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As a White art therapist who has worked cross-racially for almost my entire career, I am regularly reminded that there are always racial-social-political influences that enter into the art therapy relationship. My current work in an open art therapy studio at a drop-in center for runaway and homeless adolescents and young adults, most of whom are Black, reinforces three strategies for art therapists for understanding and responding to power differentials.

1) Develop an Anti-racist Perspective

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (2019) and Dr. Robin DiAngelo (2018) teach that ignoring race, promotes racism. Actively confronting race-based injustices, promotes anti-racism. I apply their teachings by:

establishing cross-racial rapport with each new client as their previous experiences with White people may inform expectations;

assuming presence of racial dynamics as a factor in how clients and I react to each other;

acknowledging distress may be perpetuated by racism and White supremacy - otherwise, there is a false assumption that current situations are only a result of personal choices rather than a product of discrimination, violence and systemic policies;

stating my willingness to discuss how racial differences impact worldviews and experiences when the client is ready.

2) Re-examine Core Art Therapy Concepts

The mental health frameworks by Dr. Angela Clack (2018) and Dr. Kenneth Hardy (2013, 2016) offer ways to re-examine art therapy concepts through anti-racist paradigms.

Metaphor: Clack describes psychological masks that Black women wear as an adaptive defense that conceals shame, vulnerability, and rage that results from interpersonal discrimination and systemic racism. Honoring the mask as a form of coping against racial trauma enacts Dr. Hardy's insistence for Black clients to express themselves in self-chosen and genuine manners. Client metaphors allow for simultaneously concealing facts but revealing a truth.

Studio: Clack cautions that the mask reinforces a compulsion to hide weakness or ask for help. Dr. Hardy observed how some Black clients sacrifice authenticity by censoring themselves in order to take care of White people who might find them threatening. One way to promote anti-racism is by creating a studio in which Black clients can rest their masks to the degree to which they feel comfortable.

Art Materials: Emotional expression requires vulnerability. Dr. Hardy describes the pain of connecting personal experiences to racial trauma. Clack sites impediments to trusting White therapists as rooted in how Black people have been punished, shunned, manipulated, and killed for expressing their views. They both recommend moments for contemplative pauses. Experimenting with art materials may offer such a space.

Witnessing: Witnessing in art therapy entails supporting a client to make meaning of their art. Dr. Hardy insists that therapists avoid a race neutral position when assessing or prescribing solutions. For example, Dr. Clack redefines depression for Black people as a "disconnection" from ancestry, body, and source of power (p. 42).

3) Pursue System Change

Adapting practices in one's work merely accepts the reality of race dynamics but does little to challenge them. To fully serve clients, art therapists must advocate to reduce barriers to treatment and dismantle harmful institutions. Within the drop-in center, clients create semi-public works of how they want to portray themselves and homelessness. Aside from direct service, I volunteer with local and national organizations that pursue policies to end homelessness by eradicating systemic racism and poverty, such as Sasha Bruce Youthwork and the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival Art and Culture Committee. I am also a member of my university's Faculty Learning Community on Black Lives Matter for continuous education and to help develop curricula resources across academic disciplines. Re-imagining art therapy theories and practices is just the first step for carrying a commitment to justice beyond the studio walls to the streets, legislative bodies, and voting booths.
References
Clack, A. R. (2018). Women of color talk: Psychological narratives on trauma and depression. Clack Associates

DiAngelo, R. (2018). White fragility: Why it's so hard to talk to white people about racism. Beacon Press.

Hardy, K. V. (2013). Healing the hidden wounds of racial trauma. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 22(1), 24-28.

Hardy, K. V. (2016). Anti-racist approaches for shaping theoretical and practice paradigms. In M. Pender-Greene & A. Siskin (Eds.), Anti-racist strategies for the health and human services (pp. 125-139). Oxford University Press.

Kendi, I. X. (2019). How to be an antiracist. One World.

Jordan S. Potash, PhD, ATR-BC, REAT, LCAT (NY), LCPAT (MD)

Dr. Potash is Associate Professor in the Art Therapy Program at The George Washington University and Editor in Chief of Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association. For more information, podcasts, and articles, please visit www.jordanpotash.com.
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Antiracist Approach to Art Therapy: Re-examining Core Concepts - American Art Therapy Association

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February 26, 2020 | Jordan S. Potash As a White art therapist who has worked cross-racially for almost my entire career, I am regularly reminded that there are always racial-social-political influences that enter into the art therapy relationship.

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In recognition of Black History Month, it's my pleasure to introduce this blog series building on the topics covered during the "Breaking the Chains of Racial Trauma" plenary panel I moderated at AATA's 50th conference in Kansas City in November of 2019! If you were in attendance, this is an excellent opportunity to revisit the content, and I'm honored to present it to others for the first time.

I was given a copy of Dr. Angela Clack's book, Women of Color: Psychological Narratives on Trauma and Depression, as a present. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I felt she had truly helped clients penetrate their masks and set the course for healing. I also felt this would be an awesome continuation of the keynote given by Dr. Joy DeGruy during AATA's 2018 conference. When Dr. Clack agreed to speak at last year's conference, I was delighted to moderate the panel.
Gwen Short moderating the "Breaking the Chains of Racial Trauma in Therapy" panel plenary at the AATA's 50th conference in Kansas City, MO.
I am pleased to reintroduce the presenters from AATA's 2019 conference as authors for this blog series. Dr. Cheryl Doby-Copeland will share her work with families and the ramifications of historical trauma, Lindsey Vance will present her work utilizing alternative frameworks for working with Black clients to promote access to a range of health and mental health services, Dr. Angela Clack will discuss concepts from her book, and Dr. Jordan Potash will detail his cross-cultural work with Black clients. Each author will share three takeaways for therapists.
This post was updated as each article in the series was published. Dr. Clack, Lindsey Vance, and Dr. Potash at AATA's 50th conference in Kansas City, MO.
Background from 2019 panel abstract

Psychotherapy has frequently identified the causes of depression and anxiety as rooted in personal emotional experiences or as a result of biochemical origins. However, not all psychological concerns stem from interpersonal or intrapersonal causes. Increasingly, mental health therapists have identified socio-cultural causes of emotional distress. The areas of racial trauma and race-based stress refer to cumulative psychological and health effects due to direct accounts of racism (Clack, 2018; DeGruy, 2015). Hardy (2013) described, "Racial oppression is a traumatic form of interpersonal violence which can lacerate the spirit, scar the soul, and puncture the psyche" (p. 25). Such effects may be due to personal experiences of racism or being exposed to racism and racist violence through direct witnessing or watching the news (Carter, Forsyth, Mazzula, & Williams, 2005). Furthermore, epigenetic theories identify how trauma can be transmitted intergenerationally (Goosby & Heidbrink, 2013). These events provide evidence that working with racially subjugated clients entails not only attention to personal and relational concerns, but also how individuals experience racism.
Read the full abstract here. References
Clack, A. R. (2018). Women of Color Talk: Psychological Narratives on Trauma and Depression. Sicklerville, NJ: Clack Associates.

DeGruy, J. (2015) Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy Of Enduring Injury & Healing. Berrett-Koehler Publisher.

Hardy, K. V. (2013). Healing the hidden wounds of racial trauma. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 2 2(1), 24-28.

Carter, R.T., Forsyth, J.M., Mazzula, S.L., & Williams, B., (2005). Racial discrimination and race-based traumatic stress: An exploratory investigation In R. T. Carter (Ed.). Handbook of racial-cultural psychology and counseling: Training and practice (Vol. 2) (pp. 447-476). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Goosby, B. J., & Heidbrink, C. (2013). Transgenerational Consequences of Racial Discrimination for African American Health. Sociology compass, 7(8), 630-643. doi: 10.1111/soc4.12054.

Gwendolyn Short, MA, ATR-BC, LCPAT

Gwen received her master's degree in art therapy from The George Washington University, in her home town of Washington D.C. Her membership in AATA, since 1976, includes attendance at every conference, dedicated service on many committees, and also 8 years on ATCB. She has served on AATA's Honors Committees, Governmental Affairs, and Multicultural Committees and reviewed AATA business minutes. On the ATCB, she served as the Registration Standards Chair, Director and Liaison to the Standards Committee, reviewed the final draft of the first certification exam, and read the first exam on tape for a special needs candidate. Gwen has most recently served as the Chair of the Membership Committee and is an active participant on the Multicultural Committee. She is currently teaching a class at Norte Dame of Maryland, in Baltimore, MD.
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Blog Series: Breaking the Chains of Racial Trauma in Therapy - American Art Therapy Association

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February 13, 2020 | Gwendolyn Short In recognition of Black History Month, it's my pleasure to introduce this blog series building on the topics covered during the "Breaking the Chains of Racial Trauma" plenary panel I moderated at AATA's 50th conference in Kansas City in November of 2019!

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International examinations of anti-oppressive art therapy

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Call for papers and art responses addressing intersectionality, anti-colonialism, and cultural humility in the field of art therapy…

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but that doesn't mean we are

striving to form a union that is perfect

We are striving to forge a union with purpose

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us

but what stands before us"

-Amanda Gorman (2021)

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Southern California Art Therapy Association - Black History

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but that doesn't mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect We are striving to forge a union with purpose To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us but what stands before us" -Amanda Gorman (2021)

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Ep 38: Whiteness and mental health - Guilaine Kinouani is a French critical psychologist, feminist, therapist, equality consultant and award-nominated writer of the blog, RaceReflections.co.uk

Her recent book "Living while black - The essential guide to overcoming racial trauma" draws on her over 15y of experience in psychotherapy and as an anti-racist educator in laying out therapeutic advice on how to understand and counter anti-black racism. It's been described as a "powerful wake up call" (Patrick Vernon). She joins me to talk racism as a public health concern, intergenerational trauma and how medicalised terminology can mask the harm of whiteness in the mental health sphere.

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We Need To Talk About Whiteness - with Guilaine Kinouani

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Listen to this episode from We need to talk about whiteness podcast on Spotify. Ep 38: Whiteness and mental health - Guilaine Kinouani is a French critical psychologist, feminist, therapist, equality consultant and award-nominated writer of the blog, RaceReflections.co.uk Her recent book "Living while black - The essential guide to overcoming racial trauma" draws on her over 15y of experience in psychotherapy and as an anti-racist educator in laying out therapeutic advice on how to understand and counter anti-black racism.

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Hosted by Dr Myriam Francois, the "We Need To Talk About Whiteness Podcast" aims to explore the meaning of 'whiteness' in conversations around race and racism - what is whiteness? and does it matter? Each week, I'm joined by a new guest offering up their insights on whiteness, from comedy to film, sex and science. Join us!

Hosted by Dr Myriam Francois, the "We Need To Talk About Whiteness Podcast" aims to explore the meaning of 'whiteness' in conversations around race and racism - what is whiteness? and does it matter? Each week, I'm joined by a new guest offering up their insights on whiteness, from comedy to film, sex and science. Join us!

You don't have to agree with something to enjoy it

If you are in anyway serious about intellectual development, you should be listening and reading things that challenge your views. This show will do that for many. You may still come away with some disagreements, but I'm certain you will come away with some moment of acceptance and agreement. The podcast and the views of the thinkers on it can be easily mischaracterised, much like Jordan Peterson say, but there views are never as odds as they sounds when given the time to explain them carefully.

Cuts right to the heart of this social construct

Really important conversations in this podcast. It is frank, punchy, sincere and a fantastic resource. Thank you and keep going!

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‎We need to talk about whiteness podcast on Apple Podcasts

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‎Hosted by Dr Myriam Francois, the "We Need To Talk About Whiteness Podcast" aims to explore the meaning of 'whiteness' in conversations around race and racism - what is whiteness? and does it matter? Each week, I'm joined by a new guest offering up their insights on whiteness, from comedy to film, s...

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Get early access to our latest psychology lectures: http://bit.ly/new-talks

We live in a challenging age. With the death of George Floyd, the subsequent marches across the world against racism, the struggles of the #Metoo movement, campaigns for equal rights for the LGBTQ community, and the rise of Disability theorists. Yet, all these efforts towards equality in the face of varying types of oppression speak loudly of the voices of the others and their need to be heard and acknowledged. Within psychotherapy and psychology though, difference and diversity trainings have been slow in turning their considerable talents towards exploring or understanding the experiences of the other, often doing no more than to mirror the wider societal oppressions we all witness daily.

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Diversity, Intersectionality & Psychotherapy - Dr Dwight Turner, PhD

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Listen to this episode from The Weekend University on Spotify. Get early access to our latest psychology lectures: http://bit.ly/new-talks We live in a challenging age. With the death of George Floyd, the subsequent marches across the world against racism, the struggles of the #Metoo movement, campaigns for equal rights for the LGBTQ community, and the rise of Disability theorists.

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The Studen Union Lecture Series 5: Unsettling Whiteness

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The Decolonising Our Minds Society is delighted to host renowned academic Barnor Hesse from Northwestern University. Barnor Hesse will explore what whiteness is as a social identity, political...

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The Studen Union Lecture Series 5: Unsettling Whiteness

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Decolonising Education: The Challenge of Whiteness

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"this is a space for conversation. conversations that must lead to action."

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Open and honest conversations about all things anti-racism!

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Katy Sian
My recent research on racism in British universities documents the everyday and structural patterns of discrimination experienced by racially marked academics. I interviewed 20 female and male academics from a range of racial, religious, and ethno national backgrounds, based at Russell Group and Post-92 universities. From day-to-day office politics, to challenges around teaching, and barriers to career progression, the fight against racism in the academy is unrelenting. In a climate whereby racialized bodies are scrutinized, undervalued and marginalized, what are the strategies developed to resist? From my interviews it was clear that resistance took different forms. For some, resistance was to cope, whereas for others, resistance was to be part of a movement to transform structures of power.

Informal networks
As the academy increasingly excludes racially marked academics, collective groupings become crucial for providing a sense of belonging, protection and support. These grouping can take any shape and might include going for coffee, meeting as a more structured group, or talking over the telephone. These may appear on the surface to be very mundane acts, but the development of a space to talk, laugh, cry and let it all out can be incredibly powerful. My respondent's spoke about the importance of these spaces for facilitating connections:
"We create these ad-hoc groupings with others in similar situations, but these are not formal arrangements within the institution. I found these groupings massively important, we'd have conversations, even if nothing practical was to come out from them, to say and share what we were having to deal with was important"
The development of these informal networks is key to establishing a sense of safety and solidarity among racially marked academics. They serve as important spaces to help each other navigate racism in the academy. Another respondent commented:
"We have had to almost cultivate a hidden network of people that is completely outside our own universities. Knowing that we have that support with each other from outside is so important, it makes me feel less alone"
In her research on Native women in the academy, Michelle M. Jacob similarly found that her respondents spoke of the necessity of having Native friends in university spaces in order to survive. There was a familiar emphasis on the significance of building collectives across universities, which serve as key sites of support, particularly in times of crisis (2012: 247-48). As the next interviewee points out, these collective relationships offer strength and hope to racially marked academics:
"I think it's only through each other we can survive this space. It makes a statement that we can actually be in this space together. Finding each other in these spaces makes things so much better; it can save us from attrition"
Undeniably the relationships that we forge with other racially marked academics are fundamental to our survival in the academy. It was clear from the interview data that just the very presence of racially marked academics in one university can be empowering for other racially marked academics in another. Whether we have one person or ten people to talk to, the heart of resistance lies in the creation of a sub-space where we can find acceptance, respect and cooperation, in a landscape of exclusion and oppression.

Resisting Through Knowing
By virtue of being a person of colour, whatever environment we find ourselves within, our histories and our lived experiences will most likely (often instinctively) arm us with the political tools to critically engage, unpack and question our positionality. Whether or not we choose to be 'woke,' our trajectories, as people of colour, will have some form of impact on our overall outlook. Through the art of knowing we increasingly engage with, develop, and build upon scholarship that has provided a home, and voice, for many of us (e.g. critical race theory, decolonial studies, critical Muslim studies, postcolonial studies, black feminism, etc.), as one respondent commented:
"It's great that we're building a body of scholarship around these issues and we need to continue doing this. Resisting comes in our knowing. My ancestors didn't get as far as I did, and I'm using all the tools that I've learned to try and pass on that knowledge through my work, so that the next black or brown academic behind me can take it up and take it further, and eventually change the system"
Retelling our narratives is not only strategic, but also in many cases it can be transformative. As Daniel G. Solorzano and Dolores Delgado Bernal point out, "although the act of political writing can be a form of internal transformational resistance, once it is published or made public, it can be a very powerful form of external transformational resistance" (2001: 326). Our knowing therefore has the potential to make real shifts in the university:
"I think the ground swell of the so-called 'undesirables' of the academic world is really making an intervention because we're loud, we don't just write for academic outlets, we engage with the media and community spaces and we're part of third sector organizations. I know we're still marginal but I think we are making change in our own ways"
The next participant picks this up and speaks of the way in which our scholarship offers the potential to facilitate change within the academy:
"I think people of colour can resist and raise our issues and concerns through the tools we've already learned from our own work and scholarship. So applying them through writing, campaign work, through lobbying, and crafting spaces within our own institutions to talk about racism in the academy"
Resistance in the academy through knowing gives racially marked academics a degree of power to shape knowledge production and in doing so we are able to challenge discourses of racism in our universities. As bell hooks reminds us, "our words are not without meaning, they are an action, a resistance" (1989: 16).

On White Allies
Within the university environment, friends, colleagues and coalitions can play a significant role for racially marked academics. White allies represent those who have both recognized and critiqued the privilege attached to their whiteness, and they can be important for developing a wider network of resistance. They are aware of their power, yet will use their positioning to support racially marked academics and challenge structures of inequality. These acts of allyship represent those who have (to paraphrase Les Back) 'reckoned with whiteness' (2004: 4). My respondents spoke about the importance of having white allies:
"Some white members of the academy have done extraordinary things for people of colour, so cultivating positions or a climate where it's viable that people of colour are competitive for various positions, or ensuring that they find a footing in senior positions. And all this is important, it is necessary for our growth and sense of belonging"
This was picked up by another interviewee who also recognized the value of white allyship:
"It's certainly good to have and find white allies, because sometimes you get to tap into whatever social capital is available to you, and that's important because we're all negotiating power. But they're only one person"
While white allies are important, the reality for many racially marked academics is that there is a lack of opportunity or interest to actually develop these relationships extensively within universities. Furthermore, in most instances, cultivating those connections is often the outcome of our labour, and the energy that we invest. Barnor Hesse (2012) gives us an important insight into the logics of whiteness, which is particularly useful here in order to understand the different positionalities that our white colleagues may adopt in the university (and beyond) in their (non) showing of solidarity.

In his development of '8 White Identities,' Hesse argues that there is a regime of whiteness constituted by a set of action-oriented white identities. Those who identify with whiteness typically fall into the following categories:

1. White Supremacist: Preserves, names, and values white superiority

2. White Voyeurism: Would not challenge a white supremacist; desires non-whiteness because it is interesting, pleasurable; seeks to control the consumption and appropriation of non-whiteness; fascination with culture

3. White Privilege: May critique white supremacy, but maintains a deep investment in questions of fairness/equality under the normalization of whiteness and white rule; sworn goal of 'diversity'

4. White Benefit: Sympathetic to a set of issues but only privately. Will not speak/act in solidarity publicly, because they are benefitting through whiteness in public

5. White Confessional: Some exposure of whiteness takes place, but as a way of being accountable to People of Colour after; seek validation from People of Color

6. White Critical: Take on board critiques of whiteness and invest in exposing/marking the white regime; refuses to be complicit with the regime; whiteness speaking back to whiteness

7. White Traitor: Actively refuses complicity; names what is going on; intention is to subvert white authority and tell the truth at whatever cost; need them to dismantle institutions

8. White Abolitionist: Changes institutions; dismantling whiteness, and not allowing whiteness to reassert itself

If our white colleagues are serious about showing solidarity, they must adopt categories 6 - 8. In doing so they are demonstrating that they are willing to both use and critique their privilege as a way to dismantle racism at any cost. Categories 7 and 8 are perhaps the least adopted even by those who might be considered more critical, precisely because they depend upon the relinquishing of ones benefits and require action. White allies can be important sources of support for racially marked academics. However, so long as universities continue to construct and reproduce whiteness as the norm, these acts of solidarity will be of marginal significance. To form meaningful resistance our white colleagues must recognize their own role in perpetuating whiteness and they must actively organize and commit to embedding structural changes that seek to abolish racism. In doing so an environment that benefits all can not only be envisioned but also actualized.

