Race Culture And Psychotherapy

Race, Culture and Counselling seeks to explore some of the major dimensions and subtleties underlying the issues of race and culture and how these might impact upon counselling-psychotherapeutic relationships. It contributes to the literature that urges awareness, understanding and acceptance between people of different cultural, racial and linguistic origins. The dimensions of race and culture are extremely complex and have many consequences in therapy. Wherever persons of different races and cultures come together in a counselling relationship, some of their interactions will be an unknown quanitity, each may experience discomfort and fear and the results, for both parties, might be negative. This is not a book of case studies, neither is it a cookbook manual of 'how to do it'. Rather, it articulates a range of issues that are pertinent to therapists who live and work in a multi-racial society and also addresses the challenges posed to trainers, supervisors and researchers of counselling and psychotherapy. 'Scores of mental health professionals in both Great Britain and the United States seem to be ill prepared to provide culturally appropriate counselling services to a diverse population ....This book is not only timely, but critical to the future of counselling theory and practice. It is an excellent synthesis of traditional and contemporary ideas related to issues of race and culture in counselling.' - Courtland Lee, Professor of Counsellor Education, University of Virginia, USA

What is multicultural psychotherapy? How do we integrate issues of gender, class and sexual orientation in multicultural psychotherapy? Race, Culture and Psychotherapy provides a thorough critical examination of contemporary multiculturalism and culturalism, including discussion of the full range of issues, debates and controversies that are emerging in the field of multicultural psychotherapy. Beginning with a general critique of race, culture and ethnicity, the book explores issues such as the notion of interiority and exteriority in psychotherapy, racism in the clinical room, race and countertransference conflicts, spirituality and traditional healing issues. Contributors from the United States, Britain and Canada draw on their professional experience to provide comprehensive and balanced coverage of the following subjects: critical perspectives in race and culture in psychotherapy governing race in the transference racism, ethnicity and countertransference intersecting gender, race, class and sexual orientation spirituality, cultural healing and psychotherapy future directions Race, Culture and Psychotherapy will be of interest not only to practicing psychotherapists, but also to students and researchers in the field of mental health and anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of psychotherapy in a multicultural society.

This book deals with the importance of issues of race and culture in psychological interventions and provides the reader with the tools necessary for this kind of work, combining a theoretical background with practical exercises. The book is divided into three parts: Part 1, Who enters the process describes the theory and history of the importance of becoming a race and culture sensitive therapist. Part 2, The process, discusses nuances and themes across different counseling situations like group interventions and career counseling. Part 3, Observing the process, looks back at the effectiveness of race and culture sensitivity in counseling and therapy. Integrates racial/cultural issues into traditional counseling theories (chs. 7 and 8). Integrates racial/cultural issues throughout the therapy process (chs. 6, 9 and 10). Applies racial/cultural constructs to various aspects of counseling and therapy (chs 10, 11 and 13). For counselors and clinical psychology practitioners with an interest in the issues of race and culture.

Is our society color-blind? Trans-racial? Post-racial? And what—if anything—should this mean to professionals in clinical practice with diverse clients? The ambitious volume The Concept of Race and Psychotherapy probes these questions, compelling readers to look differently at their clients (and themselves), and offering a practical framework for more effective therapy. By tracing the racial “folk taxonomies” of eight cultures in the Americas and the Caribbean, the author elegantly defines race as a fluid construct, dependent on local social, political, and historical context for meaning but meaningless in the face of science. This innovative perspective informs the rest of the book, which addresses commonly held assumptions about problem behavior and the desire to change, and presents a social-science-based therapy model, applicable to a wide range of current approaches, that emphasizes both cultural patterns and client uniqueness. Among the highlights of the coverage: Common elements in therapy and healing across cultures. The psychological appeal of racial concepts despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Lessons psychology can learn from anthropology. Three types of therapeutic relationships, with strategies for working effectively in each. The phenomenon of discontinuous change in brief therapy. Solution-focused therapy from a cross-cultural perspective. Thought-provoking reading for psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, and other mental health professionals as well as graduate students in these fields, The Concept of Race and Psychotherapy affirms the individuality—and the interconnectedness—of every client.

