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This is to certify that the
dissertation entitled

RACIAL IDENTITY IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY STUDENT
THERAPISTS - A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THERAPIST
DEVELOPMENT

presented by

KRISTINE MARCIA ANDREWS

has been accepted towards fulfillment
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RACIAL IDENTITY IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY STUDENT THERAPISTS —
A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THERAPIST DEVELOPMENT
By

Kristine Marcia Andrews

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial ﬁilﬁllment of the requirements
for the degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Family and Child Ecology

2007

ABSTRACT
RACIAL IDENTITY IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY STUDENT THERAPISTS -
A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THERAPIST DEVELOPMENT
By

Kristine Marcia Andrews

Though signiﬁcant research has been conducted in recent years regarding race and
therapy, there has been a dearth in the research regarding therapists’ racial identity,
speciﬁcally how it affects their development as clinicians. This study was conducted to
contribute to the growth of multicultural awareness in the ﬁeld of marriage and family
therapy. The purpose of this research study was to qualitatively explore, describe and
analyze the role of ecological factors in the development of Afn'can American female
student therapists. Speciﬁcally, research examined therapist development based on how
therapists deﬁned racial identity, explored inﬂuences of families of origin, understood the
impact of graduate training, interpreted clinical experiences, and managed the role of
power in therapy. By having the therapist address her development as a product of racial
identity’s inﬂuence on various ecological constructs, awareness was raised regarding the
impact that racial identity may have not only on her own development, but also on clients
and the therapy process. This study adds to the limited research regarding the effects of
racial identity on therapist development, speciﬁcally from the unique perspective of

African American female student therapists.

Copyright By
KRISTINE MARCIA ANDREWS
2007

To my husband for his unwavering support, tireless enthusiasm, and convicted belief in
my abilities.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This has been an unforgettable journey, and in no way did I get here on my own. First I
would like to acknowledge my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to whom I attribute any
success. It is only through earnest prayer and His grace that I have made it this far. Next,
I recognize my husband, my biggest champion and best fn'end, Leon. Ithank you for
both the inspirational pep talks and the silent encouragement and mostly, for believing in
me when I had doubts and delaying your own aspirations to see this dream realized. I
thank my daughter Jessica for inspiring me to ﬁnish this degree to devote more time to
being a Mommy. To my immediate, extended, and church families - thank you for love,
prayers and patience along this journey. To my committee members — I thank you for
incredible ﬂexibility with my aggressive timelines and always believing I could succeed.
To my chairperson, supervisor, advisor, mentor, teacher, and now, colleague — Dr.
Marsha Carolan — I can not adequately express my gratitude for your consistent
encouragement throughout this program. It is a support that inspires conﬁdence and
challenges me to give more than my best. For developing my clinical skills,
strengthening my writing, submitting endless recommendations for funding, awards, or

jobs, and preparing me to succeed as a professional in this ﬁeld — I thank you!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... viii
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1
Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................. 2
Purpose and Importance of this Study .......................................................................... 3
Guiding Theoretical Framework for this Research ....................................................... 5
Human Ecological Theory ....................................................................................... 5
Feminist Theory ....................................................................................................... 8
Focus of this Study ...................................................................................................... 9
Research Questions .................................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................. 15
Ecological Factors of Therapist Development ............................................................ 15
Racial Identity and Ethnic Identity ............................................................................. 15
Ethnicity and Racial Effects in Therapy ..................................................................... 19
Therapist Development .............................................................................................. 21
Therapist-Client Dyads - Ethnicity Adds Multi-level Complexities ........................... 23
Feminist Lens ............................................................................................................ 25
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ....................................................................... 27
Research Design ........................................................................................................ 27
Sample ...................................................................................................................... 29
Recruitment ........................................................................................................... 30
Sample Demographics ........................................................................................... 30
Protection of Participants ........................................................................................... 31
Procedures ................................................................................................................. 31
Data Collection ...................................................................................................... 32
Demographic Proﬁle .............................................................................................. 32
Ecological Factors Interview .................................................................................. 33
Measures ............................................................................................................... 33
Semi-Structured Development Interview ................................................................ 34
Clariﬁcation & Veriﬁcation ................................................................................... 35
Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 3 5
Coding Procedures ................................................................................................. 36
Validity, Credibility, and Trustworthiness .............................................................. 37
Reﬂexivity ............................................................................................................. 38
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ...................................................................................... 40
Overview of Process .................................................................................................. 40
Review of Research Questions ................................................................................... 41
Key Findings on Racial Identity ................................................................................. 42
Research Question 1 .............................................................................................. 50

Direct inﬂuences. ............................................................................................... 51

Indirect inﬂuences .............................................................................................. 52
Making sense of family of origin ........................................................................ 53
Research Question 2 .............................................................................................. 54
Graduate Coursework on Diversity Needs Improvement .................................... 56

