Treating stress that stems from racial discrimination and oppression can help address the mental health inequities Black clients face.
Tag: race
The toll of racism is implicated in health and mental health disparities that can be addressed only through knowledge, awareness and a commitment to culturally responsive care.
Presidential elections always inspire strong feelings such as anticipation, a sense of hope and sometimes anger, but the pandemic and general chaos of 2020 have tightened the public’s tension. Voters are looking to counselors to help them cope with their anxiety and fear.
ACA recently held a briefing on racism, police reform and mental health for association members, legislative staff and advocates who are working on bills currently before the 116th Congress.
Much of the discussion from panelists and attendees alike focused not just on the additional stress that counselors and clients have been experiencing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic but also on the trauma, grief and exhaustion raised by recent social turmoil tied to systemic racism in America.
If counselors are truly committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, it is time to challenge the status quo rather than remain silently complicit.
A conversation between two counselors of different backgrounds opens up a dialogue about race, systemic issues, client care and possible steps for moving the profession forward.
Counselors can help clients heal from racial trauma and take steps to intervene in the racist systems that negatively affect the mental health of Black Americans.
Being part of two different cultures and not truly feeling a sense of belonging in either is not an uncommon experience among individuals who are biracial or multiracial and those who are transracial adoptees.
“Focusing primarily on the race of the provider and the client, while valid, is an approach that does not consider the system itself, the functions of the diagnosis, and its structurally developed links to protest, resistance, racism and other associations that work against the therapeutic connection.”