Enjoy this excerpt from our Wise Conversation videos, today with Janina Fisher, Ph.D., Gliceria Perez, LCSW, and Debra Chatman-Finley, LPC, NCC addressing the important topic of “Creating a Safe Place to Talk About Race (or, All I Ever Learned About Therapy was From a Group of Black Women)”
How do you Create a Safe Space to Talk about Race in Psychotherapy?
Fisher, Perez, and Chatman-Finley discuss their experience of a therapy group where they focused on authentic human connections rather than traditional therapeutic roles. The group created a safe space where clients, primarily women of color, could discuss their issues without feeling pathologized. This approach transformed the culture of the group and made it more comfortable for the participants.
Key Points you may find helpful in your own clinical practice with diverse individuals or groups:
– The therapy group prioritized introducing themselves as human beings rather than focusing on credentials.
– Many of the women had previous therapy experiences, making the authentic approach more valuable.
– The group discussed issues like relationships, depression, and anxiety without pathologizing them.
– The traditional psychodynamic therapy approach was seen as anxiety-provoking, especially for clients of color.
– The group changed the tone and environment, creating a safe and comfortable space.
– The therapists were respected but aimed to be like “aunties” or elders, providing advice and support.
– The group allowed professional women of color to be themselves without code-switching or wearing masks in a white-dominated work environment.
Video excerpt transcript:
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Janina Fisher, Ph.D.: There was social change happening right away because instead of introducing yourselves by your credentials, you were introducing yourselves as who you are—yes, human beings. Which is very, very different.
Debra Chatman-Finley, LPC: And you know, when I think about it, I understand even more so why that made such a difference because what we’ve subsequently found out is that some of the women had been with therapists before. It wasn’t their first experience. So I think that changed things. For them, I think that was really important.
Gliceria Pérez, LCSW: Also, I’m sorry, also the fact that we were so authentic and grounded that it didn’t seem like mental health was pathologized or anything like that. We were just talking about relationships with others, like their spouses, children, or family members, and speaking about depression, anxiety, and such. It was like psychoeducation, but at the same time, not pathologizing this stuff, and it was really safe.
Fisher: All of us human beings struggle with these same things. Exactly. Let’s talk about them together. So different. I’m thinking that, you know, [someone’s name] would turn over in his grave with this approach. And it kind of validates my sense that the very traditional psychodynamic Northern European style of therapy that I was trained in, where the therapist sits and makes continuous eye contact, i.e., stares at the client, is very, very anxiety-provoking and uncomfortable. Oh, absolutely, especially for clients of color. So, you changed the whole tone and environment, the culture of the group.
Chatman-Finley: I have to say that I think it was amazing. I absolutely love that group, I absolutely love those women. But I think one of the things that, to me, was so amazing about it, they respected [someone’s name] and I as therapists. They didn’t lose sight of that; that was never gone. But we were able to create a space that felt like the way I think of us is like we were the aunties.
In Black Culture, you know, the aunties are sort of like the elders that can give you advice, that type of thing. Or almost like a sister group. In order for those women to feel comfortable and safe, it couldn’t feel like a Therapy Group. Because when they, and also it became so important, especially when they would talk about their experiences at work. These are all professional women, and so they did not need to read, and they all work in white organizations. They did not need to come into a space where, here I go again, and let me put my mask on and code-switch and be a certain way.
