Culturally Competent Care Therapy: How A Black Therapist Can Help You Navigate Race-Related Trauma
We are living in wild times. We had a running joke during the pandemic. About wanting to go back to “precedented times” because we were all so overwhelmed by living through unprecedented ones. Yeah, talk about collective burnout.
In fact, that collective burnout seemed to have the effect of creating more acceptance of the stress we were all under. It legitimized our need for greater emotional support and help.
Many Of Us Need Help For Our Mental Health
The irony is that many of us were already in need of help for our mental health before the pandemic came along. And this is not because we were struggling to process grief and trauma. Or relationship endings and intense anxiety in earlier years. The painful experiences that were already in play had a lot more to do with living in a racist society that was not designed for people of color.
Yep, I stand ten toes down on what I said.
Due to the way the modern world is organized, and the particular history of the US when it comes to perceptions of race, race-related trauma has been both a fact and a factor in many of our lives. And we were suffering the effects of this even before our entire world seemed to grow deathly ill.
Receiving Support For Racism-Based Stress
But how do you get support for racism-based stress when even talking about it outside of the safety of certain social circles has people side-eyeing you? Like you told a story about being probed by aliens in a government facility? We are social animals after all, and no one needs that kind of invalidation.
You may have grown more persuaded in recent years that therapy could prove useful for you. Thus, allowing you that safe space to go and unload about the things that are affecting your mind and your health. But having to sign on to work with someone who looks different and has vastly different life experiences than you may have meant that you were educating them much more than you were actually gaining skills yourself.
Has Working With Someone Who Looks Different Than You Not Worked?
This assumes that the person you were explaining yourself to was a compassionate and accepting ally. I have had some clients come and work with me who express having their race-related trauma dismissed and/or minimized by earlier counselors. After finally working up the courage to talk about what was bothering them.
Having your perspective rejected by someone who has not lived a single day of your life is not only a form of professional gas-lighting, it tends to worsen the effects of the trauma that you were trying to get help for in the first place.
As a Black Therapist, I Understand That Therapy May Be More Harmful When Working With The Wrong Person
Years ago, when I was working in community mental health and training in a specialized form of trauma treatment for abused and neglected children, I remember learning that therapy was likely to be more harmful than helpful if the child or teenager was still living in an environment where their emotional and physical safety could not be guaranteed. In other words, if they were still actually unsafe, it would be ineffective and dangerous to encourage them to try to process their trauma, at that time. Only when the environment had been made safer could they talk work begin?
So how does this relate to you if you are trying to process and heal from the numerous effects of racism-based stress? How do you approach your healing in a way that won’t just leave you more traumatized or invalidated while you are seeking help? And what do you do about the fact that you don’t have total control over when or how you will encounter racism and microaggressions again? After all, it’s not like we can pluck you out of racial systems altogether and ensure your complete emotional safety.
The Importance Of Culturally Competent Care
This is where the supreme importance of culturally competent psychological care comes into play. While nothing in life is completely safe, we can take specific steps that will greatly reduce the impact of any harm that comes our way. And that is what culturally competent care does.
When it comes to seeking support for issues arising from experiences of racism, I urge you to make sure that you search for a therapy provider who will not do further harm to you psychologically. It doesn’t make sense for the process of healing to make you feel even sicker.
While I have met and personally know some non-black therapists who are exceptional in their acceptance of black people’s stories and experiences, I have also come across many that could prove emotionally dangerous to black and brown clients. In many cases, especially when specifically need to address topics concerning the impact of racism, you would be better served by a black counselor.
You Should Be Able to Speak Freely and Openly During Therapy
I say this because I want you to feel that you can speak freely and openly in your therapy space. The impact of receiving mental health services from a therapist who sees you, hears you, and celebrates who you are is simply priceless. You shed the weight of having to justify your view of the world or what your instincts have been telling you, and this allows you to stop gaslighting yourself as well.
To be clear, no matter what race society assigns to the therapist you work with (isn’t it wild that a made-up concept based on skin color has had this much power over all of us?!), you want to select someone who has clearly been doing the work on themselves, too.
Be Bold and Ask Questions Concerning Race- Related Stress
When you reach out to them for a consultation call, be bold and ask questions about how they see race-related stress come up for clients and how they help them process it. You want to pay attention to whether the therapist has hopeful and light energy while still being grounded in current reality. In my observations, if either of those pieces is missing, even working with someone who is the same race as you will be ineffective at best, or hurtful at worst.
Don’t be discouraged! There are amazing, effective, culturally competent therapists out there who can have a tremendous impact on your mental state and the course of your life. And if you’d like to reach out to me to explore working together, I would be more than happy to discuss it.
About The Author
Linda Sanderville, LCSW is a psychotherapist with over ten years experience in effective trauma treatment and training and supervision of other mental health professionals. Currently, she provides specialty services to adults seeking recovery from stressful life events and those who desire to optimize their wellness and the health of their relationships.
Interested in Meeting With a Culturally Competent Black Therapist in Charlottesville, VA?
Seeking healing from race-related trauma? Take an empowering step today and connect with me Linda Sanderville, a culturally competent black therapist, who can understand your experiences firsthand. My expertise and empathetic guidance will create a safe space at Satya Counseling & Yoga for your journey toward healing and liberation. Remember, you deserve support that resonates with your unique racial identity. Follow these three steps to get started:
Schedule a complimentary 20-minute call to see if we’ll be the right fit
Begin meeting with me, Linda Sanderville, a black therapist specializing in trauma
Start moving forward in your healing journey with a culturally competent therapist who understands your needs!
Other Services Offered at Satya Counseling and Yoga
At Satya Counseling and Yoga, I want to help create a safe space for my clients to start their healing journey. To help accommodate you at my Northern Virginia practice, the services I offer include trauma therapy, anxiety therapy, depression therapy, and couples counseling. I also offer a Transformation Therapy Intensive for those looking to seek accelerated progress toward their identified goals and personal growth. For more about my practice check out my FAQs and blog!