The Role of Spokesperson — Shaping Therapist Identity ..................................... 57
Challenging Peers in the Classroom ................................................................... 59
Faculty Conﬂicts - Challenge Self, Conform, or Resist ...................................... 60
Research Question 3: ............................................................................................. 61
Racial Identity Affects Therapist — Relevance to Work, Increased Vigilance ...... 62

Racial Identity Affects Therapy — Credibility and Joining .................................. 63
Research Question 4 .............................................................................................. 64
Managing the Role of Power .............................................................................. 64
Clients’ Response to Power in Therapy .............................................................. 65

Power and Developing a Therapeutic Style ........................................................ 65

Racial Identity Measure Results ................................................................................. 66
Understanding Results ........................................................................................... 67
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 69
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION .................................................................................. 73
Theoretical Implications: Human Ecological Theory and Feminist Theory ............... 73

A Process Model of Student Therapist Development ................................................. 78
Meaning-Making ................................................................................................... 78
Human Ecological Theory and Ecological Constructs ................................................ 79
Family of Origin Inﬂuences. .................................................................................. 80
Clinical Environment ............................................................................................. 82
Graduate Training .................................................................................................. 83
Clinical Experience ................................................................................................ 84
Collision of Values ................................................................................................ 84
Feminist Theory and the Integration of Power ............................................................ 86
The Model ............................................................................................................. 86
Racial Identity Conclusions ....................................................................................... 87
Clinical Implications .................................................................................................. 88
Self-of-the-Therapist .............................................................................................. 88
Graduate Training Programs .................................................................................. 89
Limitations ................................................................................................................ 90
Research Implications ................................................................................................ 92
Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 94
APPENDIX A: Informed Consent ................................................................................. 96
APPENDIX B: Demographic Questionnaire .................................................................. 98
APPENDIX C: Semi Structured Interview Questions .................................................. 102
APPENDIX D: Multidimensional Inventory Of Black Identity .................................... 106
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 111

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: Relationship Between Guiding Theon'es & Research Questions .................... 14
Table 3.2: Relationship Between Research Questions and Interview Questions ............ 39
Table 4.1: Sample Demographics ................................................................................. 70
Table 4.2: Results of the Multidimensional Inventory on Black Identity ........................ 71
Table 4.3: Emerging Themes from Data Analysis by Research Question ....................... 72

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Theoretical Map .......................................................................................... 12
Figure 1.2: Conceptual Map .......................................................................................... 13
Figure 4.1: Sample Ecological Factors Diagram ............................................................ 49
Figure 5.1: Revised Theoretical Map ............................................................................ 75
Figure 5.2: Revised Conceptual Map ............................................................................. 76
Figure 5.3: Process Model Based on Findings ................................................................ 77

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Race and ethnicity issues in marriage and family therapy have continued to
increase over the past few years (Giordano & Carini-Giordano, 1995; Ho, 1987;
McGoldrick, Giordano, & Pearce, 1996; Saba, Karrer, & Hardy, 1989). This may be in
response to changing demographics and the growth of ethnic minority representation in
the United States. The 2000 Census estimates that people of color currently represent
24.9 percent of the total population and are projected to comprise the majority of the
population in 2050 (U .8. Bureau of Census, 1992).

The ﬁeld of marriage and family therapy reﬂects a bias toward the majority
European American cultures in its history, theories, and membership (McDowell, Fang,
Young, Khanna, Sherman, & Brownlee, 2003). American Association of Marriage and
Family Therapy (AAMFT) has been criticized for failing to take effective action to
increase the racial diversity of its members (Killian & Hardy, 1998). According to a
report by Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education
(COAMFTE), 80% of all students in marriage and family therapy graduation programs in
North America were European American. Though the overwhelming majority of
marriage and family therapists are white, over 66% of their clients are of a different race
(Green, 1998). Seemingly, the discussion of race and therapy is unavoidable.

The ﬁeld of marriage and family therapy has addressed this trend and exhibited
growing interest in the treatment of diverse populations in various ways - demonstrated
by numerous conferences, research agendas, journal articles, books and workshops on the

subject (Nelson, Brendel, Mize, Lad, Hancock, & Pinjala, 2001). Therapeutic practice

cannot be neutral in the understanding of race. Exploring race ﬁts with current
developments in family therapy and can be applied to the personal and professional
development of therapists.

Despite the multitude of resources that can be located on ethnicity and therapy
(Giordano & Carini-Giordano, 1995; Ho, 1987; McGoldrick, Giordano, & Pearce, 1996;
Saba, Karrer, & Hardy, 1989) very little research exists on the experiences of marriage
and family therapists of color; speciﬁcally the role of racial identity in the development
of therapists. The majority of the research explores race and ethnicity from the
perspectives of the White clinician treating the minority client (Ponterotto & Casas,
1991) or the lens of the minority client (Casas, 1985). Extensive research has been
conducted on: trust or mistrust of Black clients toward White therapists (LaFleur, Rowe,
& Leach, 2002), effects of racial match on therapeutic outcome (F laskerud, 1991), and
minority client reaction to therapists’ race (Sanders Thompson & Alexander, 2006).

