Premium
November 8, 2016: The day I became a White clinician
Author(s) -
Bodnar Susan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22601
Subject(s) - white (mutation) , psychology , attribution , social psychology , psychoanalysis , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
When Donald Trump became president of the United States, I discovered that my clients who identified as Black saw me as a White clinician. With that came a host of nefarious attributions. To preserve therapeutic efficacy, and the genuine relationships with people about whom I cared, I had to distinguish myself from the president; thus, I learned not only how it feels to be seen through the bias of skin color but what I needed to do to identify as a person rather than a White person. “Welcome to my world,” said one African American client.