"In a diverse democracy, law must be open to all. All too often, however, our system of justice has failed to live up to our shared ideals, because it excludes individuals and communities even as they seek to use it or find themselves caught up in it. The research presented here offers hope. The abstract doctrines of the law are presented through real cases. Judges, lawyers, scholars, and concerned citizens will find much in these pages documenting the need for reform, along with the means for achieving our aspirations. The issues presented by race, ethnicity, and cultural differences are obviously central to the resolution of disputes in a nation made up of people who have in common only their faith in the great experiment of the United States Constitution. Here the challenges are met in an original, accessible, and thoughtful manner." -Frank H. Wu, Howard University, and author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White "Kim Barrett and William George have taken on an enormous task, which is matched only by its timeliness. Cultural competence and cultural diversity pass off our lips as eternally valued ideals, but Barrett and George have brought a critical and edifying eye to thee ideas. Racism is similarly easy to acknowledge but difficult to account for in the everyday lives of ordinary people of color. What we discover in this impressive volume is not only that race and culture matter, but how they matter in the minds of people who are clients and the minds of people who attempt to serve them and in the courts of law that attempt to mete out justice. Race, Culture Psychology and the Law is essential reading for anyone with a professional or personal interest in social justice and psychological well-being." -James M. Jones, Ph.D., Director, Minority Fellowship Program, American Psychological Association "This is an extraordinary and daring compilation of cutting edge commentaries that should prove invaluable to students, scholars, and practitioners working in social work, clinical and forensic psychology, juvenile justice, immigration adjustment, Native American advocacy, and child and adult abuse. It is a quality text that tackles key topics bridged by psychology and the law with clarity, succinctness, complexity, and evenhandedness." -William E. Cross, Jr., Ph.D., Graduate Center, City University of New York American ethnic and racial minority groups, immigrants, and refugees to this country are disparately impacted by the justice system of the United States. Issues such as racial profiling, disproportionate incarceration, deportation, and capital punishment all exemplify situations in which the legal system must attend to matters of race and culture in a competent and humane fashion. Race, Culture, Psychology, and Law is the only book to provide summaries and analyses of culturally competent psychological and social services encountered within the U.S. legal arena. The book is broad in scope and covers the knowledge and practice crucial in providing comprehensive services to ethnic, racial, and cultural minorities. Topics include the importance of race relations, psychological testing and evaluation, racial "profiling," disparities in death penalty conviction, immigration and domestic violence, asylum seekers, deportations and civil rights, juvenile justice, cross-cultural lawyering, and cultural competency in the administration of justice. Race, Culture, Psychology, and Law offers a compendium of knowledge, historical background, case examples, guidelines, and practice standards pertinent to professionals in the fields of psychology and law to help them recognize the importance of racial and cultural contexts of their clients. Editors Kimberly Holt Barrett and William H. George have drawn together contributing authors from a variety of academic disciplines including law, psychology, sociology, social work, and family studies. These contributors illustrate the delivery of psychological, legal, and social services to individuals and families-from racial minority, ethnic minority, immigrant, and refugee groups-who are involved in legal proceedings. Race, Culture, Psychology, and Law is a unique and timely text for undergraduate and graduate students studying psychology and law. The book is also a vital resource for a variety of professionals such as clinical psychologists, forensic psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, social workers, and attorneys dealing with new immigrants and people from various ethnic communities.

Can therapy involving a therapist and client from differing cultural, ethnic and racial origins work? What are the main barriers to this relationship working well? What knowledge, skill and attitudes are required by therapists to enhance their work with “different” clients? Therapists are inevitably affected by their own backgrounds, experiences and prejudices, which may manifest negatively within therapeutic relationships with clients of different cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds to their own. This book strives to explore these areas of challenge to successful therapy and to raise awareness of the many facets that may impact upon the relationship. This substantially revised edition builds upon the foundations laid down in the first edition (which addressed, amongst other subjects, issues of race and power, cultures and their impact upon communication, and a review of the dominant theoretical discourses influencing counselling and psychotherapy and how these might impact upon mixed identity therapeutic relationships,) and includes the following additions: New chapters by black and white writers working within British, American and Canadian contexts Updated information on recent changes and challenges in the field New approaches to the issues of whiteness and power, multiple identities and identity development Race, Culture and Counselling provides key reading for students, therapists, supervisors and teachers of therapists as well as students and professionals in allied professions such as social work, nursing, medicine and teaching. Contributors: Courtland Lee; Roy Moodley; Gill Tuckwell; Val Watson

This book promotes curiosity, exploration and learning about difference by paying as much attention as to how we learn (process) as to what we learn (content). It shares the thinking, experience and learning of staff at the Tavistock Clinic, the premier psychotherapy training institution in the NHS.

The author writes for all those interested in the dynamics of racism, from professionals in counselling, group analysis and psychotherapy working in multiracial and multicultural societies to those exposed to racism who need help in dealing with the impact of their experiences. She also addresses the concept of victims becoming perpetrators if support is not given to contain the process. Herself a group analyst, the author experienced at first hand racial discrimination within the system, but rather than succumb has instead produced an enduring and proficient work that draws heavily on personal experience. Combining years of counselling skill with a natural compassion, she makes the subject of racism approachable, thus motivating all those wanting to explore the issues. For people whose experience of broken attachments crosses racial lines, this book is possibly the first to use Bowlby's Attachment Theory as a framework for understanding racism.