, Social Justice, and Counselor Identity During the Black Lives Matter Movement

Black therapists working with Black clients: Intervention use and caseload preferences.

Black therapists working with Black clients: Intervention use and caseload preferences.

Living in “Turbulence”

This paper explores a Black music therapist’s experience within Turbulence, a therapeutic performance piece developed by Black and brown creative arts therapists and theatre artists in the Greater New York City area. The author shares her own personal experiences and reactions as a participant, process actor, musician, and music therapist within this group process. An examination of the integration of music within the performance will also be shared, particularly in terms of how certain music traditions can be used to elevate the expression of those with identities that have been historically marginalized. Additionally, this paper explores how social identity-based affinity groups supported by a creative process can decrease feelings of isolation and bolster a sense of empowerment amongst BPOC-identifying creative arts therapists.

Black Women and the Black Therapist: Implications of Healing from Intimate Partner Violence

At the intersections of race, gender, and sexual violence, one can find a Black woman who experiences sexual or intimate partner violence at a disproportionate rate. It is posited that this is due to the adultification of young Black teens. In addition, the impact and addition of generational trauma increases the complexities of the healing journey. Treatment modalities have to be responsive to the multitude of needs of Black women. Additionally, Black therapists have similar complexities and oftentimes are without a support network that understands Black trauma, sexual violence and the healing journey. Compassion fatigue is experienced more readily by Black therapists as they navigate the utilization of therapeutic modalities that are do not center the duality of sexual violence and racial trauma.

Racial Alienation, the (Im)possibilities of Resolution, and the Absent/Present Other: Vexing Vantage Points from the Patient/Trainee: A Discussion of “Racial Difference, Rupture, and Repair: A View from the Couch and Back”

In this article, I engage with apparent absences in our clinical work and our writings on the clinical encounter itself, when race becomes salient between patient and therapist in the room. Drawing on the work of Jacques Derrida on absence and presence, I suggest that despite representational absences in our clinical work and writings, that these nevertheless signal a spectral presence of sorts, that require a diverted gaze, as they may point to pivotal sights for further interrogation. In commenting on Long, Matee, Jwili and Vilakazi’s “Racial Difference, Rupture, and Repair: A View from the Couch and Back” (this issue), I recognize the novel vantage point of storied accounts of racialized experiences between Black patient/trainees and their White therapists, and their described moments of rupture and repair in the encounter. I identify three present/absences in these narrations that perhaps require further consideration: the present/absent White therapist in the clinical encounter, the present/absent White author in their clinical writing on these encounters, and the present/absent Black trainee therapist. In each of these instances, I suggest that they raise questions and new challenges about the possibilities and impossibilities of attenuating and resolving experiences of racial alienation that are prevalent in racialized contexts, both in the clinical encounter as well as within broader social life.

Demographic transformation of the physiotherapy profession in South Africa: A retrospective analysis of HPCSA registrations from 1938 to 2018

The physiotherapy profession did not escape the effects of racially based segregatory practises. While numerous strategies and initiatives have been employed to redress the inequities of the past, the extent of demographic transformation within the physiotherapy profession in South Africa remains uncertain. Transformation is defined in this article as an intentional change aimed at addressing inequalities and the ultimate goal is for population group and gender profiles of higher education graduates to be representative of the national epidemiological profile. This paper describes the demographic patterns of Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) registered physiotherapists from 1938 to 2018. A retrospective record review of the HPCSA database from 1938 until 2018 was performed. De-identified data were extracted, coded and analyzed for descriptive purposes. Z-tests were used for analysis of proportion differences, along with P-values and 95% confidence intervals for interpretation. In 2018, 7663 physiotherapists (6350 women and 1313 men) were registered with the HPCSA. Most registered physiotherapists (55.6%) were classified as white, followed by black (17.3%), coloured (10.3%) and Indian (9.8%). A progressive increase was found in the number of new registrations over time (1949-2018) by black (0.00%-24.38% of total new registrations), coloured (0.00%-15.47%) and Indian individuals (0.00%-10.03%), with a statistically significant increase in newly registered black therapists in the decade prior to 2018 (P=.005). Gender transformation appears to be occurring at a slower pace as the profession remains female-dominated (82.9% of registered physiotherapists in 2018). There has been a steady transformation of the South African physiotherapy graduates composition regarding population categories and gender. However, it is clear that much more than selection criteria is needed to transform the profession in a way that is nationally representative, remain actively accountable for transformation and apt for local context.

