Race goes hand in hand with racial trauma, so make sure to check out the page on trauma and grief after this one.
For BIPOC
If you fall anywhere within the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) spectrum, you are likely wondering if a white therapist will be capable of understanding your racial trauma.
And I don’t blame you!
From diagnoses like drapetomania which pathologized the desires of slaves to be free, to the collaboration in racist systems epitomized by the psychologists supporting torture at Guantanamo Bay, to the theft of Indigenous healing practices, white supremacy is deeply embedded in the mental health field.
You also might have your own experiences of harm in working with white professionals.
Counteracting white supremacy both in the mental health field and in society at large is an active process for me.
In order to best support my BIPOC clients as a white therapist, I believe it is my responsibility to:
- Be mindful of the roles of racism and colonization in the mental health field.
- Actively deconstruct my role in the field.
- Be curious about the role that race plays both in your life and in our relationship.
- Believe your narrative about your experiences.
- Stay humble and open to feedback.
For White People
I understand that talking about race is fraught and in most situations you would probably prefer not to do it. I’ve been there.
But I can GUARANTEE that it is impacting your life. So at some point it will come up, and I will meet you where you are in your journey as we discuss it, and this might be an uncomfortable experience.
After we have a few of these conversations you will start to unpack the guilt and the shame of white supremacy. We’ll build your toolkit to more mindfully and intentionally engage with race in all the ways it shows up in your life.
For Everyone
Once we become comfortable having discussions about race, we might spend time processing from and healing racial trauma.
This is a form of trauma that we all carry, but the way that it impacts us will vary heavily depending on our identities and experiences.