As my research shows, racially marked academics are often involved in complex negotiations around how they might resist racism in the academy [1]. Resistance is subject to ones context and capacities, thus tactics can range from organizing, documenting, supporting, and survival. It is clear that together we have the ability to represent a vehicle for change so long as we are driven by a collective spirit, rather than individualistic objectives, after all, "it is in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism" (Davis, 2016: 47).

References
Back, L. (2004). Ivory Towers? The Academy and Racism. In I. Law, D. Phillips, & L. Turney (Eds.), Institutional Racism in Higher Education (pp. 1-6). Staffordshire: Trentham Books.
Davis, A. (2016). Freedom Is a Constant Struggle. Chicago: Haymarket Books.
Hesse, B. (2016) '8 White Identities,' 10 November.
hooks, b. (1989). Choosing the Margin as a Space of Racial Openness. The Journal of Cinema and Media, 36, 15-23.
Jacob, M. (2012). Native Women Maintaining Their Culture in the White Academy. In G. Muhs, Y. Niemann, C. Gonzalez, & A. Harris (Eds.), Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (pp. 446-501). Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
Solorzano, G., & Bernal, D. (2001). Examining Transformational Resistance Through a Critical Race and Latcrit Theory Framework: Chicana and Chicano Students in an Urban Context. Urban Education, 36(3), 308-342.

1. For further details of this discussion see: Sian, K. (2019) Navigating Institutional Racism in British Universities, Palgrave Macmillan: Cham
Dr Katy Sian is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of York

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Katy Sian My recent research on racism in British universities documents the everyday and structural patterns of discrimination experienced by racially marked academics. I interviewed 20 female and male academics from a range of racial, religious, and ethno national backgrounds, based at Russell Group and Post-92 universities.

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Sara* went to her uni for counselling after surviving a sexual assault. As a Muslim Pakistani, she felt the counsellors - all white - were out of touch with her experience and needs. "My counsellor just wasn't that understanding of my experience as a BAME person. So I just stopped going," Sara says.

"If there was a BAME counsellor they would have been able to empathise with me and help a lot more," Sara tells The Tab.

"If someone from my culture had just sat me down and told me it was okay and not my fault it would have made me feel a lot less guilty overall".

An investigation by The Tab has found there's a widespread lack of BME counselling staff at British universities, meaning Sara and countless others aren't getting the support they need.
The Tab's investigation found: * One in three universities employ no BME counsellors. * And one in six have no way for students to specifically request a BME counsellor, including unis who have them on the books. * From the universities who responded, just one in eight counsellors employed at UK universities are BME, whilst over a quarter of undergrads are BME.
As a result, universities are failing to meet the needs of a large proportion of their student body. Whilst attention is often paid to how much universities are spending on their overstretched mental health services, it's clear they're unable to cope with the differing needs of those students.

Aniqa Ahmed, a counsellor with Nilaari, a charity who provide culturally appropriate specialist counselling to students, told The Tab: "From talking to students it has been expressed that students from BME backgrounds are less likely to access mental health services provided by their university if there is no BME counsellor available."

One in three universities don't have a single BME counsellor

The Tab sent Freedom of Information requests to 63 UK universities asking how many BME counsellors they employed in the 2018/19 academic year.

16 out of the 48 universities to reply had no BME counsellors: Bath, Chester, Dundee, Durham, Exeter, Leicester, Northumbria, Oxford Brookes, Plymouth, Queen Mary, Southampton, St Andrews, Stirling, Sussex, Swansea, and UWE.

In some cases universities are employing 10 or more counsellors, yet not one is BME.

Whilst Bristol employ two BME counsellors, both were on career breaks for the 2018/19 academic year.

Some universities refused to reveal how many of their counselling staff were BME, citing privacy concerns. However, after challenges from The Tab, some of those did disclose the exact numbers.

'I would never go to the uni for counselling support again. I would much rather just seek it from outside'

Sara got counselling from her uni after reporting a sexual assault. It got off to a bad start when the counsellor used her surname instead of first name - and spelled it wrong. From there, things got worse. Being from a Muslim family, Sara felt uncomfortable telling her family what had happened to her. Yet the counsellor seemed not to understand, and was pushing her to do that. "Talking about sexual assault is much more the norm in white society, with the #MeToo movement and everything," Sara says.

"How do I tell my Muslim family? If I just had someone to empathise with me from any BAME background, because I feel like a lot of our cultures are quite similar, I'd feel a lot better.

"The uni itself pushed me into directions I wasn't comfortable with but I just felt a total lack of support from the counsellors. I had to change counsellors because the first one asked questions that made me feel it was my fault and the second just wasn't empathetic. She dismissed me 20 minutes early once after saying she wasn't sure how to help."

Sara changed counsellors, but was given another white counsellor. "After that I just stopped counselling and let the report continue without any mental health support," Sara says.

"My mental health got so bad to the point where the uni had to refer me to the NHS crisis team because it all got a bit too much."

The lack of sensitivity and availability of a BME counsellor left Sara despondent with her university's ability to help her. "I would never go to the uni for counselling support again. I would much rather just seek it from outside," she says.

Sara's experience isn't unique to one university and one counselling system. It's a symptom of the lack of BME counsellors available across the country.

Whilst she was Welfare and Rights officer at Cambridge in 2017-18, students kept getting in touch with Micha Frazer-Carroll to ask if there was a way to specifically request a BME counsellor. There wasn't - in fact there weren't even any BME counsellors at the uni.

"We need to acknowledge that students of colour face unique barriers and unique problems," Micha, now Opinions Editor at gal-dem, told The Tab

From there, Micha spent months asking students about their experiences and putting together a report. At the end, "they were pretty overwhelming findings," she told The Tab.

Two thirds said their mental health and identity as a person of colour were related. Two thirds also said they would feel more at ease opening up to a counsellor who was a person of colour.

59 per cent said a white counsellor couldn't understand the problems that they face as opposed to a counsellor of colour, and 59 per cent said they would specifically request a BME counsellor if it was an option.

And yet, there wasn't an option to.

In the report, students explained how counsellors often failed to understand. Like in Sara's case, family dynamics were misunderstood. Students spent time explaining cultural issues, and found counsellors didn't fully grasp their experiences of racism or microaggressions. Students were editing themselves, or presenting a different version of themselves in those meetings.

On the other hand, Micha explains: "If I was seeing a black counsellor, I wouldn't need to go into loads of detail explaining about what it feels like to be the only black person in your school, or even just explaining elements of your culture, like the food you eat at home, or the way that your mum treats parenting."

Language barriers also play a part, as do longer waiting times as a result of a lack of BME counsellors. "People from BME backgrounds feel they do not have to concern themselves with a lack of cultural competence as well as service users being able to build trust with their counsellor," says Aniqa.

"As a black student, I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna want to see a therapist or counsellor who is white," Ore Ogunbiyi, who just wrote Taking Up Space, a book about being black at university, told The Tab. "Because if I'm going to go and explain to the person about this is my experience of racism, yeah, they might get it, but it's also very much likely that they won't."

'This felt like quite a small change to make. I was surprised by how long it took'

Last year, Cambridge enabled students to request to see a BME counsellor for the first time.

However, it took Micha the best part of a year to get the uni fully on board with it. She says people running the service didn't understand the need at first. "It's quite striking how much it took for them to to acknowledge there was an issue," she says.

"This felt like quite a small change to make. I was surprised by how long it took," Micha told The Tab. After all, there was already a box on the form to request a specific gender. All it took was adding an extra option.

11 of the universities who replied to The Tab's request for information don't have a way for students to request a BME counsellor.

However, the majority said they have a way for students to specifically request a BME counsellor. And even some who don't directly employ any said they'd find a way. Bath, Leicester, Stirling, and Sussex all told The Tab they would find students external counsellors, through either partner organisations or non-permanent staff.

Some universities, including Durham, replied with a flat "no".

Whilst UWE employs no BME counsellors, they work with Nilaari, a charity, to provide students with access to counsellors who suit their needs. UWE also say they're recruiting permanent BME staff for their service.

With a BME attainment gap which sees black and minority ethnic students across the country getting a third fewer first than white students, and universities claiming to be sincere in wanting to tackle the problem, providing suitable counselling support is an obvious area they can step up in.

Students of colour have unique barriers facing them at university, yet universities are often not doing enough. "We need to acknowledge that all of those factors take a toll on students of colour's mental health," says Micha. "We should actually be tailoring support towards the students."
*Sara's name has been changed to protect her identity If you're struggling with a mental health issue, or know someone who is, please contact the Samaritans helpline on 116 123 or contact your university's counselling service.

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'White counsellors don't understand': Why BME students don't get the help they need at uni

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Sara* went to her uni for counselling after surviving a sexual assault. As a Muslim Pakistani, she felt the counsellors - all white - were out of touch with her experience and needs. "My counsellor just wasn't that understanding of my experience as a BAME person. So I just stopped going," Sara says.

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I start this blog with a video of some google searches I performed.

Recently I have had lots of conversations with people around the term 'white supremacy' (Dr Di Angelo deconstructs the term far better than I can). I know the term conjures images of burning crosses and white hoods. White supremacy, is anything that supports the structures and systems which in turn hold back people of colour from the fruits of their endeavours, as educators how do *we* engage in white supremacy?

1. Not checking our privilege and bias.
2. Omitting the successes of people of colour  .
3. Not supporting people against the grain of oppression.
4. Engaging the white saviour complex.
5. etc.

Let's delve into the source of the issue. We live in a world where the achievements of white, middle class, males, cis, heterosexual, etc. are celebrated and the achievements of others omitted. This has the impact of inculcating our minds towards this way of thinking. Many of us, I hope, would rebuke at the thought of denigrating the achievements of others and discriminating in our actions.
Recently I sat with a group of amazing (mainly primary teachers), this very same conversation arose when questioned about the last time they used a person of colour in their lesson as a figure of success. I was greeted with silence (in this case there was alcohol involved however this is relatively common).
Personally, I ascribe to the label of Global Majority over BAME, this is because, believe it not, there are more non-white (a microaggression in itself) than white people. Is this reflected in our lessons in our various curricula? If you can't think of people of colour in positions of success I would suspect you to have been inculcated into the same mindset through similar ethnocentric curricula through your informative years in school.

Photo Credit: @Rondelle10_B

Talking about microaggressions - at a recent educational event I prominent head teacher talked succinctly about cognitive load theory, the quality of the presentation was top notch. She continued to show a slide of what you are seeing and then what your students are seeing, in Mandarin script. Yes, the majority of pupils in the UK would not understand the Mandarin script; However, this denigrates the experience of those who do, it 'others' them.

There are numerous examples of omission and microaggressions, here are a few;

1. Modern Foreign Languages, who decides what a modern foreign language is? are Hindi/Arabic/Yoruba/etc. less useful than French, German or Spanish? I have had pupils describe their home language, their mother tongue, the one they actually think and dream in, as useless.

2. History - the omission of the numerous and vital roles of PoC, coupled with the hagiography around (openly white supremacist) figures such as Churchill.

3. Science - the achievements of the Muslim Arabian astronomy, etc.

4. One for the wider world, why are bandages and plasters, white and pink in colour? Remember more people of colour than people of no colour (financially this can't be a reason)

5. The list goes on

I could debunk some of this through an interrogation of the BAME/gender pay gap, the initial results of the REC, the numbers of university pupils dropping out of their undergraduate courses due to overt racism, job applications from a non-traditionally British name, disproportionate numbers of black Caribbean pupils having their education dumbed down ( https://www.bbc.com/news/education-47240580), etc. But that is for another day.

Some of you reading this right now will be shocked and question if this is the case. This may be due to the fact we are told that we live in a meritocracy it is prevalent British value and the tenets of our society. We judge people on merit.  To suggest otherwise rock the foundations of ourselves and the society we have built. This is natural. Dr R Di Angelo refers to this as 'white fragility' ( https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116), where the label of 'racist' or 'white supremacist' is so important that they supersede self-reflection and growth. It is our duty as educators to let this get in the way of improving ourselves and the lives of those we serve.

That, in a roundabout way, brings us back to the title, what is 'White Supremacy'? What is 'racism'? I understand that these words are synonymous with good people and bad people binary. This polarised view is rarely helpful. Now when someone calls me a misogynist, antisemite, Islamaphobe, etc. I no longer take it as this personal slur or as someone calling me a bad person, I simply reflect where I am on the spectrum of oppression.

Racism isn't about singular abhorrent act rather it's an epistemology (your method of gathering knowledge) which causes the systemic oppression of people of colour, the same can be said for all protected characteristics. Here we should discuss the different intersections of class, gender, colour, etc. but my definition is a simplification of the individual journeys. However, it serves as one that is pragmatic and a great starting point.

The recent interviews with Angela Smith and Liam Neeson are an example of the consequences of systemic white supremacy, yet people will get caught up in the nuances of the act. This serves no one and does not even acknowledge the causes or remedies to the issue.

I will say it is impossible to grow up in a system which schools you and not feel its impact. Yes, that includes me, of course, I personally forward/promote a whole supremacist agenda, I went through years of training (schooling/media/working life) and I'm trained in its propagation. However, it is my duty to retrain, unlearn and undo the damage caused or I will fall into the box of becoming discriminatory. I urge you all to do the same.

The aim of this blog was to make us all uncomfortable, hopefully, that energy will spur you to reflect and grow toward anti-racism.

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RACE: What is White Supremacy in Education? - The Teacherist

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I start this blog with a video of some google searches I performed. Recently I have had lots of conversations with people around the term 'white supremacy' (Dr Di Angelo deconstructs the term far better than I can). I know the term conjures images of burning crosses and white hoods.

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What does it mean to be white in a society that proclaims race meaningless...

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Webinar Replay: Why Healing from Internalized Whiteness Is a Missing Link in White People's Anti-Racism Work - Everyday Feminism

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An Everyday Feminism Webinar Replay Why Healing from Internalized Whiteness Is a Missing Link in White People's Anti-Racism Work A Free Webinar by Sandra Kim, Founder of Everyday Feminism Want more? Click here to register for the special Healing from Internalized Whiteness 3-Day Training! Seats are limited and going fast!

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"Father, Mother, and Me/ Sister and Auntie Say/ All the people like us are We/ And everyone else is They."
- Rudyard Kipling
"England's not the mythical land of Madame George and roses/ It's the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds."
-Sinéad O'Connor

The couch in my therapy office is occupied mostly by white people. Anxious white people and depressed white people. Obsessive white people and compulsive white people. White people who hurt people and white people who hurt themselves. White people who eat too much, drink too much, work too much, shop too much. White people who are bored, envious, guilty, numb. Racist white people and antiracist white people. White people who look across the room and see a white therapist listening. We talk about everything. Except being white.

***

An old saw about therapy is that the thing you don't talk about is the thing. The therapist and patient together avoid this thing, this shameful and threatening thing. The thing is unconscious - sometimes partially, other times totally. You only know it by the silence and illogic that surrounds it, and the extremes to which the patient will go to erase any sign of it in their own mind, and in their therapist's, too. The first step towards unpacking the thing is finding a way to talk about it. Just talk about it, moving step by careful step into a psychic place so raw that even acknowledging this unconscious thing is a threat to safety and sanity. Freud called this process "making the unconscious conscious" and it has defined psychotherapy ever since.

What if whiteness is the thing?

Depending on who you are, that question falls somewhere between obvious and sacrilege. That's one sign that whiteness might be the thing. A spin of today's media dial offers its own data, a smorgasbord of white people flailing within the confines of whiteness: Covington Catholic and Rachel Dolezal, Permit Patty and Baked Alaska. Everywhere we look, whiteness is folding deeply in upon itself: white power mass killers, paranoid Starbucks managers, intellectualized white "nationalists," next door Nazis, itchy trigger police, well-meaning white-guilt sufferers, aspirational "identitarians," privileged privilege-checkers, clean cut MAGA thugs, neo-pagan Islamophobes, self-segregating liberal elites, exponentially-multiplying white opioid addicts, anti-racist street fighters, offended NFL fans. Shitlords and allies and Proud Boys, oh my.

The couch in my therapy office is occupied mostly by white people. We talk about everything. Except being white.

Behind the curtain, we practice the old ways. Killers in uniform and brown-skinned people in cages. Stolen babies and powdered grandees. Daytime puritans and nighttime raiders. The fun-loving exploitation and the navel-gazing narcissism, the helicopter parenting and the high-wire religiosity. The blackface, the projection, the violence, the arrogance. The othering, the scapegoating, the appropriation, the gentrification. The conspicuous consumption and the environmental degradation; the implicit bias and the passive aggression. The binging, the purging, the hoarding, the decluttering. And deeper still: the emotional deprivation, the imposter syndrome, the hair-trigger rage, the self loathing. The narcissism, the status anxiety, the paranoia, the body alienation. The familial estrangement and the boundary violations; the persecutory delusions and the identification with the aggressor. The fear of invasion and the thrill of domination. The craving for pain relief and the hunger for blood and soil.

As Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke famously suggested, what is within surrounds us. For most white Americans, that is an increasingly thorny concept, a flickering awareness of a mountain of historical and personal debt that has suddenly become due, yet again. In the face of blatant white racial aggression -Dylann Roof or El Paso or Donald Trump - there is a reflexive instinct among white people to proclaim #ThisIsNotUs. But a deeper self asks, How much of this is us? If it is us, who are we?

***

What is whiteness, and which one? Farm-to-table white or Cracker Barrel white? Rust Belt white or Sunbelt White? Electric car white or pickup truck white? Digital white or analog white? One percent honky or precariat ofay? Italian? Irish? English? Ukrainian? Polish? The very idea of white identity - or race itself - is anything but settled. Whiteness appears in no therapy manuals, is absent from catalogs of psychological ailments, is rarely mentioned as a factor in diagnosis or treatment, yet we know it when we see it. Patient is irritable, defensive, obsessive and grandiose. Ego orientation fluctuates between superiority and vulnerability, with an underlying paranoia (trauma related?) focused on external threats and characterized by fantasies of domination, invasion and annihilation. Under the microscope, racism and white peoples' ancient dance with it looks an awful lot like what in other contexts - an inpatient ward, a group therapy session - would be classified as psychopathology. Whiteness is self-perpetuating yet self-defeating yet self-reinforcing, inseparable from power yet quick to decompensate. "Whiteness is inherently fragile, unstable and prone to disintegration," psychologists Arianne Miller and Lawrence Josephs wrote almost 15 years ago in their article "Whiteness As Pathological Narcissism." There is a "vulnerability to states of narcissistic decompensation characterized by white shame and rage." We are a danger to ourselves and others, from the defensive neurosis of white fragility to the paranoid brutality of mass incarceration and Jim Crow, down the psychotic-sadistic rabbit hole of chattel slavery, through the looking glass to the stone cold delusion of racial superiority itself. "I am not a nigger. I am a man," James Baldwin said. "If I'm not the nigger here, and if you invented him - you, the white people, invented him - then you have to find out why." He added, "The future of the country depends on it."