‘I don’t want to die, I want to feel better’: finding hope through psychoanalytic parent-infant psychotherapy

ABSTRACTThis paper follows the journey of a young black woman as she enters motherhood during treatment in psychoanalytic parent-infant psychotherapy with a black female therapist. The impact of the mother’s early trauma on the developing parent-infant relationship is explored through the theme of being seen. Transference and countertransference phenomena are examined. There is a particular focus on the mother’s race, sexuality and gender and their impact on her growing son. Winnicott’s attention to the use of black in the consulting room is drawn upon, to open up a discussion about some of the clinical implications regarding sameness in therapist and patient, both being black and female. Finally, the practice of video-recording sessions and what this elicits in the countertransference is also explored, providing another perspective to the theme of being seen.

Visionary Architects of Color in Art Therapy: Georgette Powell, Cliff Joseph, Lucille Venture, and Charles Anderson

Art therapy in the United States has historically failed to document the contributions of people of color in the foundation of the profession. The American Art Therapy Association sought to correct the record when it created the criteria for the Meritorious Contribution award. This honor was conferred on 4 Black art therapists—Georgette Powell, Cliff Joseph, Lucille Venture, and Charles Anderson—for their enduring involvement in the field through their commitment to multiculturalism, diversity, social justice, and advocacy. The visionary approaches of these 4 individuals set the foundation for art therapists to develop cultural competence and humility.

“An Unspoken Level of Comfort”

This study examined 36 Black therapists’ experiences working with Black clients in hospital, school, college, and community counseling settings. Findings of this interpretative phenomenological analysis suggest these therapists most often feel a distinct sense of solidarity with their Black clients, as evidenced by having a better understanding of the context of Black clients’ lives, creating easier and faster therapeutic connections with Black clients, and feeling especially committed to these clients’ well-being. Participants also acknowledged the potential pitfalls and having insufficient boundaries and acknowledged the limitations of their formal training in learning to work with Black clients. How participant responses differed according to years of experience, practice setting, and gender are also explored. This study also suggests implications to increase the quality of training provided to therapist trainees of African descent.

Same difference: Black therapists' experience of same-race therapeutic dyads.

Same difference: Black therapists' experience of same-race therapeutic dyads.

“Those who learn have a responsibility to teach”: Black therapists' experiences supervising Black therapist trainees.

“Those who learn have a responsibility to teach”: Black therapists' experiences supervising Black therapist trainees.

TALES OUT OF SCHOOL: COUNSELLING AFRICAN CARIBBEAN YOUNG PEOPLE IN SCHOOLS

This paper draws on my experience working as part of an innovative project that made it possible for a team of black therapists to work therapeutically in schools, in a community centre and at the Tavistock Clinic with black adolescents and their carers. It also draws on other experiences of being a black counsellor working in schools with black adolescents. I try to show that there are similarities between a child joining a school, this team of black counsellors joining the big school of provisions or services, and a black adolescent boy joining an adult world in which his loyalties, how he is perceived and his self‐perception seem to offer him a ready‐made place and way of being. This paper is about the power of pressures to conform, something that is intimately connected with or part of education, joining a culture, coming to know what is what and who belongs where and with whom, and who should be obeyed. It is also about the ability to resist conformity, and how terms such as ‘freedom’, ‘choice’ and ‘agency’ become applicable and warranted.

