Talking With white Clients About Race

Abstract

Most white people do not believe that race is an important feature of their lives, and this belief continues into the therapy room where race is rarely a topic of conversation, especially for all-white dyads. However, research shows that race and racism are highly salient for white people’s mental health, and this gap in understanding has negative effects on the well-being of both white people and people of color. This paper argues to embrace the ethical and moral call to actively address race and racism in therapy between white therapists and white clients. This embrace can be particularly challenging for white therapists who believe themselves to be social justice-oriented people, but who nevertheless contribute to racism in both conscious and unconscious ways. A model is offered for how psychotherapists can bring up and work with the topics of race and racism during the course of therapy. The model includes ways for white therapists to engage in the long-term process of self-critique, ways to introduce the salience of race in the white client’s life, and how to connect race and racism to the client’s explicit goals for therapy. Finally, a case example is explored using a well-meaning, self-defined liberal white client.

When you are the “other”: A scoping review of the experiences of clinicians of color working with White clients.

“…As the population of the United States becomes more diverse, the possibility for cross-cultural therapeutic relations, where there is a COC and a White client, increases (Howard, 2019). Some research is beginning to show that the inability of White clinicians to address issues of race in sessions negatively affects their clients and themselves (e.g., Drustrup, 2021). On the other hand, Black/African American clinicians are more likely than their White colleagues to address racial issues in therapy when working with a client of a different racial background and are more likely to address these issues when they believe the client is uncomfortable (Knox et al, 2003).…”

A Challenge to Us or a Challenge for Us? Negotiating Bias and Discrimination in the Consulting Room

“…David Drustrup (2021), a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa, presents us with a timely article on the challenges faced by white psychotherapists when dealing with racial issues in treatment. Drustrup communicates that it is critical to understand that the history of racial oppression in the United States (though it is a phenomenon clearly not limited to the United States) makes it extremely difficult for white therapists and white patients to understand the pervasiveness of bias that still exists in our culture.…”