How does a reckoning happen without willingness? What about people who don't want to become less racist, or have no pressing need to? What about people who secretly, or not-so-secretly, enjoy their racism? What about people who are genuinely disturbed? In the 1960s, a group of black psychiatrists petitioned the American Psychiatric Association to add "extreme bigotry" to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, citing the frenzied, often homicidal violence against civil rights activists. The APA rejected the petition, making the claim that "extreme" prejudice was so normative among American whites that it was more of a cultural phenomenon than an individual pathology. (An interesting piece of intellectual jiujitsu - who makes up a culture if not individuals?) Harvard professor and psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint has suggested that more intense strains of racist belief should be classified as a psychosis, specifically a subtype of Delusional Disorder. He described his patients who "projected their own unacceptable behavior and fears onto ethnic minorities, scapegoating them for society's problems." Poussaint interpreted this scapegoating as a symptom of deeper psychological dysfunction that presents a danger to the patient and those around them. He found psychotherapy to be an effective treatment: "When these patients became more aware of their own problems, they grew less paranoid - and less prejudiced." Poussaint has called for guidelines to help mental health providers recognize "delusional racism." Otherwise, Poussant warned, "delusional racists will continue to fall through the cracks of the mental health system, and we can expect more of them to explode."

It is both necessary and unhelpful to separate racist violence from whiteness itself. "Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger, not the gun," goes the latest iteration of "very fine people." (Putting aside for a moment that the business of guns needs hatred to flourish, and racial hatred racks up nice, big numbers.) In order to treat and heal individuals, racist or not, who are vulnerable to extreme mental states and have the capacity for violence (an extremely small population, overall), it can be useful to harness the tools of psychiatry including diagnoses like psychosis or mania. On the societal level, the use of "mental illness" to explain racist mass murder - innumerable incidents over hundreds of years - is absurd. If it's mental illness, it's a societal one, a specifically white one, in which white males are singularly vulnerable to violent expressions of racial prejudice. These mass killers with their manifestos are the identified patient in the dysfunctional white American family, manifesting all the symptoms, hidden and obvious, of our race problems. Well known to all family therapists, the identified patient takes the family's conflicts and manifests them in personal distress - anxiety, depression, mania, psychosis. When the patient begins to get better, the family unconsciously pressures them to stay sick, because without the identified patient the family's illness is laid bare. Why would we want to take away our white boys' guns? Why would we want to give them mental health care? Why would we want to understand their pull to extreme bigotry instead of just demonizing them? Then we would have to admit that there is a problem, and the problem is us.

The idea that whiteness is a problematic state of being, one that requires immediate intervention for the health of the nation, has been seeping into white consciousness since the 1960s, and even earlier. Therapists rarely think to question the role of racial identity in their white patient's lives, but Benjamin Franklin noted white people problems back during the wars between indigenous tribes and settler Europeans. He puzzled that freed prisoners of war, Native and European, generally chose indigenous life over settler "civilization." He diagnosed a problem in European culture, in whiteness: "With us are infinite Artificial wants," he wrote. "No less craving than those of Nature, and much more difficult to satisfy." Unpuzzling the paradoxes of the white psyche has been a pursuit of non-white people for centuries. Poet Phyllis Wheatley, kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved as a young girl, wrote in 1774 about the bizarre thought process she observed in her slave-owning fellow revolutionaries: "I desire not for their Hurt, but to convince them of the strange Absurdity of their Conduct whose Words and Actions are so diametrically opposite. How well the Cry for Liberty, and the reverse Disposition for the exercise of oppressive Power over others agree." Olaudah Equiano, who lived out his enslavement as a sailor, wrote in his autobiography about the circular illogic he saw at work in the minds of whites: "When you make men slaves, you deprive them of half their virtue, you set them in your own conduct an example of fraud, rapine, and cruelty, and compel them to live with you in a state of war; and yet you complain that they are not honest or faithful!" One hundred years later Sioux chief Sitting Bull spoke to a similar psychic discrepancy: "What white man can say 'I never stole his land or a penny of his money'? Yet they say that I am a thief. What white woman, however lonely, was ever captive or insulted by me? Yet they say I am a bad Indian." From colonization to revolution, slavery to emancipation, O.J. to Obama, white America has engaged in an epic struggle to hide, avoid, and rationalize the glaring gulf between our egalitarian self-image and our repressive group behavior. And we aren't fooling anyone. The confusion in white people's hearts is the most poorly kept secret in the world.

Yet the field of psychology, so intimately involved in all matters of the white heart, is nowhere to be found. Despite the outsize drama that whiteness brings to the public scene, it is still not much more than a cognitive wisp in most white Americans' daily brainscape, including those of most, but not all, white therapists. The silence about whiteness in most therapies is deafening. Almost three hundred years after Franklin's letter, "we still have no clue what being born white means," as white NBA coach Gregg Popovich put it. We are white children of white parents, white descendants of white ancestors, yet we have few ideas and even less language with which to make sense of our whiteness. Hovering off-camera, whiteness works in silence, quietly defining our white families, our white marriages, our white jobs, our white government, our white schools, our white police. It courses like electricity through the walls of white American life - silent, comforting, frightful, binding, beneficent, shocking, avoided. "There remain critical forces at work perpetuating racism that operate below and outside the White radar screen," writes white psychoanalyst Neil Altman. "These forces are built into the political and economic structures of our society, into the value structures by which we were raised, into the selves we construct in an effort to feel good about ourselves."

Under the microscope, racism and white peoples' ancient dance with it looks an awful lot like what in other contexts - an inpatient ward, a group therapy session - would be classified as psychopathology.

Coach Popovich's words shocked people - not just in their bluntness, but that he said them at all. For most white people, whiteness is a minefield - a topic to gloss over, a mask to hide behind, a shame to cringe over, maybe a tool to use, a weapon to hurt with, or be hurt by. Certainly nothing to muse about publicly. "There's often just this understandingthat you're not supposed to talk about it," notes black educator and psychologist Beverly Tatum. "You've had a lot of lifetime experiences that have told you, 'don't talk about this'." The conflicted silence around whiteness begins at home. We learn early that there is no safe place, no safe relationship in which to speak of whiteness. "Most white Americans believe they were born white, yet their own stories of early racial experiences describe persons who were bred white," writes Reverend Thandeka, a black Unitarian-Universalist minister who intimately interviewed white Americans for her book Learning to Be White. "Becoming white is the product of a child's siege mentality. It's a defense mechanism to stop racial rebukes from one's own kith and kin." Reverend Thandeka's subjects told her "the message they learned was repress, deny and split off from consciousness feelings that, if expressed, would provoke racial attacks from the adults in their own community." This public silence is replicated in all the private rooms of whiteness, including therapy, the place you are supposed to be able to say anything, be anything.

***

The boil of bizarre behaviors, conflicting cognitions and overwhelming emotions that popped with our first "White" president have long been studied in psychology, but never as specifically white. At heart, mainstream psychology is the story of whiteness, written by mostly white authors trying to understand mostly white characters. If you want to understand the psychology of whiteness, look no further. It's all there: cognitive dissonance, projective identification, malignant narcissism. Yet despite all the insights psychology could offer about white America's inner workings and dysfunctions, the field is terribly and suspiciously late to the whiteness party. Scholars in other disciplines have analyzed whiteness for decades. Historians, sociologists, educators, social workers, and philosophers have long made peace with the idea that white Americans, like every other social group, have a unique set of group dynamics. In our case, those dynamics are profoundly and heterogeneously influenced by our history of migration from the peasantry of Europe to the top the bloody American racial caste system, which makes our ingrained habit of immigrant scapegoating a classic case of Freud's "return of the repressed." As historians have meticulously established, white (male) identity was the carefully cultivated mode of transmission for the old world's interlocking hierarchies of religious and political haves and have-nots, and that identity has evolved its own set of often problematic psychological schemas.

Toni Morrison and James Baldwin both diagnosed whiteness as a coping mechanism, one that took the edge off the existential terror of American "freedom." The fantasy of a pure and good whiteness must have felt as cozy as an old slipper to our European ancestors, warming them in the harsh New World. The familiar stories of saints and scoundrels, good and evil, carried in our ragbags from post-feudal Europe, smoothed the way as we untethered ourselves from millennia of subjugation to lords and clerics, and began the journey to the fearsome autonomy of a much wider world. Down through the centuries, European-descended fatcats offered "whiteness" as ruthless protection against the fear and pressure riding alongside the American dream of unlimited possibility - and charged unfathomable interest. Whiteness provides "an organization of experience around power," "an omnipotent fantasy, a fantasy of fullness," Altman observes, guarding against our most primal insecurities about ourselves, and the dangerous unpredictability of life in a world built on economic exploitation. Down to the present day, whiteness gives us a way out of "feelings of lack or ordinariness" and a fantasy that "human vulnerability and powerlessness can be overcome by achieving economic and political power and privilege." Those who cannot grab the brass rings of whiteness, economically or emotionally, are destined for the scrap heap: the depression of debt and failure, the disorientation of a failed identity, and the confusion and rage of "the left behind white." White writer Donna Minkowitz, who has covered white supremacist movements for decades, points out thatit increasingly seems like 21st century capitalism needs white supremacy, perhaps pulling for the most extreme racism in order to keep itself intact. And here we are again, back to the thing, white identity in hyper capitalism, buckling under the weight of its own contradictions. "There's room at the top, they're telling you still," John Lennon sang. "But first you must learn how to smile while you kill." From the hip white urban capitalist to the exurban white reactionary, whiteness explains everything to us about who we are and who is to blame for our problems: non-white people or poor white "trash."Lennon's conclusion, from his working class millionaire's perch: "You're still fucking peasants as far as I can see."

Ironically - or not - the field dedicated to uncovering, understanding and repairing our dysfunctional patterns can't perceive the white elephant in the room. Having put numerous other social and racial groups under the microscope, psychotherapy continues to resist turning an eye inward to the group behavior of white people as white people. White psychologists, psychiatrists, researchers and other mental health workers have been content to treat white group behavior as if it were synonymous with plain old human behavior (ignoring all the ways that white Americans are a particular social group in a world of different social groups) or hyperfocus on white racist behavior (skirting the less dramatic ways that racism and prejudice operate in everyday white life). When challenged, those white mental health experts can get testy. Esteemed black psychologist and researcher Janet Helms faced a firestorm in the '90s when she suggested that white psychologists "include themselves (that is, their own racial group) in the study of cross-cultural perceptions." Informed by white colleagues that white people think so little about their racial identity it couldn't possibly influence their behavior, Helms shot back with an article entitled, "I Also Said, 'White Racial Identity Influences White Researchers.'" "I did not then nor do I now understand White people well enough to truly consider myself an expert on in their psychology," she wrote. "But I also do not think many White psychology researchers or scholars can claim such expertise either."

***

Whiteness is nothing if not unconscious. Whatever our intentions, whiteness does what most unconscious conflicts do: wreak havoc. It works through our bodies into actions, or non-actions, that seep into the world, and explode. We recoil in defense against our reflection in the eyes of "others" - when we hear words like microaggressions, white supremacy, basic - yet wearehard pressed to comprehend, explain, or address the racial dimension of our lives. When confronted, we feel shame, hopelessness, rage, aggression. Or we feel guilty, and we resent the guilt. Then we settle back into a cloud of vaguely shameful dissociation and begin to forget again. There is a cycle, familiar to any experienced therapist: Like clockwork the racial nature of American reality gets pushed closer to the surface and the pressure mounts on (and within) white people to acknowledge our thing: slave auctions, lynchings, fire hoses, Hurricane Katrina, Philando Castile, Unite the Right, Zero Tolerance, "Send Her Back." It gets hard to hold on to white denial for awhile. We want to change, we swear we'll get better. But hold on hard we do. Like addicts, we can't live with our whiteness and we can't live without it. And we have so few words to talk about it, we can't even say why. In our wheel-spinning ambivalence we have achieved what prominent sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva calls "racism without racists." Bonilla-Silva's skepticism about a post-racial America was pointed: he delivered a talk just days after Barack Obama's election called "The 2008 Elections and the Future of Anti-Racism in 21st Century Amerika, or How We Got Drunk with Obama's Hope Liquor and Failed to See Reality".

As one racialized trauma after another reverberates across the country, and raw racism becomes more and more overt, there is an ever growing call for white people to "do the work" and uproot the psychological structures that maintain the discriminatory status quo. White people are urged to unpack Peggy McIntosh's invisible knapsack of white privilege and account for why, as White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo puts it, "we consciously or unconsciously believe that we are more important, more valuable, more intelligent, and more deserving than people of color." And as the momentum toward white racial awareness builds, the other side of the cycle starts to spin. We clutch our denial ever closer, holding on to the safety of old defenses: "You will not replace us!" "It's okay to be white!" "Send her back!" Mass shooters and tiki-torch-style white "nationalism" is the dramatic pale face of this regression, yet the cry is present at lower levels within all white Americans. Celibate 8-chan racistlings, defensive Bernie Bro dirtbags, histrionically persecuted intellectuals pursuing racial IQ differences to the ends of the (flat) earth - all triggered into core meltdown by white self examination and humility - are just the extreme manifestations of the profound dislocation most white Americans feel when we contemplate our whiteness.

Despite all the white silence and white fragility and white avoidance, psychology hasn't shied away from studying whiteness altogether. There have been efforts to understand stretching back almost a century: a 1937 field study of psychological dynamics under Jim Crow (John Dollard's Caste and Class in a Southern Town); a 1951 attempt to quantify the prejudiced personality (Harrison Gough's Prejudice Scale); provocative psychoanalytic theories about the nature of the white psyche (Joel Kovel's 1971 White Racism: A Psychohistory, Kimberlyn Leary's "Racial Enactments in Dynamic Treatment, " Gillian Stryker's 2004 "Race for Cover: Castrated Whiteness, Perverse Consequences, "Melanie Suchet's 2006 "Unravelling Whiteness", and Dorothy Holmes searing 2016 "Culturally Imposed Trauma: The Sleeping Dog Has Awakened: Will Psychoanalysis Take Heed?"). Therapists like Ann Todd Jealous, Caroline Haskell, and Resmaa Menakem have explored how to treat the personal and intergenerational racial trauma carried by their white clients, while academics like Ellyn Kaschak, Andrea Dottolo, Abigail Stewart and Diane Adams have drilled down into how whiteness works in white therapists. Analysis of white prejudice took off in the wake of the Holocaust, when the past nineteen centuries of cyclical European violence against Jews and other "others" suddenly began to look like a core flaw in the white Christian operating system. Giants of the field like Theodore Adorno ( The Authoritarian Personality) and Gordon Allport ( The Nature of Prejudice) have parsed whiteness in depth. Even Sigmund Freud took a stab at whiteness, analyzing a middle aged aristocratic Southerner with vivid dreams of being pulled in a carriage by two horses: one black, one white. Freud interpreted the horses as symbols of the man's conflicted attraction to African American women, which he linked to the man's upbringing in the antebellum South. In this man's social group upper class white women turned their babies over to enslaved black women to raise. The white children inevitably loved their caretakers until they were, in Reverend Thandeka's words, "bred white": taught to reject, sexualize, and dominate the women who reared them. As Lawrence Josephs and Arianne Miller have pointed out, Freud saw right through the symbolism of the dream to the twisted psychic structure underneath: the exploitation and debasement of interracial love, paired with the fetishization of interracial lust, all in service of propping up the physical and economic exploitation of black people for the benefit of a sadistically-inclined white elite. As far as Freud was concerned, the man's psychological conflicts were the natural outcome of his cultural heritage. His whiteness.

***

If there is a diagnosis, shouldn't there be treatment? If this is us, what are we going to do about it? Starting with Freud's psychoanalysis, there are a century's worth of psychological theories and tools at our disposable, all implicitly designed to guide white people through the complexities of white experience. Psychotherapy is always about behavior change, and behavior change can happen long before psychological healing is complete. Just like you don't need to wait until the cravings stop to quit drinking, a white person can drastically decrease their racist behaviors and increase their willingness to undermine white supremacy long before their racist thoughts and feelings subside. If you want - and that's a big "if" - to change the ways your actions are influenced by racial bias, conscious or not, then increasing your awareness of your bias and decreasing its influence over your behavior is a skill you can fairly easily learn and practice. The low-key discomfort with, and hostility toward, people from other races is extremely pervasive in white culture, and thus very challenging to consciously access. Racist behavior, on the other hand, is relatively easy to identify and undo. In therapy, this is called "surface to depth," meaning you begin with the most easily accessible problems and move toward the core defenses and dysfunctions. A white person can commit to hiring people of color, or not calling the police on people of color who make them uncomfortable, long before they achieve total liberation from the negative thoughts and feelings they have towards people of color. Meditation and mindfulness practices are the keys to the realm of greater awareness, and methods like legal scholar Rhonda Magee's techniques for using meditation to help law students dismantle their racial bias have shown promising results. LIke Robin DiAngelo's recommendations for confronting white fragility, meditation-based practices work on the interaction of thoughts, feelings and behavior. These interventions have much in common with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and have a high likelihood of effectiveness given that they are relatively simple to implement and designed specifically to address racial psychological processes.

Having put numerous other social and racial groups under the microscope, psychotherapy continues to resist turning an eye inward to the group behavior of white people as white people.

Anti-racism interventions geared toward motivated white participants often hit a predictable snag. When white people process "racial issues" in mixed company - racial justice activism or diversity training, for example - we are often seen venting our obsessive racial defenses, sucking all the air out of the room. This defensive lack of awareness, which Robin DiAngelo skewers as a privileged vulnerability to "race-based stress," often lands on people of color as yet another incidence of ignorance at best, and at worst, further emotional trauma. What is a treatment plan for whiteness that doesn't simultaneously inflict more pain? The twelve-step model - Whiteness Anonymous, if you will - offers the benefit of anonymity and privacy, thus protecting people of color from the inevitable messiness of white racial self-exploration, as well as encouraging white people who are too inhibited to participate in a public discussion. It offers a framework that balances reducing harm (abstinence from racially biased behavior, a fearless moral inventory, making amends when necessary) with growth (self-awareness, self-compassion and a commitment to taking reparative action and helping others access the benefits of recovery). Dr. Gail Golden, a white clinical social worker, has rewritten the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, withwhite supremacy as the addictive substance: admitting powerlessness over our socialization into a racist society is the first step. Individual psychotherapy, if you can access it with a therapist willing to address whiteness, also offers confidentiality and privacy. Its implements are specifically tooled to unearth and pry free the parts of ourselves that we unconsciously, jealously guard and resist changing.

Janet Helms remains the most significant figure in the theorizing of the thoughts behaviors that make up white identity. Helms began her career as a counselor and came to see white American racial identity - like all American racial identities - as healthiest when it faces head-on the complexity, pain and shame of racial reality, past and present. Her White Racial Identity Model is still, after three decades, the most thorough explication of how white people evolve, or don't, in their relationship to people of color and the racial hierarchy at large. One of Helms' core tenets is that racial identity permeates every aspect of our lives, including every relationship, even the one between therapist and client. She didn't see that as a bad thing. (Helms titled her self-help book for white people A Race is a Nice Thing To Have.) As an African-American working in an almost exclusively white field, Helms' theory was informed both by research and personal experience. She put her model to use as a tool for helping white clinicians better understand their own racial identities, in order to be more aware of their racial biases with non-white clients. It has since been taken up and expanded by a generation of psychological researchers and clinicians, especially in the field of diversity training.

Despite developing 'cultural competence' through a required multiculturalism class in graduate school, and contemplating my own racial and ethinic identity from time to time, I never thought of my whiteness as a source of psychological vulnerability.

