By: Dr. Michelle Karume, DMFT
Just like biases we often don’t think we have them until we sometimes find ourselves working with clients from various walks of life and recognizing we have some adverse thoughts or attitudes about them, their practices, their culture, their beliefs etc. it happens to be best of us. In the same vein racial discrimination (RD) does not discriminate; sounds like a double negative but it’s not. The truth of the matter is, the field of MFT is not immune to racial discrimination. One could argue, how can that be, when we are arguably the most competent when it comes to working within a systemic framework? Afterall, we are able to hold spaces for people who are different from us and serve as catalysts for change within their relational issues. That’s a fair question! We can each point a finger on who should do what better, but the blatant truth is, we each have a critical role to play. One that perhaps will call on us to be vulnerable and transparent for the greater good. I figure if we don’t, then who will.
Before going into how we, in the field of MFT can start to have these conversations on racial discrimination, let’s take a brief look at the effects it has on individuals as well as families. Studies have shown that (RD) has adverse effects on individuals and family’s mental health, physical health; if we Use the biopsychosocial-spiritual framework we can see that racial discrimination has its tenets in these various areas. In their study Chen & Mallory (2021) found that individuals who had experienced RD were at higher risk for physical diseases as well as mental health diseases such as depression and anxiety and also substance use disorder. Similarly, a study by Lavner et al., (2023) reported significant correlations between depression in adolescents who have experienced racial discrimination. However; though these negative experiences are still present today, the complexity of racial discrimination also begs to highlight that even though there is still some work to be done; there however has been progress.
I’ve heard it said that charity begins at home. If we use the same thought process, we can see the importance of protecting our field from the fault lines that RD can cause. The detriment of these cracks in the field cannot be taken lightly for the negative impact is too costly. Perhaps the first step to this change is a paradigm shift from how we view changing the climate of RD. Due to its historical traumatic experiences and effects, I can see why aims at making changes on the same have also had some aggression towards them. But if we, in the field of MFT saw this as,
“as advancing the understanding of a psychological phenomenon rather than as something more threatening, such as “pushing an agenda” (Roberson, 2023., p.181) maybe we would approach it less armed or guarded and more open to the need for this change. Once we have this paradigm shift I think we can then be more open to creating safe spaces just like we do for our clients. When the space is safe, people are more amenable to trust us with their stories-it would not be any different for us the clinicians. As an African myself, one of our traditional ways of healing societal challenges was through stories and folk songs. Whereas I am not asking us to sing; although that would be pretty amazing, the power of storytelling is one we can all relate to. Here as a chance for us to re-write this story on racial discrimination in the field of MFT. How do we tell our stories? Perhaps through our written works, through our platforms such as teaching, or during our conferences or simply by sharing it with other MFTs in the field. These stories would specifically focus on what led us to the beliefs we hold regarding racial discrimination, what were our experiences? Similarly, when we do genograms with our clients the historical view allows the client to see what was but more so it gives them the opportunity to see how to effect change and not repeat the same. Another suggestion could be having a sense of pride-through their program in working with families to disrupt the negative consequences of racial discrimination, Berkel, C.,. et al. (2024) found a key component in “overcoming discrimination” was this element of ‘Black pride’. It was what parents also used to give their children a sense of belonging and pride in who they were. Could we in the field of MFT embody a similar key factor that bonds us together? I want to believe we are proud to be MFTs but something that unifies us deeper on this very issue so much so that it could start the elimination process of this issue? Something that we would be proud to say that the field of MFT prides itself in implementing this change. I hope we can.
Finally, MFT programs-curriculum in the MFT programs could include a course or material on racial discrimination and tribalism specifically, there effects and most importantly how to disrupt them. I think part of the problem is that we are not taught how to best manage and or talk about it. If this is made a requirement then from the collegial level, we learn how to implement the relevant techniques. I truly believe that we are a more similar than we are different-if so; then let’s make our field an example of this.
References
Berkel, C., Murry, V.M., Thomas, N.A. et al. The Strong African American Families Program: Disrupting the Negative Consequences of Racial Discrimination Through Culturally Tailored, Family-Based Prevention. Prev Sci 25, 44–55 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-022-01432-x
Chen S, Mallory AB (2021). The effect of racial discrimination on mental and physical health: A propensity score weighting approach. Soc Sci Med. 2021 Sep;285:114308. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114308. Epub 2021 Aug 8. PMID: 34399293; PMCID: PMC8451383.
Lavner, J. A., Ong, M. L., Carter, S. E., Hart, A. R., & Beach, S. R. H. (2023). Racial discrimination predicts depressive symptoms throughout adolescence among Black youth. Developmental Psychology, 59(1), 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001456
Roberson, Q. (2023). Understanding racism in the workplace. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(2), 179–182. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001079