Real change or performative anti-racism? Clinical psychology programs' efforts to recruit and retain BIPOC scholars

Objective. The present study assessed perceptions of Clinical Psychology doctoral programs’ efforts to recruit and retain Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) faculty and graduate students, as well as differences in such perceptions based on participants’: (1) position within their program (i.e., graduate student versus faculty) and (2) race.Method. Participants (n = 297) were graduate students and faculty from Clinical Psychology PhD and PsyD programs who completed an anonymous online survey. The survey assessed: perceptions of Clinical Psychology doctoral programs’ efforts to recruit and retain BIPOC graduate students and faculty members; participants’ sense of belonging and perceptions of racial discrimination within programs; and BIPOC participants’ experiences of cultural taxation and racism within their programs.Results. Faculty reported significantly greater perceptions of recruitment and retention efforts as well as less perceptions of racial discrimination than did graduate students. Asian, Black, and Latinx participants reported significantly less perceptions of recruitment and retention efforts and sense of belongingness, as well as greater perceptions of racial discrimination than did White participants. Experiences of cultural taxation were common among BIPOC participants, and approximately half (46.60%) reported that they have considered leaving academia - and approximately one third (31.37%) have considered leaving their program - due to experiences of racism in their program or field. Conclusions. Experiences of cultural taxation and racial discrimination are pervasive in Clinical Psychology PhD and PsyD programs. Whether intentional or not, these behaviors contribute to racially toxic environments and contribute to leaks in the mental health workforce pipeline.

La Clinica In LaK’ech: Establishing a Practicum Site Integrating Practice, Advocacy, and Research With Latinx Clients

This article concerns the establishment and development of La Clinica In LaK’ech, a bilingual mental health clinic collectively founded and staffed by a counseling psychologist and doctoral students in a counseling psychology doctoral program in the Southeast United States. During over 5 years of existence, the clinic has blended bilingual counseling psychology services, advocacy, interdisciplinary collaboration, and research with the Latinx population. The authors describe the development of the clinic and resultant clinical, training, and ethical issues that confronted the clinic in terms of providing services to a marginalized community in a state where anti-immigrant rhetoric, detention, and deportations were escalating. Also discussed are implications for training in practice, advocacy, service, and research for counseling psychologists working with Latinx communities.

And Still I Rise: Protective Factors for Black Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students from Predominantly White Institutions

In this study, we sought to understand which protective factors Black doctoral students from predominantly White institutions (PWI) utilized to persist in their counseling psychology doctoral programs. Past research has examined the potential obstacles these students encounter and the importance of the mentor relationship in the doctoral process. In this study, we sought to explore the factors that motivate Black doctoral students to complete their respective programs, as well as important features in their relationship with their advisor. There were four males and three females with ages ranging from 22 – 41 (M = 27.57 and SD = 6.63) from various counseling psychology programs throughout the country. Within the constructivist-interpretivist research paradigm, interviews were conducted via Skype and analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The study’s findings illuminate important factors that are significant in creating diverse and inclusive educational environments that will allow for more marginalized groups to contribute to the field of psychology at the doctoral level.

Inhabitation of Inhibition and Creative Freedom for Breastfeeding Mothers

In this edited interview, psychologists Nisha Gupta and Eric Greene interview Lori Jordan Fountain, psychology doctoral student and filmmaker of Inhabitation of Inhibition, an autophenomenological short film about the lived experience of breastfeeding in public. Despite the known benefits, antipathetic attitudes toward nursing in public persist, and “breastfeeding is perceived by many as dirty, sexual, embarrassing, and generally, something that should be kept behind closed doors.” Inspired by Sartre’s notion of the gaze, the mother in the film takes up the self as seen by the Other. By assuming the guilt of which she is blamed, she embodies and enacts the judgments placed on her, foregrounding the covert oppression endured by breastfeeding mothers. In this interview, Lori describes the liberation felt when responding to the objectifying gaze—a gaze that perceives her as a machine-like milk dispenser, a bad mother, and a sexual object. She shares how satire enables her to ‘flip the script’ in order to demonstrate, address, and challenge the absurd, oppressive narratives that shame breastfeeding mothers. The conversation explores how protesting this covert oppression through the language of filmmaking allowed Lori to work through it directly and experientially, just as one might in psychotherapy.