Helms saw race as an inherently conflicted part of how Americans understand themselves. Like any psychological conflict, white identity could be resolved. Or not. Helms called whiteness "a culture shock experience, with race being the source of shock." Her theory of white identity, built on interviews with average white people, acknowledged the possibility, even likelihood, that most white people would never come to terms with the shock of their whiteness. The shock is blinding, and that is where most white people start, at color-blindness, which Helms calls Contact. The next phase is Disintegration, when a person first acknowledges being white and becomes ambivalent about the unearned racial privileges they enjoy. This is the "white guilt" phase, which is followed, paradoxically, by Reintegration, in which a person tries to lower the cognitive dissonance of whiteness by doubling down on the idea of superiority. This is the overt racism phase, the alt-right phase. An easy place, Helms observed, to get stuck. She hypothesized it would take something emotional - a painful or shocking experience, perhaps - to jackknife someone into the next phase, Psuedo-Independence, when they begin to yet again question the structures of racial discrimination, albeit in a superficial and intellectualized way: the Bernie Bro phase. The next step is Immersion/Emerson, in which the person continues questioning the role of race of their life and society, and becomes increasingly active and personal in their growth, which captures the spirit of many left-leaning white activists. The ultimate goal is Autonomy, in whichthe white person finally allows themselves to surrender to the emotional weight of America's racial history. The paralysis of guilt and resistance is overcome by an acceptance of one's, and one's people's, place in the racial landscape. What emerges, phoenix-like, Helms predicted, is an emotionally-charged commitment against racial prejudice, both within oneself and society. The Jimmy Carter phase. Helms acknowledged Autonomy to likely be an ideal, at least for now, a state of consciousness and action to be worked towards and occasionally reached but never fully achieved. Helms' experience as a counselor therapist informed her ideas about white racial identity, but her work is rarely used in actual therapy sessions with white clients, despite its potential as a template for understanding and reducing racist feeling, thought and behavior.

***

Helms' model assumes something that, when she suggested it 30 years ago was considered controversial, but now is almost mainstream: that white supremacy is bad for white mental health. An Angel Kyodo Williams, a black Zen Buddhist teacher puts it, "how intolerable it is to be so intolerant." Helms predicts that white people's conflicts and confusion, racial or otherwise, will only be relieved by ending structural racism in the present. White people commit and tolerate racism for many reasons, and effective therapy for white people will have to reframe - and combat - the ways that white people interact within the dysfunctional status quo, from the sadistic and self-defeating pleasure of being racially elevated over other people to the convenient and invisible (to us) subsidies to our purses and power. A patient in a psychiatric emergency room once told me, "I don't want to hurt anybody. And I don't want to be hurt." The treatment for white supremacy should be guided by the same principles: the hurting and the hurt are intertwined. "The price of the liberation of the white people is the liberation of the blacks - the total liberation, in the cities, in the towns, before the law, and in the mind," James Baldwin wrote, arriving decades ahead of time as usual. "The white man is himself in sore need of new standards, which will release him from his confusion and place him once again in fruitful communion with the depths of his own being."

In my years as a therapist, I have often recognized white patients as being out of "fruitful communion with the depths of their beings." Until recently, I never chalked it up to their being white. Despite developing "cultural competence" through a required multiculturalism class in graduate school, and contemplating my own racial and ethinic identity from time to time, I never thought of my whiteness as a source of psychological vulnerability. Despite my familiarity with the DSM concept of "culture bound syndromes" - the culturally and socially determined mental health issues of other racial and ethnic groups - I never considered that white Americans could have their own culture bound syndromes, like anorexia maybe, or mass shootings. (Sudden individual acts of mass violence, or amok, were until recently listed as a culture bound syndrome in the DSM - among Southeast Asians). That is, until a few years ago when I noticed that white people were literally and figuratively running amok in ways that were all too familiar to me as a psychologist and a white person. I began to look for guidance in cultural competence for treating American whites. I found nothing: no recommendations from the American Psychological Association or the American Psychiatric Association, no therapy manuals, few scholarly articles. What I found instead was a patchwork, almost secret, history of white and non-white people in and out of psychology, trying to understand whiteness. And almost synchronously, research became reality: white patients began to bring whiteness into our sessions, in the form of cross-race friendships that got complicated, or resentment toward "woke" coworkers of color who express anger about racism, or just distress over the relentless build of racist violence in the last three years. And once I began to consider that white people could be a separate social group, with particular psychological dynamics, influenced by our specific cultural history, all meticulously detailed in the annals of psychological theory and research, I couldn't stop. And by coincidence or not, the world wouldn't let me stop, because whiteness in 2019 wants you to rub your nose in it and inhale deeply.

But all that is a lot of intellectualizing, another culture-bound syndrome, or at least typical psychological dodge, of whiteness. All of the above happened in the course of my own non-professional experiences, my own feelings, my own questions about whiteness. All of this happened in the shadow of my own history as a lost-track-of-the-generation white American woman, descendant of indentured servants and slave owners, daughter of white parents who tried to slip around whiteness and rebel against it, of grandparents who held on for dear life on one side and tried their darndest to reinvent it without losing it on the other, all of us never escaping, always returning to drink from the well of whiteness when our thirst for comfort and security overcame us. All of this happened inside the frame my own whiteness, whatever it is, whatever that means.

Psychoanalyst Melanie Suchet is one of a handful of practicing therapists who have thought deeply about whiteness in therapy. She echoes Helms' prescription for greater white racial awareness as essential to the psychological health of America as a whole. Suchet, a white South African,has a unique perspective on the national and cultural pathology of American whiteness. In her essay "Unraveling Whiteness," she reflects on the "grip of whiteness" in both nations, "a space we have inhabited for centuries, crystallized and sedimented so firmly in our psychic structure we can feel as if it would be impossible to shift." She is particularly deft at deconstructing liberal "woke" whites like herself: the well-off urban therapy-providing-and-consuming class who do not see themselves as racist but freely judge other whites as such.Suchetlooks at her own history uncovering, resisting and surrendering to the denied parts of her white self: the "racial shame, the shame of the abuser, the despised." Despite her initial, "white fragility" reaction, Suchet found that submerging herself in racial shame was a portal to deeper understanding. "The work," she writes, "lies in a deep acceptance of all the parts of the self and the conflicts that accompany me. I am the colonizer and the colonized, the oppressor and the oppressed, the racist and the anti-racist. In accepting this I can occupy a different space with a different awareness and openness to how race is lived and experienced."

Suchet suggests that the "loss of the idealized white self is a necessary step in the undoing of whiteness." This loss paves the way for "racial melancholia," a term coined by therapists David Eng and Shinhee Han writing on the emotional reality of Asian American assimilation. Suchet and others have adapted Eng and Han's work to describe the feeling when the defenses of whiteness lower and the weight of racial reality sinks in. It is "the melancholia of the beneficiary...the recognition that under the mantle of whiteness there is the perpetration of violence, terror and the infliction of psychological damage." Racial melancholia is an essential stop on the road to a less toxic, less defensive way of whiteness. It is by definition devastating. "It is with horror that we come to own the destructiveness that is a part of whiteness," Suchet writes. "We benefit despite ourselves, despite our beliefs, values, and ideas."

Like any therapeutic process, the healing of whiteness involves significant 'discomfort,' - mental health's favorite euphemism for emotional agony.

There is hope in this process, but also profound pain: "In the acceptance of who one is," Suchet predicts, "there is an opening up of the inner space....It is only through surrendering the brittle defensiveness of whiteness that a space for mutual recognition can be created." The pain breeds resistance: to change, to awareness, to the vulnerability that whiteness so expertly smooths over. "Is there is a small part of me that wishes to remain white?" Suchet wonders. "Are we always the unwilling beneficiaries of whiteness or are we more willing than we care to acknowledge?" Suchet is well aware of how much we would like to avoid the reckoning our whiteness both demands and resists. Like any good therapist, she knows the only way out is through: "Bear with me in this struggle. I want to offer you a solution, yet I also know there is none, only a continual process of opening up."

Janet Helms also predicted that a reckoning with whiteness would be required for white Americans to free ourselves and our country from our racial debts. That is where white America exists now. In the wake of Contact, and of Disintegration following Barack Obama's election,we see ourselves exploding into Reintegration, the flight back to our collective security blanket, the disturbing and disturbed comfort of racial superiority. White Americans are in the midst of a public mental health crisis - just check the acting out: suicide, addiction, mass shootings. The concurrent return to "white pride," whether from "very fine people" in Charlottesville or from the president himself, is a dramatic symptom of a broader decompensation of our national psyche. The cries of "white genocide!" and "send her back!," simultaneously threatening and panicked, are a direct line into the fears of a people regressing into paranoia, lashing out against shadows. According to recent polling, almost half of white adults see the country's future pessimistically, and a third look with trepidation to the days when we become a racial minority. The violent escalation of scapegoating of immigrants and people of color is, all or in part, a reaction to the recognition that the days of white wine and roses are over. And we are not well equipped for the New World to come.

***

Melanie Suchet emigrated to the United States, ironically she admits, to escape race. She returned to South Africa years after the fall of apartheid. "I was struck by the precariousness of whiteness," she wrote, witnessing South African whites adrift in "a profound sense of insecurity, marginalization, a sense of having lost one's place, of being out of place, not knowing exactly what that place might be." She noted the fearful coping mechanisms used by white South Africans to manage their sudden (perceived) vulnerability as a racial minority: "the retreat into a fortified world as exemplified by the high walls topped with barbed wire or electrified fences, security checkpoints, and guard dogs." Despite the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africans continue to struggle with the psychological damage of apartheid, alongside the economic and societal aftershocks. "The dismantling of white authority is not a smooth process," writes Suchet. "There is no linear absolution," for whites; "the colonizer within can never be shed, only disrupted again and again." Like any therapeutic process, the healing of whiteness involves significant "discomfort," - mental health's favorite euphemism for emotional agony. It is likely the only way out of the morass in which we find ourselves. In the absence of a white political leadership willing to engage in racial healing - which much of the white population rejected from an African-American president - it is left to average Americans to try to solve the puzzle. What Melanie Suchet saw in South Africa is not promising. When people do not have a safe way to surrender their destructive patterns, the potential for healing stalls, and people get stuck. As Janet Helms predicted, the temptation to retreat from the challenge of racial melancholia and reverse into comforting notions of white superiority and racial resentment is strong, nearly automatic. Without the psychological wisdom white people have been building for ourselves for more than a century, we are even more lost in the grip of whiteness. "When violence and mistrust is the norm, then this complex process of internal reorganization is less possible, and the precariousness of identity is more evident," Suchet writes. And then? "And whiteness, as it was, will continue to unravel."

* * *
Natasha Stovall is a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York City.

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Clinical psychologist Natasha Stovall looks at the vast spectrum of white people problems, and why we never talk about them in therapy.

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Decolonise the Curriculum | Pran Patel | TEDxNorwichED

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Kimberlé Crenshaw: The urgency of intersectionality

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Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon; as she says, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both.

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How Structural Racism Works: Tricia Rose

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The propaganda of 'British values' is a distortion of history – Akala | In my opinion

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Cultural Humility | Juliana Mosley, Ph.D. | TEDxWestChester

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When it comes to her well-established career as an anti-racist educator, Robin DiAngelo says, "I kind of fell into it." Years of deep learning, research and mentorship from colleagues of color led her not only to understand that her whiteness has meaning-but also to become really good at explaining this to other white people.

The New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism sat down with Teaching Tolerance to discuss why working against one's own fragility is a necessary part of white anti-racist work-and why good intentions don't matter.

In a nutshell, what is white fragility?

Well, when I coined that term, the fragility part was meant to capture how little it takes to upset white people racially. For a lot of white people, the mere suggestion that being white has meaning will cause great umbrage. Certainly generalizing about white people will. Right now, me saying "white people," as if our race had meaning, and as if I could know anything about somebody just because they're white, will cause a lot of white people to erupt in defensiveness. And I think of it as a kind of weaponized defensiveness. Weaponized tears. Weaponized hurt feelings. And in that way, I think white fragility actually functions as a kind of white racial bullying.

We white people make it so difficult for people of color to talk to us about our inevitable-but often unaware-racist patterns and assumptions that, most of the time, they don't. People of color working and living in primarily white environments take home way more daily indignities and slights and microaggressions than they bother talking to us about because their experience consistently is that it's not going to go well. In fact, they're going to risk more punishment, not less. They're going to now have to take care of the white person's upset feelings. They're going to be seen as a troublemaker. The white person is going to withdraw, defend, explain, insist it had to have been a misunderstanding.

And who is the primary audience for this book?

My audience is the average, well-intended white person who sees themselves as open-minded, and yet cannot answer the question: "What does it mean to be white?"

I think white progressives can be the most challenging because we tend to be so certain that it isn't us. And that certitude is problematic. It doesn't allow for humility, and, to be direct, it's quite arrogant. So we don't tend to be receptive at all. ... I think the worst fear of a well-intended white person is that we would accidentally say something racist. But then how do we respond when someone lets us know, "Hey, you just accidentally said something racist"? We respond with, "How dare you. No, I didn't!"

So, to the degree that our identities are very attached to this idea of being free of racism, we're actually going to resist any of the critical examination that we need to be engaged in for our entire lives. Because every moment that I push against the socialization that I've received into a white supremacist culture, that culture is pushing right back at me. And that pressure is seductive. It's comfortable. There are social rewards for not challenging racism. [White] people perceive you as easier to get along with when you maintain white solidarity.

In the book, you talk about the danger of assuming good intentions. Can you say a little bit about why assuming good intentions can actually be dangerous or harmful?

I think intentions are irrelevant. It's nice to know you had good intentions, but the impact of what you did was harmful. And we need to let go of our intentions and attend to the impact, to focus on that.

A lot of groups that come together to have these discussions generate a list of guidelines or ground rules. And if we really looked critically at those, I think we would see that mostly they're about maintaining white comfort. They presume a lack of differential power in the space. But power relations are always at play, and people are in different power positions in that room. So the very things that might make a white person feel comfortable may be exactly what says to a person of color, "Do not be authentic; do not be yourself. Do not show your emotions. Do not get upset. Do not be angry." ...

There's a question that's never failed me in this work to uncover how racism keeps reproducing itself despite all of the evidence we like to give for why it couldn't be us. And that question isn't, "Is this true or is this false: Was the person's intention good or not?" We're never going to be able to come to an agreement on intentions. You cannot prove somebody's intentions. They might not even know their intentions. And if they weren't good, they're probably not going to admit that. The question I ask is, "How does this function?" The impact of the action is what is relevant.

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What's My Complicity? Talking White Fragility With Robin DiAngelo

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When it comes to her well-established career as an anti-racist educator, Robin DiAngelo says, "I kind of fell into it." Years of deep learning, research and mentorship from colleagues of color led her not only to understand that her whiteness has meaning-but also to become really good at explaining this to other white people.

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FREE Resources from Race Reflections

AT WORK Our Podcast
RACE REFLECTIONS AT WORK - OUR NEW PODCAST - RACE REFLECTIONS
A few FREE access articles

Neuroses of whiteness, white envy and racial violence

COVID-19, Racism & Eugenics: PART 1
LIVING WHILE BLACK - RACE REFLECTIONS
The American Psychological Association (APA)'s SECTION 6 - CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF ETHNIC MINORITIES- The section aims to promote research on clinical interventions with American racial and ethnic minority populations; to foster sensitivity to cultural, racial, and ethnic issues in the training of all psychologists; to increase the quality and accessibility of training opportunities for minority clinical psychologists; to enhance the representation of minority psychologists with Division 12 and APA governance, and to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas on socio-cultural issues.

APA Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations These guidelines propose a framework for Psychological service providers to consider diversity and difference issues systematically within their services.

The Race and Culture Faculty . A network of the British Psychological Society's Division of Clinical Psychology that is dedicated to helping the profession better address issues related to race and cultural diversity. Please note, the Race and Culture Faculty has been disbanded and is no longer in existence in its previous form. It is unclear what the Faculty may be replaced with (if, anything) but, once this is established, the relevant information will be posted.

The Clinical Psychologists Black & Asian Network (CPBAN). This is a network of qualified Clinical Psychologists of Black and Asian heritage working in the NHS aiming to foster connections between members within a supportive and reflective space.

The Black and Asian Therapist Network (BAATN) A Network that seeks to reflect the many who are committed, passionate, and actively engaged in addressing the psychological needs of Black and Asian people in the UK.

The Dulwich Centre. An Australia based site dedicated to family therapy, community work, and multi-cultural practice. The site offers a range of resources on race and culture issues.

The Afiya Trust. A national charity that works to reduce inequalities in health and social care provision for people from racialised communities.

The Nasfiyat Centre. A long-standing charity that offers high-quality community based intercultural psychotherapy in London and a range of training courses.

The Refugee Council. The Refugee Council works with refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK and offers them practical advice and support. The Council has been helping refugees for more than 60 years and has a thorough understanding of the difficulties facing people arriving in the UK, many of whom have fled war, rape, torture, and have unimaginable stories to tell. The Refugee Council offers a helping hand to support and empower them to rebuild their lives.

The UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG) is a charity that promotes equality and dignity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) people who seek asylum in the UK, or who wish to immigrate here to be with their same-sex partner.

Freedom From Torture. Freedom From Torture (previously the Medical Foundation For The Care of Victims of torture) works with survivors of torture to help them begin to rebuild their lives. Sharing this expertise with partner organisations in the UK and internationally, it operates as a centre of learning and knowledge in the care, treatment, and protection of torture survivors.

Black Mental Health UK. Black Mental Health UK' s focus is on empowering African Caribbean communities to improve the Black service user experience and reduce the over-representation of Black people at the coercive end of psychiatric care.

Just Psychology. Just Psychology is a multidisciplinary group of professionals providing services to address the psychological and mental health needs of children, adults, and families, with particular emphasis on cultural diversity, cultural competence, and social justice.

Prof. Suman Fernando's Website. Prof. Fernando is a Psychiatrist, Academic, and Writer. This site provides information on issues around 'race' and 'culture' in relation to mental health in western multi-ethnic societies, social and mental health care in low and middle income ('third world') countries, racism in psychiatry, and the ethics of mental health practice in a multi-ethnic society.

Stop Hate UK tackles hate crimes and discrimination and would to create reporting channels for those unwilling to contact the police.

Black Cultural Archives, the only national heritage centre focused on preserving and celebrating the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain.

The Black Curriculum A social enterprise that exists to address the lack of Black British history in the UK Curriculum and works towards changing the national curriculum to build a sense of identity in young people aged 8-16.

Clinical Psychology (generic)

The Official Website of The British Psychological Society (BPS)'s Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP). The Division of Clinical Psychology promotes the professional interests of Clinical Psychologists across the UK.

The Clearing House for Postgraduate Courses in Clinical Psychology - information on clinical psychology courses in Great Britain and how to apply

Equality

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is mandated by the parliament to challenge discrimination and to protect and promote human rights. A range of guides and resources on equality can be accessed on the commission's website.

The British Federation of Racial Equality Councils. The council exists to eliminate discrimination promote equality of opportunity and good relations and support and defend the rights of minorities. It fulfils its purpose by representing, promoting, and protecting organisations that share the same or similar purpose.

The Race Equality Foundation. The Foundation promotes race equality in social support and public services by exploring what is known about discrimination and disadvantage, developing better evidence-based practice to promote equality, and disseminating good practice through educational activities, conferences, written material, and websites.

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR). Established as an independent educational charity in 1958 to carry out research, publish and collect resources on race relations throughout the world, the IRR underwent a radical transformation and established itself as a major anti-racist 'thinktank'. Since then, it has been at the cutting edge of the research and analysis that inform the struggle for racial justice in Britain, Europe, and internationally and seeks to reflect the experiences of those who suffer racial oppression and draws its perspectives from the most vulnerable in society.