I Too Am Feminist: The Journey of a Black Male Transformative Feminist Family Therapist

ABSTRACT Working with men in the capacity of as trainee, client or colleague is very challenging. Maintaining mutually beneficial and non-exploitive relationships requires a balance of nurturance and accountability. Through autobiography, self-reflection and critique of family systems training and Africentric thought, this paper provides a framework for supporting men to develop a feminist family therapy ideology. In addition, I introduce the Patriarchy to Partnership Trajectory, a clinical tool and assessment, which can be used to assist men in transforming their lives and establishing equitable and just relationships.

Understanding black issues in postgraduate counsellor training

This paper presents a brief account of a qualitative multicultural study and heuristic exploration of how trainee counsellors understand black issues in their training and in their therapeutic work with clients. This initiative is supported by a previous survey of black clients and therapists who suggest that changes are needed in training. It presents current legislation and need for equalities in Higher Education and counsellor training, by challenging the dominance of Eurocentric approaches. A pluralistic, flexible Action Research methodology will be outlined. The theory and context of previous studies are presented. Phases of the process are described to show how this study was approached. Phase one describes how interviews with a variety of experienced practitioners confirmed the need for the study. Using examples of trainees’ narratives, phase two describes how the phenomenon of black issues was integrated into training and the process of generating data. The paper shows how the explication process reveals elements of fear, history, guilt and racism, present in the dynamic of black issues. The paper highlights how racism features highly in trainees’ concerns and influences their ability to share and understand. A snapshot of emerging concepts such as ‘finding a voice’ and ‘recognition trauma’ which are developed to assist the reflexive process is featured. The role of the researcher and black trainees as ‘black expert’ is discussed. In the context of ethical concerns and working through the researcher’s counter transference as a black female tutor researcher, the process of modelling within a participatory role is described. An excerpt from a discussion with colleagues gives an essence of the outcome. The outcome is summarised in the conclusion:’A bridge from fear to transformation’. The study enabled both trainees and staff as collaborators to shift from a position of fear and not knowing to engaging in active dialogue about black issues on a personal and professional basis.

Counting black sheep: Contextualizing therapeutic relations

In this paper we draw on feminist and post-colonial theory to situate an account of a six-month therapy between a black, Asian woman therapist and a woman patient of mixed parentage, within contemporary Britain. We draw on this analysis to further the debates between psychotherapeutics and social theory, challenging each in three ways. First, in relation to the literature on culture, class, gender and sexuality in psychotherapy, we indicate how these enter into the therapeutic relation in distinct and intersecting ways, which, second, challenge the separation between inner and outer worlds frequently maintained within psychotherapy circles. Third, in terms of the correlative challenge psychotherapeutic perspectives pose for social theorists and activists, we highlight how the therapist's constructive and explicit use of her power and socio-cultural position was central to the progress of this client's therapy. Finally, we reflect on the broader questions around the theorizing of culture and gender within psychotherapy, including the available positions and representations of black therapists as well as black patients.

Body psychotherapy, trauma and the Black woman client

This article explores the intersections between culture and trauma. In particular it focuses on the Black woman to Black woman client and therapist relationship. The roles of diversity and synthesis are explored in the therapeutic relationship, highlighting the author's approach as a body psychotherapist to working with the somatic trauma of the client and the somatic resonance of the therapist. Particular attention is paid to different ways of working with rage and the client's need to establish enough internal ground to face the trauma. The article allows the reader to share some of the experience of both the traumatised client and her journey, and the therapist's journey, in supporting the client towards health. The article also explores the meaning and working with ancestry as a necessary part of the therapeutic process. Additionally, the article provides some key points of learning for psychotherapists, trainers and supervisors about working with clients, trainees and supervisees different to oneself...

Black therapists and cross-cultural therapy: issues of power dynamics and identity

Black therapists and cross-cultural therapy: issues of power dynamics and identity