Racial Healing Approaches in a Therapeutic Space

Background and Purpose:

Ruth King (2018) emphasizes that all individuals, particularly those who are Black and Brown, are susceptible to both physical and emotional harm resulting from racial trauma. This trauma arises from the stress associated with experiencing racism and harms overall well-being (Menakem, 2022). Despite the pressing need to address racial trauma, clinical social workers frequently misunderstand, overlook, or perpetuate these experiences, resulting in inadequate treatment. To enhance care, it is crucial for social workers to confront racial trauma within their practice and adopt culturally responsive approaches, moving beyond traditional Eurocentric models (Davis & Zielinski, 2024).

This paper explores therapeutic strategies aimed at addressing racial trauma, drawing on the lived experiences of Black and multiracial social workers who support their Black and Brown clients. The primary objective is to identify the techniques employed by these social workers to address racialized trauma in psychotherapy. The following research inquiry guides the study: 1) What subjective experiences and perceptions shape the therapeutic approaches that Black and multiracial social workers use with BIPOC clients to facilitate their racial healing journey?

Method:

Participants were recruited through flyers on LinkedIn. I employed an interpretive phenomenological analysis methodology to interview partcipants (n=12), Eighty-minute semi-structured interviews were completed: participants self-identified as Black (10), cis-women (7), cis-male (3), multiracial (2), cis-woman (1), gender expansive (1), heterosexual (8) and queer (4). My specific aim was to explore the approaches utilized to facilitate racial healing. Data collection involved 12 semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom. With the participants' consent, all interviews were audio recorded. The data was analyzed using a five-step process consistent with interpretive phenomenological analysis. These steps include Reading and Exploring Notes, Formulating Experiential Statements, Identifying Connections and Clustering Experiential Statements, Compiling Tables of Personal Experiential Themes, and Conducting Cross-Case Analysis (Smith & Nizza, 2022). Following data analysis, I conducted member checking, allowing participants to review the findings.

Findings:

The findings identified seven key sub-themes that underscore therapeutic approaches focused on racial restoration: enhancing racial awareness through psychoeducation, addressing stigma, fostering trust through authentic interactions, recognizing the significance of language, offering validation, employing narrative therapy via counter-storytelling, and considering intersectionality. The central aim of these discussions was to cultivate culturally responsive and effective practices that promote racial healing.

Conclusion and Implications:

Social workers emphasize the importance of specific approaches to foster racial healing in therapy, recognizing the intergenerational nature of racial trauma and the need for authenticity and trust in sessions. They highlight the significance of creating a safe environment, providing psychoeducation on the impacts of racism, and empowering BIPOC clients through counter-storytelling. Building trust and acknowledging clients' intersecting identities are crucial for alleviating anxiety and validating experiences of racism. The study reveals a shift away from Eurocentric therapeutic models towards open dialogue and genuine interactions that humanize the therapeutic relationship, ultimately reducing mental health stigma and promoting a sense of belonging within marginalized communities.