The Poverty Site. The UK site for statistics and data on poverty and social exclusion. The Poverty Site monitors what is happening in relation to poverty and social exclusion in the UK and has material covering over 100 statistical indicators on all aspects of the subject, from income and work to health and education.

The Equality Trust. The Equality Trust aims to reduce income inequality in order to improve the quality of life in the Uk. It works with others to build a social movement for change analyse and disseminate the latest research, promote robust evidence-based arguments, and support a dynamic network of campaign groups across the country.

RACE

Free Black University, a membership website (free membership) with educational resources centring Black radical knowledge. It also aims to offer support to Black students in higher education through a Black PhD student network.

, Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health UK. A school-based project offering resources for schools and spaces for young people to discuss Black History and wellbeing.

, a space for Black students in counselling, psychotherapy and psychology. Providing support, networking, advocacy, reflection and learning spaces. They also offer training workshops.

LAWRs (Latin American Women's Rights) and LAWA (Latin American Women's Aid) , two organisations dedicated to support Latinx migrant women by giving information about their rights, housing and benefits, legal support and refugee assistant. They both also offer counselling in Spanish and Portuguese.

, multicultural, multilingual therapy for women, offering 1 to 1 low-cost counselling, groups and workshops. They have different specialist projects such as Irish women's counselling, a Black women's psychotherapy group, and counsellors specialised in working with survivors of Female Genital Mutilation.

INTERSECTIONAL
The Minorities in Clinical Psychology Training Group Set up in August 2012, the group primarily exists to give individuals who by reason of their ethnicity/race or culture, health/disability, parenting/caring responsibilities, or sexuality find themselves in a minority position within their training cohort; a chance to get connected to others who may share similar experiences. The group which is now part of the British Psychological Society's division of clinical psychology also aims to contribute toward a better understanding of minoritized experiences within clinical psychology in the UK.
Imaan which was founded in 1999 in London, is the leading organisation that supports Muslims who identify as LGBT in the UK.
Southall Black Sisters is a not-for-profit organisation set up in 1979 to meet the needs of black (Asian and African-Caribbean) and minority ethnic women. SBS provides a range of advice and support services to enable black and minority women to gain the knowledge and confidence they need to assert their human rights. General and specialist advice on gender-related issues such as domestic violence, sexual violence, forced marriage, honour killings, and their intersection with the criminal justice, immigration and asylum systems, health, welfare rights, homelessness, and poverty; is provided.

UK Black Pride promotes unity among LGBT Black people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and Latin American descent, their friends, and families who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender. The organisation is committed to producing an annual celebration of "Black Pride", as well as organising a variety of activities throughout the year in and around the UK which also promotes and advocate for the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual health and well-being of all related communities. Black Pride aims to foster, present, and celebrate Black LGBT culture through education, the arts, cultural events, and advocacy.

The BME Health Forum is a unique and well-established partnership between voluntary and community organisations, healthcare providers, commissioners, and local authorities. It improves the quality of health and social care services for patients from deprived backgrounds living primarily in Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham. The BME Health Forum empowers marginalised patients and communities to engage and influence local health care provision. It provides a way for health professionals, and commissioners to listen to the health needs of marginalised patients and make improvements to health services.

Black Women's Rape Action Project Founded in 1991, the initiative runs services and campaigns that focus on winning justice for women of colour and immigrant women who have survived rape, racist attacks, and other forms of violence. The website offers a range of useful resources.

DCP forum 2005 Special Edition on Racism Clinical Psychology Forum 48 (2005)

DCP Clinical Psychology Forum Special issue on diversity Clinical Psychology Forum 230 (2012)

Racism and Mental Health. The African American Experience Williams and Williams-Morris. Taylor Francis LTD (2000)

'Being Black and Feeling Blue'. The Mental Health Consequences of Racial Discrimination Brown et al. Elsevier Science Inc. (2000)

Black and White Thinking: Using CAT to think about Race in the Therapeutic Space. Reformulation, Winter, pp.58-62. Brown, H. and Msebele, N. (2011)

Racism and Psychological Injury. Recognizing and Assessing Race-Based Traumatic Stress Carter. The Counseling Psychologist (2007)

Race in The Room. Issues in The Dynamic Psychotherapy of African Americans Liggan and Kay. TRANSCULTURAL PSYCHIATRY (1999)

Prejudice as Ideology: The Creation of "Us" and "Them" Groups in Society (and Psychoanalysis). Psychotherapy and Politics International 13(3), 182-193, Dalal F. (2015)

APA-The Psychological Treatment of Ethnic Populations American Psychological Association (2003)

Mental Health Race Culture and Ethnicity U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2001)

Race Models. Race, Values, and Models in Mental Health Mental Health Foundation (2009)

Black Psychology, M. Karenga (1993)

More Than Black and White. Mental Health Services Provided to People from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities Ellix and Subbuswamy (2007)?

Working Therapeutically With The Hidden Dimensions of Racism Aileen Alleyne In Fernando & Keating (Eds)/Mental Health in a Multi-Ethnic Society: A Multidisciplinary Handbook (2008)

The Oppositional Gaze: Black Women Spectators, b. Hooks (1992)

Black Feminist Thought: Knowlege, consciousness and the politics of empowerment, P.Hill-collins (1990)

Ain't I a woman: Black Women and Feminism, b. Hooks (1982)

Black Skin White Masks, F. Fanon (1952)

Pedagogy of The Oppressed, P. Freire (1968)

Potential sources of support and advice:

If you would like any support or advice around issues related to race, ethnicity and or equality, you may wish to speak to your local citizen advice bureau in the first instance or, if these issues are impacting on your wellbeing, please contact your GP. Other external sources of support will be listed below.

The Samaritans exist to provide round the clock, 24 hours a day, 365 days year support if you need to speak to someone or you are in distress, please call 116 123.

The British Association of Psychotherapists is a service that organises assessment and psychotherapy. There is also a reduced fee scheme providing 3 times per week psychotherapy, usually with a trainee.

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FREE Resources from Race Reflections AT WORK Our Podcast RACE REFLECTIONS AT WORK - OUR NEW PODCAST - RACE REFLECTIONS A few FREE access articles https://racereflections.co.uk/neuroses-of-whiteness-white-envy-and-racial-violence/ https://racereflections.co.uk/covid-19-racism-and-eugenics-part-1/ https://racereflections.co.uk/on-attachment-place-and-otherness/ LIVING WHILE BLACK - RACE REFLECTIONS The American Psychological Association (APA)'s SECTION 6 - CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF ETHNIC MINORITIES- The section aims to promote research on...

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Don’t Talk about Implicit Bias Without Talking about Structural Racism

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by Kathleen Osta and Hugh Vasquez, National Equity Project

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Book Description

What does it mean to be white? This remains the question at large in the continued effort to examine how white racial identity is constructed and how systems of white privilege operate in everyday life. White Out brings together the original work of leading scholars across the disciplines of sociology, philosophy, history, and anthropology to give readers an important and cutting-edge study of "whiteness".

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White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism

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What does it mean to be white? This remains the question at large in the continued effort to examine how white racial identity is constructed and how systems of white privilege operate in everyday life.

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Natives: race and class in the ruins of empire - Akala

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Natives: race and class in the ruins of empire - Akala

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 How to be an antiracist Ibram X. Kendi - 2019

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 How to be an antiracist Ibram X. Kendi - 2019

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Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor - Layla F.Saad 2020

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Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor - Layla F.Saad 2020

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Dying of Whiteness Jonathan M. Metzl - 2019

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Dying of Whiteness Jonathan M. Metzl - 2019

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White Privilege Unmasked: how to be part of the solution - Judy Ryde 2019

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White Privilege Unmasked: how to be part of the solution - Judy Ryde 2019

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White Fragility: why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism - Robin DiAngelo 2018

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White Fragility: why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism - Robin DiAngelo 2018

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My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathways to Mending our Hearts and Bodies Resmaa Menakem - 2017

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My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathways to Mending our Hearts and Bodies Resmaa Menakem - 2017

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Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race - Reni Eddo Lodge 2017

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Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race - Reni Eddo Lodge 2017

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Intersections of Privilege and Otherness in Counselling and Psychotherapy - Dwight Turner 2021

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Intersections of Privilege and Otherness in Counselling and Psychotherapy - Dwight Turner 2021

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Being White in the Helping Professions - Judy Ryde 2009

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Being White in the Helping Professions - Judy Ryde 2009

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Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People - Mahzarin R. Banaji , Anthony G. Greenwald 2016

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Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People - Mahzarin R. Banaji , Anthony G. Greenwald 2016

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So You Want to Talk About Race Hardcover – Ijeoma Oluo 2018

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So You Want to Talk About Race Hardcover – Ijeoma Oluo 2018

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Racial identity, White Counsellors and Therapists - Gill Tuckwell 2002

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Racial identity, White Counsellors and Therapists - Gill Tuckwell 2002

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The Isis Papers. The Keys to the Colors - Dr. Frances Cress Welsing 1991

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The Isis Papers. The Keys to the Colors - Dr. Frances Cress Welsing 1991

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Asian Art Therapists: Navigating Art, Diversity & Culture -  Megu Kitazawa  2020

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Asian Art Therapists: Navigating Art, Diversity & Culture -  Megu Kitazawa  2020

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Abstract

This viewpoint examines the limitations of cultural competency in art therapy education through personal reflection, calling for an immersive engagement with social justice practices of naming difference, asserting counter narratives, and following the leadership of people impacted by systemic violence. The author discusses the impact of state-funded attacks on African Americans and responses within the Black community that have shaped her pedagogical framework and emphasizes the need for a shift of power that would strengthen an art therapy approach to social justice and encourage critical consciousness among students.

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Is Cultural Competence Enough? Deepening Social Justice Pedagogy in Art Therapy

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Abstract This viewpoint examines the limitations of cultural competency in art therapy education through personal reflection, calling for an immersive engagement with social justice practices of naming difference, asserting counter narratives, and following the leadership of people impacted by systemic violence.

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Abstract

In this article, we call on white art therapists to assume responsibility for dismantling white supremacy in the field of art therapy, in personal as well as political-structural arenas. We respond to calls from scholars and writers of color for white people to assume increased responsibility for dismantling white supremacy in white communities and serve as mentors for one another in overcoming toxic whiteness and white fragility. The article defines white supremacy, describes ways in which it manifests in the contemporary field of art therapy, and offers firsthand insight into ways that white art therapists can work to dismantle toxic whiteness in themselves and in art therapy's organizational and political structures.

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Know History, Know Self: Art Therapists' Responsibility to Dismantle White Supremacy

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Abstract In this article, we call on white art therapists to assume responsibility for dismantling white supremacy in the field of art therapy, in personal as well as political-structural arenas. We respond to calls from scholars and writers of color for white people to assume increased responsibility for dismantling white supremacy in white communities and serve as mentors for one another in overcoming toxic whiteness and white fragility.

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This article examines the conditions under which art therapy might be a culturally appropriate intervention. The aspects of art therapy and assessment that may be assimilationist or ethnocentric are identified, and alternatives are presented. Problems inherent in the cross-cultural interpretation of art are also discussed and methods that maximize interpretive validity and reliability are introduced. The characteristics of a culturally sensitive art therapist are described, while implications for the general field of art therapy are explored. Art therapy can serve as a departure from many other Western therapeutic traditions in its critical self-examination and conscientious attempts to be a progressive and ethical enterprise.

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This article examines the conditions under which art therapy might be a culturally appropriate intervention. The aspects of art therapy and assessment that may be assimilationist or ethnocentric are identified, and alternatives are presented. Problems inherent in the cross-cultural interpretation of art are also discussed and methods that maximize interpretive validity and reliability are introduced.

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Art Therapy, Race and Culture - Jenny Jones and Cathy Ward Jean Campbell, Marian Liebmann, Frederica Brooks - 1999

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Art Therapy, Race and Culture - Jenny Jones and Cathy Ward Jean Campbell, Marian Liebmann, Frederica Brooks - 1999

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Tapestry of Cultural Issues in Art Therapy - Anna R. Hiscox, Abby C. Calisch

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Tapestry of Cultural Issues in Art Therapy - Anna R. Hiscox, Abby C. Calisch

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Me and White Supremacy: How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World - by Layla Saad 2020

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Me and White Supremacy: How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World - by Layla Saad 2020

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The Challenge of Racism in Therapeutic Practice: Engaging with Oppression in Practice and Supervision - Isha McKenzie-Mavinga  2016

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The Challenge of Racism in Therapeutic Practice: Engaging with Oppression in Practice and Supervision - Isha McKenzie-Mavinga  2016

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The 400th anniversary of the arrival in America of the first enslaved people from West Africa validated my interest in the generational impact of racial trauma. The New York Times Magazine 1619 Project galvanized me to consider how historical racial trauma has not been a primary treatment consideration in my client caseload. Nikole Hannah-Jones, NYT investigative reporter and originator of the 1619 Project said it best, "If we are truly going to address the conditions that people live in now we have to deal with how they got here."

I am pleased to join my colleagues in this blog series and to offer some terms and historical context important to guide the discussion.

1) Defining Racism

Race has long been a construct used in the United States to distinguish groups of people according to similar genetic and physical characteristics, however "race can also be viewed as a social category" (Shiraev & Levy, 2017, p. 5). Racism, described as: "Blatant and overt acts of discrimination that are epitomized by White supremacy, that denies people of color their equal rights and opportunities, and can include having hate crimes perpetuated against" (Sue & Sue, 2016, p.753) is considered a major stressor in the lives of people of color. Dr. Robert Carter (2007) stresses there are multiple definitions of racism:

Individual racism - the belief in one's superiority and members' of the out-groups inferiority.

Institutional racism - the unequal outcomes in social systems and organizations such as education, health care, employment and politics

Cultural racism - the belief that the values/characteristics of one racial group are superior to that of other racial groups

Avoidant racism - maintaining a distance or minimizing contact between members of the dominant and non-dominant racial groups

Hostile racism - experiences meant to communicate the target's inferior status due to their membership in the non-dominant group

Aversive hostile racism - experiences intended to create distance with strong hostile elements after a person of Color has gained entrance into an institution/organization in which they were previously excluded.

2) Defining Racial Trauma

In the United States, hate crimes - attacks involving violent behavior motivated by prejudice, on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender - are increasing (Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism, 2018). This only adds to the cumulative effectiveness of discrimination and institutional racism.

Racial trauma is comprised of the physical and psychological symptoms that people of color often experience after exposure to particularly stressful experiences of racism (Carter, 2007). These experiences with racism never exist in isolation; racial trauma is a cumulative experience where every personal or vicarious encounter with racism contributes to more insidious, chronic stress (Carter, 2007).

3) Understanding Racial Trauma in Art Therapy

As a clinician, I recognize that the effects of racism come from the social cultural environment and not from an abnormality within the individual that was exposed to racism (Carter, 2007).

Currently my clinical caseload primarily includes dyads of African American mothers with children who have been exposed to trauma. Dr. Clack (2018) indicated, "Sadly, many women do not know they have been traumatized because they have learned to live and function moving from one bad event to the next without stopping to think about the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual consequences of each hurt and disappointment" (p. 98). In my art therapy sessions, I find myself applying what Dr. Clack stressed: "It is important for the therapist to help clients make connections to the experiences in their lives and not have them blame themselves for victimization or exploitation that happened to them" (p. 107). This consideration is most important when the mother and child have been exposed to racial trauma.

In an effort to begin to address the symptoms of racial trauma with the families I serve, one of the measures I have found useful is the Philadelphia Expanded Ace Questionnaire. I've used this version of the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) questionnaire to assess for encounters with discrimination and racism to address in my clients' treatment. Frequently there is a generational exposure to trauma among my client families. The resulting conversations revealed the experiences of grandmothers, and the "passing down" of survival behaviors and beliefs to their daughters/grandchildren (Clack, 2018, p. 103). Mother-child art making sessions have depicted the legacy of racial trauma, and its impact on the interactions within families today, so I can reframe their experiences and not have them blame themselves for the victimization that they experienced.
References
Carter, R.T. (2007). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35, 13 - 105. http://dx.org/10.1177/0011000006292033

Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism (2018). Report to the nation: Hate crimes rise in the U.S. cities and counties in time of division & foreign interference. Retrieved from: https://csbs.csusb.edu/sites/csusb_csbs/files2018%20Hate%20Report%205-141PM.pdf.

Clack, A. R. (2018). Women of Color Talk: Psychological Narratives on Trauma and Depression. Sicklerville, NJ: Clack Associates

Hannah-Jones, N. (August 18, 2019). The 1619 Project. New York Times Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html

Institute for Safe Families. Findings from the Philadelphia Urban ACE Survey. Available at: http://www.instituteforsafefamilies.org/sites/default/files/isfFiles/Philadelphia Urban ACE Report 2013.pdf.

Shiraev, E.B. & Levy, D.A. (2017). Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary application (6th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Sue, D.W.& Sue, D. (2016). Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice (7th ed). New York, NY: Wiley.

Cheryl Doby-Copeland, Ph.D., ATR-BC, LPC, LMFT, HLM

Dr. Doby-Copeland has over 43 years of experience and continues to be fully employed as an art therapist. For the past 25 years, Dr. Doby-Copeland has worked for the D.C. Government Department of Behavioral Health in such areas as juvenile corrections, community mental health, public schools, and home-based services. In her current position working with young children and families, she is a clinician, manager, and supervisor. Dr. Doby-Copeland is a licensed professional counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, and school psychologist. Dr. Doby-Copeland served as an adjunct professor in the Art Therapy Program at The George Washington University and originated the first course on multiculturalism in 1999.

Dr. Doby-Copeland has served three terms as Director on the American Art Therapy Association Board of Directors (1999-2001, 2013-2017) and served one-year as interim Speaker of the Assembly of Chapters (2018). Dr. Doby-Copeland received the Honorary Life Member recognition from AATA in 2018. She currently serves as a Director on the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB).
BACK TO THE MAIN BLOG

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Framing Race in the Context of Art Therapy - American Art Therapy Association

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February 20, 2020 | Cheryl Doby-Copeland The 400th anniversary of the arrival in America of the first enslaved people from West Africa validated my interest in the generational impact of racial trauma. The New York Times Magazine 1619 Project galvanized me to consider how historical racial trauma has not been a primary treatment consideration in my client caseload.

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Cultural Humility in Art Therapy: Applications for Practice, Research, Social Justice, Self-Care, and Pedagogy  -  Louvenia Jackson 2020

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Cultural Humility in Art Therapy: Applications for Practice, Research, Social Justice, Self-Care, and Pedagogy  -  Louvenia Jackson 2020

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These podcasts are for anyone who is interested in the psychological impact of race on people of colour from a UK Perspective. They feature prominent Black, African and Asian therapists and allies sha

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ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT
Recent social movements have illuminated systemic inequities in U.S. society, including within the social sciences. Thus, it is essential that attachment researchers and practitioners engage in reflection and action to work toward anti-racist perspectives in the field. Our aims in this paper are (1) to share the generative conversations and debates that arose in preparing the Special Issue of Attachment & Human Development, "Attachment Perspectives on Race, Prejudice, and Anti-Racism"; and (2) to propose key considerations for working toward anti-racist perspectives in the field of attachment. We provide recommendations for enriching attachment theory (e.g. considering relations between caregivers' racial-ethnic socialization and secure base provision), research (e.g. increasing the representation of African American researchers and participants), and practice (e.g. advocating for policies that reduce systemic inequities in family supports). Finally, we suggest two relevant models integrating attachment theory with perspectives from Black youth development as guides for future research.

