Consumer – the patient or client seeking assistance.

There is so much tension within the U.S. as we face the upcoming 2020 elections. And, thanks to social media via technology, our awareness is heightened about the ongoing incidents of excessive police violence along with the multiple “karen” encounters. 

Mobile phones and social media have brought more people into the conversation about active racism. It wasn’t enough for Black people to recount the negative encounters we’ve had with law enforcement to our nonblack friends and coworkers. It wasn’t enough that others had also witnessed it and could testify. In fact, incidents of macro-aggressions against Black people were downplayed with the accusation that we were over-sensitive or misreading the situation. But despite all the video coverage and disseminate via social media, it does not discourage law enforcement or individuals from revealing their true selves. Amongst those who may have had a hand in dismissing our experiences were our nonblack therapists.

Most people seek therapy in order to address mental health problems and to learn effective coping skills. Issues such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, childhood trauma, and other mental health problems cross the range of race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender & e.t.c. What happens within therapy sessions when in addition to one’s personal mental health being forefront, racism in all its various forms comingle with the personal thus compounding the stressors faced by consumers? Worst yet, what happens when one’s therapist downplays these feelings, especially in face of what the world has witnessed from George Floyd’s very public execution to the trial outcome of Breonna Taylor’s murderers? Can we solely work on the personal within our sessions with therapists and dismiss the external factors that impact how we feel about ourselves and our safety in the United States? Chime in.