Power, Privilege, and Oppression: White Therapists Working with Minority Couples

2013 ◽  
pp. 9-28
Author(s):  
Sheila Addison ◽  
Volker Thomas
Keyword(s):  
White Therapists

How can psychotherapists improve their practice with service users from minoritised ethnicities? An application of the Declarative-Procedural-Reflective (DPR) model of clinical skill development

2022 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alasdair Churchard
Keyword(s):  
Skill Development ◽  
Clinical Skill ◽  
List Type ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Practical Skills ◽  
Type Number ◽  
Systematic Account ◽  
Systemic Level ◽  
White Therapists ◽  
Knowledge And Attitude

Abstract Many white psychotherapists may lack the skills required to work effectively with service users from minoritised ethnicities. This article proposes that the nature of this skills deficit can be understood through applying the Declarative-Procedural-Reflective (DPR) model of therapist skill development. The DPR model has been used in a range of psychotherapeutic contexts, and it provides a systematic account of how therapists from all modalities develop and can improve their skills. Adapting this model to white therapists’ skills in working with service users from minoritised ethnicities allows the identification of specific areas of skills deficit, and therefore clear recommendations as to how to address those deficits. The application of the DPR model to this context suggests that there are clear areas of skills deficit in terms of knowledge base, the practical skills of carrying out therapy, and the ability of therapists to reflect on their work with service users from minoritised ethnicities. I conclude by making a number of suggestions as to how those deficits could be addressed, both by individual therapists and at a systemic level. Key learning aims (1) To explore why some white psychotherapists find it more difficult to work effectively with service users from minoritised ethnicities. (2) To conceptualise difficulties in working with service users from minoritised ethnicities as an issue of clinical skill, knowledge and attitude development, where therapists’ skills can be improved if specific deficits are appropriately addressed. (3) To use the structure of the DPR model to better understand how deficits in therapists’ skills, knowledge and reflective ability may have an impact on their work with service users from minoritised ethnicities. This allows the identification of specific areas of deficit, and therefore clear recommendations as to how to address those deficits. (4) This is primarily addressed at CBT therapists, but the points raised in this article apply to all schools of therapy.

Effect of Client Race and Depression on Evaluations by White Therapists

1991 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Jenkins-Hall ◽  
William P. Sacco
Keyword(s):  
White Therapists

Restraint Use with Emergency Psychiatric Patients: A New Perspective on Racial Bias

1982 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Kuhlman ◽  
Suzanne Telintelo ◽  
Carolyn Winget
Keyword(s):  
Predominantly White ◽  
Clinical Judgment ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Physical Restraint ◽  
Psychiatric Emergency Room ◽  
Restraint Use ◽  
Emergency Room Patients ◽  
White Therapists ◽  
New Perspective

This study examined the use of interventions of physical restraint by a staff of predominantly white therapists ( N = 37) with psychiatric emergency room patients ( N = 697) as a function of patients' race. Evidence of racial “bias” was found but not across all levels of severity of assessed psychopathology. This effect weakened after extended evaluation and treatment but did not disappear. The results question the value of the bias concept as a pervasive, cognitive set variable in its influence upon clinical judgment.

scholarly journals Navigating Privilege and Colorism

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannil Napoleon
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
Political Awareness ◽  
Youth Organization ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
White Therapists ◽  
Art Therapist

Discussions about cultural responsiveness for mental health practitioners often perpetuate colonizing frameworks. By centering White therapists’ awareness of power and privilege when working with people of color, dominant paradigms in the field can overlook the experiences of practitioners of color and the relational dynamics of engaging shared racial/cultural backgrounds. Interrogations of Whiteness are necessary to prevent harm in the predominantly White fields of the creative arts therapies, yet this discussion should not overshadow discussions about the experiences of practitioners of color who encounter issues of colorism and citizenship in working with communities of color. This self-reflexive essay describes how a Black Dominican-Haitian woman art therapist, who was raised in the United States (U.S.), recognized a need to explore her own political awareness while working with female participants at a youth organization in the Dominican Republic (D.R.). The author discusses the use of art to critically interrogate issues of colorism, citizenship, and privilege that arise during her time in the D.R. Recommendations are presented to support arts therapists of color to engage their perceptions of citizenship and colorism while providing mental health services to communities of color.

Significant Influence of Participation in Ethnic-Specific Programs on Clinical Diagnosis for Asian Americans

1993 ◽  
Vol 72 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1228-1230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacquelyn H. Flaskerud ◽  
Phillip D. Akutsu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Mental Health System ◽  
Los Angeles County ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
White Therapists ◽  
County Mental Health

Asian American clients ( N = 1528) in the Los Angeles County mental health system who were seen at ethnic-specific (Asian) clinics by Asian therapists were diagnosed with significantly lower percentages of psychotic disorders and other major psychiatric disorders and significantly higher percentages of nonpsychiatric disorders than were Asian clients who were seen by Asian and white therapists at mainstream clinics.

Considerations in the treatment of Black patients by White therapists.

Psychotherapy ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (2S) ◽  
pp. 389-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly A. Greene
Keyword(s):  
Black Patients ◽  
White Therapists
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