Attachment theory has roots in East Africa: Mary Ainsworth conducted her foundational observations with Black mothers and infants in Uganda, and she provided detailed ethnographic descriptions of the context in which those observations took place (Ainsworth, 1967). Ainsworth was hesitant to make universal claims without sufficient evidence and for this reason was enthusiastic about cross-cultural research (Duschinsky et al., 2020). Her view embraced both the universal human capacity for love and relationships as well as cultural variation in their expression: "I think that environmental influences play no significant role in the infant's basic need for an attachment figure who can be trusted. But culture-related differences in ecologies and expectations will certainly affect how some specific aspects of that organization are expressed" (Ainsworth & Marvin, 1995, p. 8). Since then, at least two decades of exceptional cross-cultural work (for reviews see Mesman, 2021; Mesman et al., 2018, 2012, 2016; Posada et al., 1995, 2016) has documented patterns of caregiving and attachment in hundreds of studies in over 25 non-Western countries, including observations of multi-caregiver networks (for a review see Howes & Spieker, 2016).

What is missing from this work, however, is adequate attention to the unique context of African American families - a context that includes the intergenerational trauma of slavery, the legacy of Jim Crow, ongoing racist policies that disproportionately harm families of color, daily experiences of discrimination, and the current Black Lives Matter movement, as well as the "ordinary magic" of cultural strengths, joy, and family resilience (Masten, 2015; Murry et al., 2018; Tyrell & Masten, 2021). These contextual factors are consequential for the parent-child relationship and for parents' efforts to provide protection and safety in a racist world. Further, with regard to both researchers and participants, the field of attachment has been exclusionary (Causadias et al., 2021): The research on attachment in African American families is very limited. Moreover, there have been almost no examples of how attachment research might be linked to the thriving literature on African American families and Black youth development conducted by scholars of color in other research traditions (e.g. Barbarin et al., 2016; Coard & Sellers, 2005; Dunbar et al., 2017, 2021; Graham, 2018; Halberstadt & Lozada, 2011; Murry et al., 2018, 2014).

It is within this broader context - the historical roots of attachment theory, the development of attachment research and methods along pathways largely separate from concurrent work on African American family processes, and the current moment of racial reckoning in the U.S. - that the present dialogue between scholars studying attachment and Black youth development came to be.

Accordingly, the aims of this paper are twofold: (1) to share some of the conversations, debates, and insights generated in the exchanges among a set of authors, reviewers, editors, and commentators from diverse backgrounds involved in the 2021 special issue of Attachment & Human Development, "Attachment Perspectives on Race, Prejudice, and Anti-Racism;" and (2) to map several guiding considerations for working toward anti-racist perspectives in the field of attachment going forward. Anti-racism is the active process of (a) affirming the idea that racial groups are equal (i.e. no racial group is inherently superior or inferior to any other racial group), and (b) acting to oppose racism and promote equity by changing attitudes, practices, policies, organizational structures, and systems (Bonnett, 2005; Kendi, 2019). Anti-racism can be conceptualized as a developmental process in that it (1) is ongoing (i.e. there is no end point in "becoming" an anti-racist field or individual); (2) evolves over time to meet new situations; and (3) is shaped through social experiences, critical inquiry, and reflective processes (Kendi, 2019).

Thus, this paper offers a starting point for working toward anti-racist perspectives in attachment. Reflecting the scope of this volume, we focus on racism against Black children and caregivers within the United States, but many core ideas may be relevant to other social groups and contexts. Further, we note that because of the history of racist policies in the U.S. (Kendi, 2019), African American families face disproportionate rates of poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020) and as a result, race and class are often confounded in psychological research. Although disentangling race and class is beyond the scope of this paper, we follow previous developmental scholars in discussing them as distinct but intersecting factors that inform the experiences of children and families (see, e.g. Johnson, 2000).

Considerations for attachment theory

A relevant critique of the field of attachment is that it is culturally insensitive and does not fully reflect the developmental context or capture the nuances of parent-child relationships in African American families (e.g. Keller, 2018), and this critique merits consideration (see, e.g. Mesman, 2018). What is not always clearly specified is whether such critiques lie with the theory itself (i.e. its central tenets regarding the formation of parent-child bonds, the nature of caregiving behaviors that most directly shape individual differences in development), the related research (i.e. questions, methods, participants, interpretation of findings), or its applications (e.g. prevention and intervention efforts, clinical practice, policy). Examining these specific components is necessary for any field to clarify what needs to be changed and why, in order to make constructive progress in moving the field forward. To that end, we here consider theory, research, and practice separately and for each describe our views of the current state of the field and areas for critical exploration. We first lay out some core elements of the theory and raise questions regarding what further research is needed to determine where the theory holds, as well as what aspects may need to change.

Historical roots

Against a historical backdrop of Freudian theory and behaviorism - which asserted that parental love was at best the conditioning of dependency and at worst "a dangerous instrument" that undermines children's growth toward independence (Watson, 1928) - Bowlby began to question Western psychology's fundamental assumptions about the nature of love.

His work grew from two central observations: one about how humans evolved as a highly social species, and one about how children's unique environments gave rise to individual differences in psychological development. First, Bowlby observed that infants appeared specifically and intensely attached to their caregivers. He proposed that forging close "attachment bonds" was not a sign of pathological dependence, but rather a normative, biologically-based process that evolved to protect children from threats in the environment during vulnerable periods of development, thus enhancing reproductive fitness (Bowlby, 1969/1982). Now widely accepted (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000), this idea that human beings are hard-wired for relationship was among the first neo-evolutionary theories (Simpson & Belsky, 2016). Second, Bowlby's observations in clinical training of "44 juvenile thieves" revealed that all of these troubled youth shared a common history of loss or extended separations from their mothers (Bowlby, 1944). In combination with observations of children separated or orphaned in the wake of World War II, this led Bowlby to hypothesize that differences in children's experiences of access to a caregiver underlie meaningful differences in psychological development. This notion, too, is now widely accepted (Fearon & Belsky, 2016).

At the time, these were radical ideas. Yet Bowlby started small and focused: Initially, he studied mothers, presuming that they were primary caregivers, with little attention to fathers or extended family members (though later work came to include family systems); he conceived of a child's attachment to a specific individual caregiver (while acknowledging the possibility of multiple caregivers); he wrote about infants' attachment behavior, and later about adults' caregiving behavior (though he conceptualized attachment as a lifespan construct). But reflecting the limitations of his era and social position (as a White, British scholar writing in the 20 th century), Bowlby focused on the universal function of the attachment system in the context of evolution and not at all on cultural contributions that are currently understood as socio-political forces, racism, wealth, or power - this despite citing Bronfenbrenner, invoking anthropological data from non-Western societies, and recognizing the importance of environmental context on children's development (Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980, 1988).

An evolutionary basis for love

Drawing on ethological and anthropological data, Bowlby ( 1969/1982) advanced the theory that human infants evolved a tendency to form strong emotional bonds to caregivers, that the function of such bonds is to increase proximity to caregivers in times of threat, and that such proximity is adaptive, increasing infants' probability of survival in the face of threats in their unique environment. This is the "universality" claim in attachment theory: that all human children need care and connection, and that these needs serve the goal of using a caregiver as a secure base to derive safety and comfort, as well as confidence to explore the world.

Data support this central claim: Infants form strong attachment bonds to one or more caregivers in every culture studied to date (Mesman et al., 2016), including in African American families (see Malda & Mesman, 2017). Thus, we suggest that applying the universality claim to African American children (a) is supported by the data; further, when interpreted from an anti-racist perspective, it (b) asserts Black children's core human right to, need for, and capacity for close relationships; and (c) may be leveraged to refute racist policies and practices that systematically separate families of color (see policy discussion below).

Bowlby also suggested that humans evolved systems of behavior with various adaptive functions across development: Children's attachment behaviors (e.g. crying, reaching, approaching) are directed to a caregiver, and serve to gain closeness, particularly when distressed. As children develop, these behaviors change in their form (e.g. teens texting their parents for help) and the figures to whom they are directed (e.g. close friends, trusted teachers/coaches, romantic partners). Adults' caregiving behaviors include provision of a secure base from which a child can confidently explore the world and build autonomy, as well as a safe haven to which the child can return for connection, comfort, and safety when needed. As children develop, caregiving behaviors also change in their form (e.g. parents talking their 10-year-old through a difficult situation at school) and primacy (e.g. parents ceding some caregiving roles to teens' close friends and romantic partners in late adolescence and early adulthood). Children may show attachment behaviors to multiple individuals, such as older siblings and extended kin, depending on the situation and organization of their caregiving network; adolescents, for example, may turn to close friends for support with a problem at school but seek out parents in emergency situations (Rosenthal & Kobak, 2010).

Attachment and culture

Both attachment and caregiving behaviors vary in their unique forms across cultures, but share the common underlying function of establishing or maintaining safety and connection. When considering attachment in African American families, it is worth asking: (a) who serves as a secure base/ safe haven to this child, and in what situations? Though much research on Black youth development similarly highlights the central role of mothers (e.g. Murry et al., this issue), other work underscores the role of fathers (e.g. Tyrell & Masten, 2021), mentors (Billingsley et al., 2020), grandmothers and extended family, spiritual community members, and fictive kin (Stewart, 2007) in providing safety, support, encouragement, comfort, and emotional closeness. Recognizing and measuring the multiple sources of secure base support that Black children tap into may provide a richer picture of their attachment network and enhance the predictive power of attachment models. It may also shed light on the conditions and limits of Bowlby's ( 1969/1982) concept of monotropy - the idea that children tend to form a hierarchy of attachment figures, in which one caregiver is typically primary. A second question is (b) how do racialized experiences influence African American children's attachment behavior? For example, in response to an experience of bias-based bullying at school (see Mulvey et al., 2018), a Black child may feel safer expressing emotions to a same-race peer or parent than to a White peer or teacher, even while turning to those individuals as a secure base in other situations. When considering caregiving in African American families it is also worth asking: (c) what are the common and unique forms of caregiving behavior that African American caregivers have developed to adapt to the ecological context of class- and racism-related threats? (For discussion of the adaptive calibration model, see Del Giudice et al., 2011; Gaylord-Harden et al., 2018.) We turn to further discussion of caregiving next.

Caregiving and individual differences in attachment

Within human beings' universal tendency to form close relationships, Bowlby proposed that individual differences emerge as a result of unique experiences within those relationships. Specifically, he proposed that variation in caregiving behavior shapes individual differences in how infants' attachment becomes organized (Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980), such that infants learn to calibrate their attachment behavior via adaptive strategies for getting their needs for proximity and connection met (Main, 1990). Children who experience consistent, reliable, responsive care in times of need learn that they can rely on a secure base with confidence and develop a secure attachment, characterized by autonomous exploration, open and direct expression of attachment needs, easy soothability when distressed, and expectations that others will be responsive and helpful. Children who experience rejecting or emotionally unavailable care learn that they must downplay their needs to avoid the pain of rejection and develop an insecure-avoidant attachment, characterized by minimized expression of attachment needs and expectations that others will be unresponsive or rejecting. Children who experience inconsistent or intrusive care develop an insecure-anxious (or "resistant") attachment, characterized by heightened expression of attachment needs, anger, difficulty being soothed when distressed, and expectations that others are unreliable.

Ainsworth conducted the first observations of caregiving and attachment behavior with Black mothers and infants during her research in Uganda (Ainsworth, 1967); these observations formed the basis for her conceptualization and measurement of maternal sensitivity (Ainsworth, 1969), which was later consolidated with a sample of White middle-class mothers in Baltimore (Ainsworth et al., 1978). Sensitivity is defined as a caregiver's "ability to perceive and to interpret accurately the signals and communications implicit in her infant's behavior, and given this understanding, to respond to them appropriately and promptly." Ainsworth's original Maternal Sensitivity Scales (Ainsworth, 1969) included 5 dimensions: sensitivity vs. insensitivity to the infant's signals, cooperation/ support for autonomy vs. interference with ongoing behavior, psychological and physical availability vs. unavailability, and acceptance vs. rejection of the infant's needs. The theory holds that maternal sensitivity predicts children's secure attachment (i.e. confidence in availability of secure base when needed), and substantial data support this link across cultures (Mesman et al., 2016).

Though research with African American families is sparse, this work generally shows somewhat lower levels of maternal sensitivity and rates of attachment security in African American families compared to other groups studied (for a review see Malda & Mesman, 2017). Notably, however, some studies that probed contextual sources of family stress show that apparent racial differences in sensitivity may be largely accounted for by socioeconomic stressors (e.g. housing insecurity), in keeping with the Family Stress Model (Bakermans-Kranenburg et al., 2004; Malda & Mesman, 2017; Mesman et al., 2012).

Importantly, data show that sensitivity as typically measured accounts for only 6% of the variance in attachment security even in predominantly White community samples and just 2% in low-socioeconomic status (-SES) samples (De Wolff & van IJzendoorn, 1997). Recently, some researchers studying low-SES families (48% African American, 19% White, 15% Hispanic, 16% multiracial) showed that a newly developed home observation measure of secure base provision (including chest-to-chest soothing of distress, responsiveness even following a delay or apparent "insensitivity") is 8-fold more predictive of attachment security than are traditional measures of sensitivity (Woodhouse et al., 2020). A key question that follows from this work is whether secure base provision is similarly predictive of attachment security in African American families, and whether it takes similar or different forms, taking into account SES-related stressors.

An important next step is to integrate theory and research on African American families to better conceptualize and measure the forms of caregiving that best predict secure attachment and positive outcomes. What helps Black children feel a sense of security, safety, and comfort in times of stress, as well as confidence to explore and act upon their world despite racism-related threats? To address these questions, researchers can bring together findings from the fields of both attachment and Black youth development to examine potential precursors of secure attachment in Black families. For example, converging evidence from both fields points to the promotive effects of caregiving behaviors such as: (a) effective co-regulation of distress, (b) support for child's autonomy and safe exploration - within the constraints of children's unique environment, and (c) experiences of mutual delight and joy.

Relatedly, a fundamental question to examine regarding the theory's tenets about security-promotive caregiving is: To what extent are Black caregivers' racial-ethnic socialization (RES) practices - such as preparation for bias and racial pride messages - a core feature of secure base provision in African American families (as proposed by Dunbar et al., 2021) vs. a unique contributor to positive development among Black youth that may act alongside or interact with secure base provision? On the one hand, it could be argued that preparing children to deal with a racist world and instilling confidence in their intrinsic worth despite demeaning messages cannot be separated from the core caregiving behaviors that support Black children's feelings of security within the caregiver-child relationship. The behaviors parents engage in to warn and to protect children from racism cannot be reduced to mere cognitive instruction; they are emotional and relational processes that anticipate future currently unseen threats. In this way, RES overlaps with secure base provision in that it may function to draw the child closer to parents (i.e. increasing or maintaining proximity) and to allow for safer exploration of the environment. Further, the extent to which RES matters for secure base provision may depend on families' broader environmental context: For example, for a family living in a neighborhood in which racism is deeply engrained, RES may be more relevant to secure base provision - contributing both to children's safety in their environment and to children's trust in their caregivers - compared to families who are less impacted. This would mean that RES is one of multiple dimensions of secure base provision that may be of particular relevance to African American families (see Coard this issue).

On the other hand, both Bowlby and Ainsworth distinguished between attachment processes and socialization, conceptualized as distinct but important predictors of child outcomes (Ainsworth et al., 1974). This second view - that secure base provision and RES are independent constructs with unique and interactive effects on positive Black youth development - would mean that children may develop a secure attachment to a caregiver even if that caregiver engages in very little RES (but is otherwise highly responsive to children's needs); conversely, children may develop an insecure attachment to a caregiver who engages in high levels of RES but struggles to respond to children's other emotional needs. These possibilities should be tested empirically - particularly in middle childhood, when RES becomes increasingly relevant. With regard to interaction effects, data suggest that securely attached children are more likely to accept and internalize their caregivers' socialization of conscience (Kochanska et al., 2004). Similarly, it is possible that Black children of parents who provide a reliable secure base are more likely to accept and internalize their caregivers' RES messages, whereas insecurely attached children may be more resistant to their caregivers' RES efforts. Alternately, the effects of RES and secure base provision may be mutually reinforcing over time - that is, Black children's trust in their caregiver as a secure base may magnify the promotive effects of RES, and RES may further enhance the benefits conferred by secure base provision. At this juncture, more research is needed to understand the relation between RES and secure base provision; as a starting point, we recommend conceptualizing RES as distinct from secure base provision, given their unique research traditions and forms of assessment, but to generate models that integrate both constructs to examine points of connection and conceptual overlap.

Predicting developmental outcomes

A key mechanism by which attachment is thought to influence later developmental outcomes is via mental representations or internal working models (IWMs) - experience-based cognitive and affective models of self and others that guide expectations, emotions, and behavior in the social world. Securely attached children develop models of the self as worthy of love and care - as unconditionally mattering to their caregiver - and as capable and effective in their environment, knowing that their caregiver "has their back" when needed. Confident expectations of one's specific caregivers are thought to generalize to the broader social world, such that secure IWMs of others include expectations that new social partners will be generally trustworthy and helpful in times of need. (For reviews of theory and research related to attachment, IWMs, and social information processing, see Dykas & Cassidy, 2011; Bretherton & Munholland, 2008.)

Considering attachment IWMs in the context of a racist society raises several novel questions for models of Black youth development. We outline three questions regarding IWMs as a starting point for future work on this key mechanism:

What happens when positive models of the self, fostered within secure parent-child relationships, come into conflict with African American children's exposure to racist messages from the larger society of "not mattering"?

Are certain features of insecure-avoidant IWMs - such as distrust, downplaying vulnerability and emotional needs - adaptive for staying safe in the context of racism?

To what extent is racial pride (e.g. a belief that "Black is beautiful") an important component of Black youth's secure models of the self and others in their racial group? Or is it a distinct construct that may be predicted by (or independent of) secure attachment IWMs? Is it possible for a Black child to have secure IWMs in every other respect (e.g. in their representations of parents, teachers, and peers) but not to have a positive or central racial identity? Researchers could examine whether the relation between racial identity and secure IWMs varies depending on children's broader environment, such as the racial composition of their school or neighborhood and whether they perceive racism in their social environment.

By integrating perspectives from the field of Black youth development, attachment researchers can address the question, what are the core components of secure IWMs for Black youth?

Limits of the theory and areas for growth

Critically, as Sroufe ( 2016) and others have pointed out, attachment "is not a theory of everything." Developed to understand close interpersonal (typically dyadic) relationships, their development, and their role in individuals' psychological functioning, the heart of attachment theory is at the interpersonal level. Relatedly, attachment is not a theory of racism; however, the theory's focus on the central role of threat in understanding human emotion, cognition, social behavior, and development make it particularly relevant to discussions of racism for three reasons:

1. For individuals facing threats (e.g. discrimination, violence), having secure, supportive relationships may buffer against some (though not all) negative biopsychological consequences (Brody et al., 2006; Dotterer & James, 2018; Miller et al., 2014).

2. For individuals who harbor prejudiced attitudes or engage in acts of discrimination, attachment security may contribute to reducing prejudice and discrimination by decreasing misperceptions of threat, regulating neurobiological and behavioral stress responses, increasing empathy, and reducing defensiveness and aggressive behavior (Boag & Carnelley, 2012, 2016; Carnelly & Boag, 2019; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2001, 2021).

3. These interpersonal dynamics may be relevant to the systemic level if individuals in power (a) act out their own attachment dynamics (whether secure or insecure), with consequences for policies that shape institutions and systems; and/or (b) strive to provoke some population of individuals to feel insecure or untrusting via rhetoric that invokes threat (e.g. xenophobia) in order to maintain systems of power and dominance (see also Mikulincer & Shaver, 2021; Shaver et al., 2011).

Importantly, these systemic applications are not germane to the original theory and to many people may be "a stretch" without sufficient testing and application beyond the lab. Thus, a key growing point is to examine both the potential applications of attachment theory to understanding and addressing racism, as well as its limits.

One fruitful starting point would be integrating attachment frameworks with other theoretical traditions that center understanding of context and systems of power (Spencer et al., 1997). For example, the integrative model of developmental competencies in minoritized children (García-Coll et al., 1996) holds that families actively adapt to racialized environments via specific caregiving competencies that support minoritized youth's positive social-emotional development. Another helpful conceptualization is the integrative model of stress in African American families (Murry et al., 2018, this issue), which demonstrates how systemic racism cascades through daily racialized stressors to impact parent-child relationship quality and youth mental health and social adaptation. To facilitate further research, we propose a potential integration of these models with key attachment processes in Figure 1. This adapted model suggests that contextual factors in the lives of Black families cascade through family stress and adaptation (Murry et al., 2018, this issue) to inform caregivers' secure base provision and in turn, children's attachment, with downstream effects on children's representations of self and others (IWMs) and social-emotional competencies. The model focuses on specific pathways linking context and attachment in Black families that could be tested in future research.

Working toward anti-racist perspectives in attachment theory, research, and practice

,

In addition, critical race theory (Bell, 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; see Gaztambide, 2021) underscores that race is not a biological attribute but a social construct (reflecting broad scientific consensus; e.g. Yudell et al., 2016), and that racism is not merely the result of individual bias or prejudice, but is embedded in programs, practices, and policies - involving subjugation and preferential treatment of one group over another. These systematic processes impact parenting and child development (Wilkinson et al., 2021). Intersectionality (Collins & Bilge, 2020; Crenshaw, 1989, 2011) provides a framework for understanding how multiple systems of oppression - such as racism, colorism, sexism, and classism - combine to shape individuals' experiences in unique ways depending on one's race, gender, color and class. An intersectional framework opens the field to new questions, such as:

How does racism interact with social class to shape attachment experiences for African American children? In what ways are the stressors associated with poverty and experiences of racism similar vs. unique in their effects on parent-child relationships (e.g. Roopnarine et al., 2005)?

Does attachment security buffer against the dual stressors of racism and sexism ("misogynoir") among Black girls?

What are the unique sources of stress and forms of adaptation that characterize African American mothers (e.g. Leath et al., 2021), Black LGBTQ caregivers, and immigrant and refugee families?

For biracial children, how might attachment to each parent interact with racial identity development to predict mental health outcomes?

What are the specific secure base needs of queer youth of color coming out to their family or peers, and how can therapists facilitate parents' ability to meet these needs?

Working toward anti-racist perspectives in attachment theory, research, and practice

,

Leveraging the model in Figure 2, researchers may consider how each factor shapes child outcomes via (a) their influence on caregivers' capacity to provide a secure base, which impacts (b) children's attachment security to that caregiver, and in turn (c) children's broader sense of themselves as worthy, safe, and effective in their environment (i.e. generalized IWM of self and others). These adapted models are designed to generate novel research questions, as well as to contextualize existing findings at each level of analysis. For instance, in relation to Bronfenbrenner's framework, researchers could ask how, within the microsystem, the development of an attachment relationship unfolds to a caregiver dealing with the chronic stressors of racism - both at different stages of development and also in relation to different types of caregivers (e.g. fathers, teachers). Within the exosystem, researchers could consider how more distal forms of support - from the neighborhood, spiritual community, or network of extended kin - could be strengthened as part of intervention work to buffer against toxic stress and increase support for Black caregivers, thus aiding their ability to provide a reliable secure base. Within the macrosystem, how might the intersection of racism and colorism cascade through children's relationships to shape development, and could a secure internal working model of the self protect against internalized racism?

Thus, we emphasize that every concept contained within attachment theory will be enriched to the extent that researchers ask the question: Does this conceptualization hold in the context of families living with the realities of structural racism? Exploring such questions will shed light on which specific aspects of the theory hold or require changing or refinement, and crucially, which parts have yet to be sufficiently explored with African American families.

If this is to be a two-way conversation, it is necessary to share our thoughts about ways that Black youth development frameworks might be expanded to incorporate insights from attachment theory and research. In this regard, we suggest five attachment-related questions that, if explored, might enrich models of Black youth development:

1. To what extent do caregiver-child relationships shape Black youth development via children's cognitive representations (internal working models) of the self and others?

2. Are the "active ingredients" of promotive caregiving behaviors those that buffer against stress or provide protection against threat (as opposed to, e.g. warmth)?

3. What is the role of mutual delight - or its more culturally specific form, "Black joy" - in fostering secure attachment relationships for Black youth?

4. Are caregivers who have a secure base themselves (e.g. from aromantic partner or from their family of origin) better supported to engage in positive racial-ethnic socialization with their children?

5. Do caregivers' capacities for emotion regulation and reflective functioning (i.e. the ability to reflect on thoughts and feelings within themselves and others; Fonagy et al., 1991) help to process experiences of discrimination and buffer against potential negative effects on caregiving?

These questions, alongside the integrative models in Figure 1 and 2, provide a roadmap toward greater cross-pollination of ideas between theories of attachment and Black youth development.

Considerations for research

Regardless of the extent to which the theory holds, multiple research issues merit attention. In this section, we consider factors that may influence the empirical work, ways in which these factors may have led to incorrect or biased findings, and potential steps to take to correct this.

Participants

Research team

One impetus for the Special Issue on attachment and anti-racism arose from the question, Why is the field of attachment so White? From the field's founders to the authors in the Handbook of Attachment to the editorial board of Attachment & Human Development to the attendees at the International Attachment Conference, the majority as of this writing are Caucasian Western Europeans and Euro-Americans. Causadias et al. ( 2021) quantify this lack of representation in their Special Issue commentary and highlight a number of factors that may contribute to it. What emerge are clear data that scholars of color are underrepresented in the field of attachment and that there is a need to question how the field can do a better job of including, supporting, and amplifying their scholarship.

Methods

Turning to research methods, one potential issue is that applying traditional measures of sensitivity to African American caregivers may lead researchers to (a) overlook key features of adaptive caregiving specific to Black parents; (b) misinterpret aspects of caregiving (e.g. interpreting limits on children's autonomy as interfering or controlling rather than as adaptive protections from ecological threats); (c) fail to account for contextual factors that shape caregiving behavior (both proximal factors such as the presence of White researchers and distal factors such as the vicarious trauma of witnessing police brutality), all of which may contribute to deficit narratives that cast Black mothers as "insensitive."

When addressing these and related issues in observational measures, we make four suggestions. First, regarding data collection, it may be important to consider the race of the researcher who administers interview-based measures (including the Parent Development Interview, Working Model of the Child Interview, and Child and Adult Attachment Interviews), plays the role of the Stranger in the Strange Situation Procedure, or provides instructions as an experimenter in other measures of parent and child behavior. To what extent is the presence of a White researcher a potential stressor, a reminder of racism-related trauma, or otherwise a barrier to authentic and regulated self-expression for both caregiver and child? Research on interview methods from the fields of public health and sociology suggests that race-mismatch - that is, a White interviewer paired with a Black respondent - may affect responses due to social desirability, sensitivity to being judged, anxiety about not meeting the expectations of the interviewer, and stereotype threat; in contrast, respondents display great comfort and honesty when there is race-match with the interviewer (e.g. Davis et al., 2010). Therefore, consideration of the racial identites of research staff is crucial for administering measures of attachment and caregiving with integrity and for creating a space that is inclusive and safe for Black participants.

Third, when considering study designs that are sensitive to context, researchers using classic measures of attachment and caregiving could also include in the study well-validated measures from the field of Black youth development, including assessments of parental racial-ethnic socialization, exposure to racism, and youth racial identity development; such combinations of measures would help to test the unique and interactive pathways by which these constructs shape key developmental outcomes. Fourth, relatedly, it may be fruitful to test the ways in which attachment and caregiving behaviors become adaptively calibrated to the contexts in which Black children develop (see Del Giudice et al., 2011). For example, it is possible that secure attachment is best predicted by non-linear associations with, or interactions among, multiple dimensions of context (e.g. level of racism-related threat) and caregiving behavior (e.g. emotional support in combination with moderate limits on autonomy and high parental monitoring).

Context

Beyond socioeconomic status, the field of attachment has been slow to incorporate other measures of context identified by Black scholars as critical for understanding parent-child relationships among African Americans specifically - measures of systemic risks such as discrimination and economic inequities, as well as cultural assets such as positive racial socialization, African American spirituality, collective socialization, and "Black joy" (García-Coll et al., 1996; Gaylord-Harden et al., 2018; Murry et al., 2018; Tyrell & Masten, 2021). The failure to adequately address context in the field's methods and interpretation of findings is consequential in two key ways: (1) there may be a tendency to essentialize or over-simplify findings regarding more "insensitive" parenting among Black mothers in particular, contributing to deficit narratives, while also (2) failing to recognize and validate parental "micro-protections" such as preparation for bias as forms of highly effective caregiving, which are adapted to the context of systemic racism and can be integrated and tested as security-promotive caregiving behaviors (Dotterer & James, 2018).

To help address this, attachment researchers can draw upon existing strong measures of context. The articles in the Special Issue on attachment and anti-racism provide a few starting points: Murry et al. ( this issue) measure both mothers' and children's experiences of discrimination via self-report on the Schedule of Racist Events (Landrine & Klonoff, 1996). In secondary analyses of an existing dataset, Stern et al. ( 2021) tap teens' perceptions of neighborhood racism from a single item on the Neighborhood Environment Scale (Elliot et al., 1985). Other measures have been developed to tap experiences of racism in children ages 8-18 (e.g. Perceptions of Racism in Children and Youth; Pachter et al., 2010) and adults (e.g. Everyday Discrimination Scale; Williams et al., 1997; for a review of measures see Atkins, 2014), and a variety of methods exist for quantifying the effects of structural inequities (for a review see Groos et al., 2018). At the school level, Graham ( 2021) suggests measuring the racial composition of the classroom - which is consequential for Black children's experiences of discrimination, social support, and belonging at school - as well as teacher-student relationships (e.g. teachers' capacity to provide a secure base for students of color). Integrating these and other contextual variables in future research which will allow for better understanding of how attachment processes play out as function of context (for related discussion see Osher et al., 2020).

Further, even if context is not explicitly measured in a particular study, context should still be accounted for in researchers' interpretation of findings. This is especially important if a study finds that Black caregivers or children differ from previously established (and potentially biased) "norms" of caregiving or attachment metrics. For example, drawing on Murry et al.'s ( 2018, p. this issue) model, researchers can situate findings regarding Black caregivers' strengths and struggles within the context of historical and present-day sociopolitical factors, which include daily racism-related stressors known to impact physical and mental health (Clark et al., 1999; Harrell, 2000). Further, if comparisons are made to White middle- to upper-SES samples, researchers can contextualize findings within a discussion of such samples' many sources of privilege and historical power/ hegemony. Applying such perspectives will (a) enrich our interpretations of attachment research findings, (b) enhance understanding of family processes and adaptation to environmental stressors, (c) excavate novel areas for research on context and parenting, and (d) counter deficit narratives that essentialize Black parents by acknowledging both systemic oppression and culturally specific adaptations.

Implications for policy and practice

Whether a given theory works toward racist or anti-racist ends hinges in large part on how it is applied. To the extent that attachment theory is applied in ways that reinforce deficit narratives about Black youth and caregivers, enforce White middle-class parenting norms as ideal in the absence of sufficient evidence in African American families, or present data in decontextualized ways that ignore or deny the role of systemic racism - then the theory is being used to promote racism by upholding White supremacist and colonialist ideas. On the other hand, if attachment theory is applied in ways that challenge and seek to dismantle these oppressive systems through research, policy, and practice, the theory stands to make a meaningful contribution to anti-racist efforts. We highlight a few (of many) possible ways that attachment can be leveraged in anti-racist action as a starting point for future efforts.

Advocating for anti-racist policy

One anti-racist policy application of attachment theory is to interpret its universality claim as a declaration of human rights: that is, the theory states that all children require and deserve access to a caregiver to support healthy development and therefore, that the disruption of access to a caregiver constitutes a violation of human rights, with disproportionate impacts on families of color. This claim is consistent with Articles 7, 8, and 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN General Assembly, 1989; see also Dolan et al., 2020). Attachment theory and research provide decades of evidence for the long-term adverse impacts of family separation and loss and the mechanisms by which such effects occur (Bowlby, 1973, 1980). Separation from attachment figures removes the stress-buffering effects of caregivers and is itself a source of stress (Humphreys, 2019; Waddoups et al., 2019); such toxic stress in childhood has long-term adverse effects on brain development, mental and physical health, and behavioral outcomes (Shonkoff et al., 2012, 2021). Similar arguments have invoked attachment theory to oppose xenophobic policies that separate families at the U.S.-Mexico border (see Bouza et al., 2018; Coan, 2018; Lieberman et al., 2018; Teicher, 2018) and to advocate for policies that interrupt parent-infant separation by allowing infants to bond with their incarcerated mothers (e.g. Kanaboshi et al., 2017). It is worth noting that White supremacist and colonialist powers have historically used family separation as a tool of oppression: Family separation was endemic to the slave trade (King, 2011; Smith, 2021), as well as to Native American boarding schools in the 19 th and 20 th centuries (Olson & Dombrowski, 2020; Pember, 2019). Today, African American families continue to experience family separation via policies and practices that result in disproportionate rates of child welfare removals, school suspension and the "school-to-prison" pipeline, and incarceration of children and caregivers for nonviolent offenses (e.g. Barbarin, 2021; Kendi, 2019; Miller, 2018; U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2016). Such policies are key targets for systemic change informed by attachment theory and research.

A second anti-racist policy application of attachment theory is to continue to advocate for better supports for caregivers to be able to provide a secure base for children, with particular attention to addressing racial inequities in caregiver supports. Attachment theory and research hold that caregivers' own stress, access to secure relationships, mental and physical health, and trauma history contribute substantially to their capacity to provide a secure base (Belsky & Jaffee, 2006; Fearon & Belsky, 2016). This work has been invoked to advocate for policies that reduce family poverty; expand access to affordable quality prenatal and postnatal care, childcare, and physical and mental health care; and provide paid family leave (Bridgman, 2017; Cassidy et al., 2013; Plotka & Busch-Rossnagel, 2018; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). Crucially, in the U.S., racial inequities persist at every level of caregiver wellbeing and at every stage of development; for example, African American mothers experience elevated prenatal stress, higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, lower access to physical and mental health care, and greater housing and food insecurity (Wilkinson et al., 2021). As one recent policy brief explains, "The connection between maternal and child well-being is particularly important among women of color and their babies due to the intergenerational effects of and lived experiences with institutional and interpersonal racism" (Wilkinson et al., 2021, p. 1). Further, as Tyrell and Masten ( 2021) note, Black men face disproportionate rates of incarceration, and the resulting forced separation from family can adversely impact fathers' caregiving and children's attachment (see also Cassidy et al., 2010). Thus, we encourage attachment scholars to leverage their knowledge of the importance of investing in caregiver wellbeing to advocate for evidence-based policies that specifically aim to reduce barriers to caregiver supports among families of color.

Imagining Anti-racist Clinical Practice

Many excellent ideas for anti-racist clinical practice have been proposed (see, e.g. Coard et al., 2004; Gaztambide, 2019, 2021; Kelly et al., 2020; Legha & Miranda, 2020; Maiter, 2009); further, a social justice framework is central to many models of counseling psychology (Hargons et al., 2017), social work (International Federation of Social Workers et al., 2012), and community psychology (Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2010). Here we highlight two themes of particular relevance to attachment-informed interventions.

First, as Gaztambide ( 2021) suggests, attachment-based psychotherapy requires a move to the level of the sociopolitical that includes actively engaging and "mentalizing" issues of racial identity, social rank, and racism within the therapy space. Therapists with training in anti-racist practice may be better equipped to provide a safe space and secure base from which clients of color can explore issues of racial identity, discuss openly experiences of discrimination as well as cultural strengths, and address racism-related trauma. Such training is vital to therapists' relational capacities to build trust, empathy, rapport, and a strong working alliance, which have been shown to predict positive treatment outcomes in children and adults (Comas-Díaz et al., 2019; Karver et al., 2018; Nienhuis et al., 2018; Vasquez, 2007).

Second, attachment-based parenting interventions can disrupt the racist legacy of pathologizing Black parents by adopting strengths-based approaches that affirm secure base practices specific to African American families and that contextualize parents' behavior within the broader context of racism and historical trauma. As Coard ( this issue) notes: "African American families are usually told what they are doing wrong and what they need to change, rather than what they are doing right and should continue. The positive caregiving practices used by African American parents need to be shared, validated, encouraged, and learned from." When interveners make assumptions (for example, that because X parenting behavior leads to positive outcomes in White families, the goal should be to get Black families to do the same, in the absence of sufficient data), it can be unhelpful at best, or actively harmful. This underscores the importance of investing in a research base to examine attachment-relevant predictors of positive outcomes in Black families as the basis for interventions.

Concluding thoughts

Within the field of attachment, there remains an urgent need to "decolonize" specific aspects of theory (e.g. specifying the ecological context of racism in conceptualizing parent-child relationships in African American families), methods (e.g. measuring caregiving, integrating existing measures of contextual factors into studies examining attachment and caregiving), and research (e.g. increasing attention to African American populations, contextualizing interpretation of group-level differences). Decolonization has multiple layers of meaning, including (a) acknowledging the role of context and racism in children's development, but also (b) interrogating cultural hegemony - the belief that one cultural group and its ways of thinking and being is superior to another, (c) allowing room for multiple perspectives, and (d) supporting the agency of marginalized people. For example, consider the dynamic aspects of a parent-child relationship in which circumstances require the child early in life to serve in a protector role for the family while at the same time still needing protection from threats: a boy becoming "the man of the house" when the father is unavailable, a teen becoming the economic provider for the family following a caregiver's sudden loss of a job, or a child becoming the translator or "language broker" navigating a potentially threatening world among families of undocumented immigrants who speak only Haitian Creole. What does secure base provision look like here, accounting for the unique environmental threats that families must navigate? And whose view of sensitive or adaptive caregiving is privileged in these complex contexts?

The foundation of this work in the field of attachment must be relational - growing from a place of humility, curiosity, collaboration, reflection, and openness to feedback. What does it look like to actively question White Western samples as a comparative "norm," as well as supposed "objectivity" of White Western scientists and interventionists (who, after all, are influenced by their culture and context, too)? How does researcher positionality matter? Such critical inquiry will enrich the field by shedding light on key components of attachment processes within contexts that have been historically neglected.

We note that this paper reflects our own current thinking and ongoing conversations with Black youth development scholars. There are undoubtedly other researchers, both within the field of attachment and outside of it, who will disagree or have additional views about these complex issues. Thus, this paper is intended to serve as a starting point for future work; we look forward to further conversations and research, with the expectation that our own understanding will continue to grow and change.

In sum, although theoretical models of Black youth development and attachment come from different starting places (the contextual vs. the interpersonal), they share a common goal: to understand and promote healthy child development via the power of relationships. Given their multiple points of overlap, we believe there is considerable promise for mutual enrichment and cross-fertilization. What is most clear is that collaborative research is needed in order to evaluate which aspects of attachment theory, research, and practice hold or need to change, and exactly how they need to change to best understand and support Black children's healthy development in context. To echo Ainsworth ( 1967) in the introduction to Infancy in Uganda, "We are here concerned with nothing less than the nature of love." Bringing together perspectives from attachment and Black youth development may be a particularly potent means of working toward anti-racist perspectives - by using the science of love to advocate for programs and policies that better support Black children and families.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the authors who contributed to the 2021 Special Issue of Attachment & Human Development, "Attachment Perspectives on Race, Prejudice, and Anti-Racism." The reflections contained herein are the direct result of reading their papers and engaging in fruitful dialogue during the review process and at the Society for Research in Child Development 2021 Biennial Meeting. We also thank Amanda Trujillo for her help preparing this paper, as well as José Causadias, Angel Dunbar, Roger Kobak, and Phil Shaver for their valuable feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a Dean's Research Initiative seed grant from the University of Maryland College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (award no. DRI-L1-2018 to Cassidy and Stern), and by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number F32HD102119 to J. Stern. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Working toward anti-racist perspectives in attachment theory, research, and practice

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ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Recent social movements have illuminated systemic inequities in U.S. society, including within the social sciences. Thus, it is essential that attachment researchers and practitioners engage in reflection and action to work toward anti-racist perspectives in the field.

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ABSTRACT
Central to attachment theory is the idea that behavior in close relationships can best be understood in context. Although decades of research have illuminated cross-cultural patterns of caregiving and attachment, there remains a critical need to increase research with African American families, examine the specific sociocultural context of systemic anti-Black racism, and integrate the rich theory and research of Black scholars. The goal of this special issue is to bring together attachment researchers and scholars studying Black youth and families to leverage and extend attachment-related work to advance anti-racist perspectives in developmental science. The papers in this special issue, highlighted in the introduction, illuminate pathways of risk and resilience in Black children, adolescents, and families and point to the protective power of relationships (and the limits of such protection) for mental and physical health. We highlight critical questions to guide ongoing dialogue and collaboration on this important topic.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the community of people who made this special issue possible. First, we extend our gratitude to the authors who contributed their knowledge, time, and thoughtful reflections to write these important papers. In addition, we thank Lisa Berlin, Angel Dunbar, Megan Fitter, Roger Kobak, Esther Leerkes, Arietta Slade, and Susan Woodhouse for their helpful reviews. We are especially grateful to Howard Steele for his excellent feedback, support, and encouragement to pursue this special issue. Preparation of this volume was supported by a Dean's Research Initiative seed grant from the University of Maryland College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (grant no. DRI-L1-2018 to Cassidy and Stern), and by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number F32HD102119 (to Stern). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Attachment perspectives on race, prejudice, and anti-racism

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ABSTRACT Central to attachment theory is the idea that behavior in close relationships can best be understood in context. Although decades of research have illuminated cross-cultural patterns of caregiving and attachment, there remains a critical need to increase research with African American families, examine the specific sociocultural context of systemic anti-Black racism, and integrate the rich theory and research of Black scholars.

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Decolonising Psychotherapy Webinar: Presented by Helen Morgan and Juliet Newbigin - 25/07/2020

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The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust

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Whiteness   a problem for our time - January 2021 policy seminar

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Attachment research and anti-racism: learning from Black and Brown scholars

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(2021). Attachment research and anti-racism: learning from Black and Brown scholars. Attachment & Human Development. Ahead of Print.

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Toward an Ethical Application of Intersectionality in Art Therapy

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(2017). Toward an Ethical Application of Intersectionality in Art Therapy. Art Therapy: Vol. 34, Ethics, Law, and Cultural Competence in Art Therapy, pp. 118-122.

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Sociopolitical Oppression, Trauma, and Healing: Moving Toward a Social Justice Art Therapy Framework

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(2017). Sociopolitical Oppression, Trauma, and Healing: Moving Toward a Social Justice Art Therapy Framework. Art Therapy: Vol. 34, Ethics, Law, and Cultural Competence in Art Therapy, pp. 123-128.

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Decolonizing “Multicultural” Counseling Through Social Justice. Rachael D. GoodmanPaul C. Gorski

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Decolonizing “Multicultural” Counseling Through Social Justice. Rachael D. GoodmanPaul C. Gorski

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Decolonizing Medicine with Rupa Marya and Raj Patel (In Conversation) by Upstream

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Many of us around the world live on colonized land. In recent years, the conversation around “decolonization” has been seamed through many different contexts, from the land back movement to the push to decolonize various institutions. But what would actual decolonization look like? And how do we go about decolonizing things like our minds and our systems?

In this Conversation, we hear from Rupa Marya and Raj Patel about their book, "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice," out on August 3rd. The book explores one area of our lives that has been subject to colonization: that of medicine. They authors provide both a practical and metaphorical exploration of the impacts of colonization through the idea of inflammation — inflamed bodies, an inflamed society, and an inflamed planet. Their insights help us to dismantle colonization in our institutions and in our minds while building new connections and ways of being through what the authors call “deep medicine.” 

Rupa Marya is a physician, activist, composer, Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF and faculty director of the Do No Harm Coalition. Raj Patel is an activist, award-winning author, film-maker and academic. Raj is Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin and a Senior Research Associate at the Unit for the Humanities at the university currently known as Rhodes University (UHURU), South Africa. 

Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond
Intermission music is “Stolen Land” by Rupa and the April Fishes

Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media:

facebook.com/upstreampodcast
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You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify:

Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532
Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

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Diversity, Intersectionality & Psychotherapy – Dr Dwight Turner, PhD

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Art Therapy for Social Justice: Radical Intersections

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Art Therapy for Social Justice: Radical Intersections

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en

This article presents alternative ways to respond to events understood as 'traumatic' in most psychological contexts. It questions the medicalisation and individualisation of persons' resistance against harms, especially violence and structural oppressions, as criteria of mental illness and trauma. I present activist-informed approaches to suffering and oppression that are centred on witnessing acts of resistance. This work comes from my ethical stance for justice-doing and responding to colonisation with accountability as a white settler practitioner. Witnessing requires that we situate personal suffering in its sociopolitical context and resist the individualisation and medicalisation of suffering. Activist practices of witnessing include the duty of the witness to work to change the social contexts of oppression, addressing power both personally and structurally, and working towards co-creating a just society.

Practitioner points

Resistance to suffering and oppression is always present as persons always act to guard their dignity and move towards safety

Justice-doing and a decolonising stance for the work is required to resist psychology's neutrality and objectivity that obscure contexts of structural oppression

A witnessing stance from direct action activism is useful in making space for resistance

The practitioner's responsibility is to move beyond witnessing to create social change and address contexts of injustice and limited life choices that are the frame for suffering

zh

创伤与抵抗："滞空时间"及其他对压迫、暴力和痛苦的创新反应

这篇文章提出了在大多数心理情境下被理解为"创伤性"的事件的替代性应对方法。它对将人们对伤害，尤其是暴力和结构性压迫的抵抗进行医学化和个人化并将其作为精神疾病和创伤的标准这一行为提出质疑。我在此介绍一种活动家式的，以见证抵抗行为为中心的应对苦难和压迫的方法。这一成果来自于我作为一名白人定居从业者的实践正义的道德立场和对殖民主义的回应。见证这一行为要求我们将个人遭遇置于其社会政治背景中，抵制对痛苦的个人化和医学化。活动家式的见证实践包括：见证者有责任努力改变压迫的社会背景，在从个人和结构两个层面上解决权力问题，并努力共同创造一个公正的社会。

对从业者的启示

人们总是表现出对苦难和压迫的抵抗，因为他们总是采取行动捍卫自己的尊严以获得安全

为了防止心理学的中立性和客观性掩盖了结构性压迫的背景，需要公正行事并采取去殖民化的工作立场

直接行动主义的见证立场有助于为抵抗创造空间

从业者的责任是超越见证，去创造社会变革，解决导致痛苦的不公和有限的生活择

es

Trauma y resistencia: "tiempo de suspensión" y otras respuestas innovadoras a la opresión, la violencia y el sufrimiento

Este artículo presenta formas alternativas de responder a eventos entendidos como "traumáticos" en la mayoría de los contextos psicológicos. Cuestiona la medicalización e individualización de la resistencia de las personas contra los daños, especialmente la violencia y las opresiones estructurales, como criterios de enfermedad mental y trauma. Presento enfoques afrontamiento del sufrimiento y la opresión informados por activistas que se centran en testimoniar actos de resistencia. Este trabajo proviene de mi postura ética para hacer justicia y responder a la colonización con responsabilidad como profesional establecido en la cultura de los blancos. Dar testimonio requiere que situemos el sufrimiento personal en su contexto sociopolítico y resistir la individualización y medicalización del sufrimiento. Las prácticas activistas de testimonio incluyen el deber del testigo de trabajar para cambiar los contextos sociales de la opresión, abordar el poder tanto personal como estructuralmente, y trabajar para co-crear una sociedad justa.

Puntos de implicación práctica

La resistencia al sufrimiento y la opresión siempre está presente, ya que las personas siempre actúan para proteger su dignidad y avanzar hacia la seguridad.

Se requiere hacer justicia y una postura descolonizadora en nuestro trabajo para resistir la neutralidad y objetividad de la psicología que oculta la existencia de contextos de opresión estructural.

Una postura de testimonio activista de acción directa es útil para hacer espacio a la resistencia.

La responsabilidad del profesional es ir más allá de ser testigo, para crear un cambio social y confrontar contextos de injusticia y opciones de vida limitadas, que son el marco en el que se genera sufrimiento.

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Trauma and resistance: 'hang time' and other innovative responses to oppression, violence and suffering

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en This article presents alternative ways to respond to events understood as 'traumatic' in most psychological contexts. It questions the medicalisation and individualisation of persons' resistance against harms, especially violence and structural oppressions, as criteria of mental illness and trauma. I present activist-informed approaches to suffering and oppression that are centred on witnessing acts of resistance.

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1. Likewise, the analytics of space can be mapped onto a range of other social concepts - e.g. gender, sexuality, class and so on - as some feminist scholars have done (Massey 1994; McDowell ; Domash and Seager Domash, Mona and Seager, Joni . 2001. 2001 Putting Women in Place: Feminist Geographies Make Sense of the World, New York: Guilford Press. ).

2. Because we offer this essay primarily to an audience of race scholars, we have chosen to limit our discussion of how we are conceptualizing race. We do, however, want to state upfront that we draw primarily on Omi and Winant's (1994 [1986] theory of 'racial formation' to understand and examine multi-level, shifting meanings of race and the centrality of power in theories of race. Our work is also informed by scholars who make the case that race and racism remain enduring features of the socio-political landscape in the United States and argue that a sustained, critical scholarship on the material and symbolic dimensions of race is needed (Omi and Winant 1994 [1986]; Lipsitz 1998; Feagin , ; Bonilla-Silva ).

3. Scholars do not always clearly distinguish between the terms 'space' and 'place,' and we do not intend to resolve the ambiguity of this distinction in this article. However, as David Harvey suggests (1996), the tricky and confounding nature of these concepts may actually allow for further theoretical possibilities. For more discussion of the distinction between space and place, see Keith and Pile (), Knowles (2003) and Cresswell ().

4. Another realm of spatial studies emerged with the rise of postmodern theory, with many scholars arguing that the significance of place has dwindled in the face of contemporary global capitalism and its attendant time-space compressions, e.g. strip malls, airports, Disneyland. For more on this, see, for example, Harvey (1989) and Soja (1989).

5. This broader turn also includes spatial approaches, such as mathematical modelling, to examine concrete usage of physical environments. While we do not cover them in this article, we believe these approaches have the potential to significantly inform efforts to critically link race and space. For example, GIS can be a useful tool for analysing environmental hazards, racial segregation and so on.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

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Social geographies of race: connecting race and space

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1. Likewise, the analytics of space can be mapped onto a range of other social concepts - e.g. gender, sexuality, class and so on - as some feminist scholars have done (Massey 1994; McDowell ; Domash and Seager Domash, Mona and Seager, Joni . 2001.

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Racism | Processes of detachment, dehumanization and hatred | Farhad D

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Racism tends to be described in two sorts of ways: The first description is at the level of the social world and says that racism is a form of organizing

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Abstract

ABSTRACT: The paper examines Jung's perception of the non-European. It is argued that his perception of black people is racist and that these same views permeate the entire fabric of Jung's psychological theory. Further, that these views are woven into the theoretical foundations of two major Jungian concepts: the Collective Unconscious and Individuation. Finally, the paper examines the consequences of these theories as perceived by Jung, in terms of the possibilities or otherwise of people of different races living together.

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ABSTRACT: The paper examines Jung's perception of the non-European. It is argued that his perception of black people is racist and that these same views permeate the entire fabric of Jung's psychological theory. Further, that these views are woven into the theoretical foundations of two major Jungian concepts: the Collective Unconscious and Individuation.

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The Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon

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The Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon

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Have you ever considered what makes a home a home? Most probably, you have. Still, I’d like to invite you to take a few moments to try to explore this question with fresh eyes. What is it like to f…

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On Home, Places and Loss

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Guilaine Kinouani on losing one's home without leaving

When I was a 20-year-old undergraduate student or so; I lost my home when it was repossessed. My husband and I had fallen on hard times because I got pregnant and; very quickly, I could not work due to threatened miscarriages and then, premature labour.

And so, on the day we were expelled, we waited outside for the council to decide whether a) I was homeless b) I had made myself ' intentionally homeless ' and, c) whether I was entitled to a home. Please take a few moments to imagine this; you are standing outside of what used to be your home; with the few pieces of furniture you owned when you were 20 scattered on the pavement, and; you have in your arms a baby; born as predicted prematurely. You are trying to make sure they are warm. And you are waiting...

What kind of things might be going through your head?

I will tell you what went through mine. Images of benefit scroungers and bloody immigrants. Images of the irresponsible black mothers; of welfare queens and other misogynoir tropes. Then I started to wonder whether the scepticism of the council was warranted. Whether I had in fact chosen not to carry my baby to term, whether I was to blame and; whether I was deserving of a home. I was waiting for someone to take me home but not only in the material sense. Home was also what I knew; what was real was home. In this moment, I have never felt so lost, exposed, ashamed, powerless and vulnerable in my sense of sanity.

As a therapist, I have been doing socio-politically and feminist-informed work exclusively with women and non-binary people of colour for a few years. My practice is centred on the lived experience of marginalisation and; I have recognised glimpses of my experience in the stories of subtle racism others shared with me, so I naturally started to make the connection.

To explain, we need to start off with some definitions. Firstly, homelessness, I take it to mean the condition of being without a home or a permanent dwelling. Or the experience of feeling left without safe, secure and adequate housing.

Secondly, epistemic injustice. Epistemic simply refers to things that are to do with knowledge; knowing and understanding the world. Miranda Fricker proposes that epistemic injustice occurs when we are wronged in our capacity to know or to contribute to knowledge because of prejudice.

The final concept is ontological insecurity. Ontological insecurity refers to a person's lack of security in relation their "being" in the world. It has been defined as a state of dread which stems from being unable to give meaning to events in our lives, or when we struggle with being sure about the reality or existence of things, others and ourselves.

Our capacity to know is dependent on our capacity to have a home

Both knowing and home provide:
- a sense of safety and stability in time and space
- a frame, physical, symbolic, cognitive
- boundaries; between us and the world, inside and outside, the known and the unknown
- a secure base and a secure base is necessary to explore the world
- a grounding to anchor us

Epistemic homelessness, like physical homelessness, requires unequal power. In the same way that it is usually those with more social power who can displace and expel us from our physical dwellings or decide if we are entitled to be housed, power is central to epistemic homelessness.

I am sure many of us would have experienced this in the context of subtle violence. Some might refer to such experience as micro-aggression. Perhaps as a brown or black body you have been praised on your commend English, perhaps the white person behind you gets served before you, perhaps upon entering a white space you experienced THE gaze and it was said without being said that your body is trespassing. That you did not belong. And you felt hit in your guts. And you know!

As soon as you feel the violence, particularly if you try to name it, it is denied. Indeed, you may become the problem.

You may be told that you have a chip on your shoulder and; if you show any sign of offence, distress or anger, you will duly be invited to respond more 'appropriately'. It is at this point you may start to doubt yourself and your confidence in your capacity to know; becomes eroded. You may wonder; is it me? Am I the problem, am I fabricating the problem? Am I overreacting? I am being oversensitive? Am I going mad? The process of losing anchor has begun.

All the stories of women of colour I have heard in therapy had epistemic homelessness as a theme. Whether they were stories of work contributions being overlooked or stories of invisibled pain. Stories of bodies being consumed or policed obsessively but always ever so subtly; or stories of being forced into stereotypes and; stories of struggling to break free.

Each story was a story of denial and of invalidation. Each one of these stories was a story of normalisation of the said denial and invalidation. Subtle racism cannot be easily seen and so of course, it does not take place. But you cannot see what you are unwilling to see, you cannot see what you have been programmed not to see. Yet, I have seen the distress and I have experienced it. And it seems others have too...
Listening to the audience
In preparation for my TEDx Talk on the subject, I ran a few polls on Twitter. The first tested whether people of colour found covert or overt racism more challenging. 549 people answered. Covert racism was about 7 times more challenging. The second poll answered by 336 people; revealed that 95% were disbelieved, mocked or ignored when speaking of their experience of subtle racism. The final poll had 659 participants and asked about the impact of such responses. Feeling as though one was going mad was experienced by 36% of respondents, followed by pain and distress reported by 32% of pollsters. Other responses included feelings of rage, of helplessness, of exhaustion, of shame, of disbelief, of being gaslighted... All results were (very) statistically significant; meaning the probability that such results arose by chance alone is almost null.

One participant, Pauline Mayers said of her experience that it was like 'Feeling like a stranger in a familiar land with no anchor and no support'. Her words gave me Goosebumps. Reflecting on my experience and that of the women who have entrusted me with theirs, it was the image of an anchor which repeatedly came to mind. My definition was already centred around it. So, I would propose that epistemic homelessness is the subjective experience of losing anchor in a situation of epistemic injustice. That it is an embodied displacement from one's intimate truth base. You could say it is the mediating variable between our capacity to know (epistemic confidence) and ontological insecurity.
Trusting our lived experience as resistance
So, where do we go from here? The evidence is quite clear that subtle racism is at least as distressing as other more overt classes of racism. I want to leave some strategies that WOC and other marginalised people may attempt; to help themselves with their experience of epistemic homelessness.

Trust your experience. As marginalised people we are socialised to distrust ourselves, our knowledge, our competence and; to devalue our bodies and minds; all of which can undermine our epistemic confidence and make it easier for us to experience epistemic homelessness. Trusting our lived experience is a vital act of resistance so; get to know your truth signals; trust them! They will (more likely than not) point you in the right direction...the direction of home.

When your experience is being denied, take a socio-political helicopter view of the situation and ask yourself: not only what is happening in the here and now; but also, what is being reproduced socio-politically, who is the purported knower, where does power rest. Resist the temptation to individualise or internalise

Remember that you do not need to make your existence and your lived reality subject to agreement, debate or approval. Certainly not from those whose very sense of self is rooted in the erasure of the violence they enact. The ultimate power is the power to define. We have that power. Let's define our experiences... for ourselves. Let's define the world.

If you are experiencing epistemic homelessness or even ontological insecurity; please seek support and refuge from those who will honour your home and help you find your way back.
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She blogs at Guilaine Kinouani is a French woman of African descent, a writer, an equality consultant and therapist currently working toward a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. She runs a private therapy practice focused on self-care and, on the experience of marginalisation, oppression and Otherness. J Stimp, racereflections.co.uk on the interface of psychology, mental health, social justice and oppression. Tweet her @KGuilaine
Images: Murtaza Imran Ali & Nick Page

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Epistemic homelessness: 'feeling like a stranger in a familiar land'

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Guilaine Kinouani on losing one's home without leaving When I was a 20-year-old undergraduate student or so; I lost my home when it was repossessed. My husband and I had fallen on hard times because I got pregnant and; very quickly, I could not work due to threatened miscarriages and then, premature labour.

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Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation - David L. Eng & Shinhee Han 

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Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation - David L. Eng & Shinhee Han 