Therapist development is inﬂuenced by many factors, including family of origin,
gender roles/beliefs, differentiation level, and ethnicity. Strawdennan, Rosen, and
Coleman (1997) emphasize that a therapist’ personal values, life experiences, and belief
systems affect the therapeutic relationship. Research is needed to explore how a
therapist’s racial identity inﬂuences his/her development and thereby affects the therapy

process.

Statement of the Problem

There are some noteworthy works which explore therapists’ ethnicity.
McGoldrick (1998) and McGoldrick, Giordano, and Pearce (1996) emphasize the

importance of the therapist examining his/her own ethnicity when working with diverse

families. Hardy & Laszloffy (1995) developed the cultural genogram to promote ethnic
self-awareness. Falicov (1995) constructed a model to train clinicians to think multi-
culturally about families. Despite the important contributions these works have made to
the ﬁeld, there has been a dearth in the research regarding therapists’ racial identity,
speciﬁcally how it affects their development as a clinician. Racial identity is one of
many characteristics that may signiﬁcantly inﬂuence the life experience of therapist as
well as their approaches to therapy (Cardemil & Battle, 2003). This lack of research may
be the result of few persons of color entering the ranks of therapists and studying issues
of signiﬁcance to themselves (Brown, 2004).

This study was conducted to contribute to the growth of multicultural awareness
in the ﬁeld of marriage and family therapy. This study aimed to understand how racial
identity shapes the different components of a student therapist’s development (personal
background, clinical experience, etc). This study adds to the limited research regarding
the effects of racial identity on therapist development, speciﬁcally from the perspective
of Aﬁican American female student therapists. From a systems perspective, the racial
identity of the therapist is as important as that of the client (Rastogi & Wieling, 2005),

though the literature fails to reﬂect much research on therapists’ racial identity.

Purpose and Importance of this Study

The purpose of this research study was to qualitatively explore, describe and
analyze the role of ecological factors in the development of African American female
student therapists. Speciﬁcally, research examined therapist development based on how
therapists deﬁned racial identity, explored inﬂuences of families of origin, understood the

impact of graduate training, interpreted clinical experiences, and managed the role of

power in therapy. Each therapist shared diverse lived experiences within these
components examining the inﬂuence of racial identity. Because race shapes and deﬁnes
one’s lived experience in American culture — whether perceived, real, or some
combination of both — it is imperative to better understand, clarify, and appreciate the
function of race, ethnicity and culture in a therapist’s experience (Turner, Wieling &
Allen, 2004).

Presently, empirical research has focused on the race of clients as an independent
variable in looking at outcomes in therapy. If the race of the therapist is explored it is
often used to contrast with the race of the client. Additionally, the majority of the
research explores race and racial identity from the perspectives of the White therapist and
the minority client. Most research studies on therapists simply list the racial makeup of
the participants but do not address issues of racial identity or the saliency of ethnicity for
the participants (Whiston & Keller, 2004). One of the objectives of this research was to
understand therapist development from the perspectives of African American female
student marriage and family therapists and to assist in the ﬁrller inclusion of such a
perspective in the ﬁeld.

By having the therapist address her development as a product of racial identity’s
inﬂuence on various ecological constructs, awareness was raised regarding the impact
that racial identity may have not only on her own development, but also on clients and
the therapy process. Furthermore, this process allowed the therapist to gain a deeper
understanding of her belief systems related to race, power, and development.

It is hoped that study results will enlighten the larger marriage and family therapy

community, contribute to the increased awareness and understanding of the experiences

and needs of African American female therapists and, perhaps consequently shift the
focus of literature such that values, attitudes, and perspectives of minority therapists
would be incorporated into the ﬁeld in a substantial manner and considered of equal

importance to the values, attitudes and perspectives of the majority culture.

Guiding Theoretical Framework for this Research

Human ecological theory and feminist theory form the basis and rationale for this
study. These guiding theoretical frameworks supply a lens through which to observe the
therapist’s development as inﬂuenced by racial identity. To facilitate understanding, a
theoretical map graphically depicting the relevant concepts from each theory has been

provided in Figure 1.1.

Human Ecological Theory

This research is primarily guided by Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Human Ecological
Theory. The ecological approach provides a useful framework for examining the way
individual development is inﬂuenced by various systems, speciﬁcally external conditions
and environments (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). The usefulness of the ecological approach lies
in understanding the individual in the broader context. Human ecology theory focuses on
the socio-cultural context and assumes that the environment impacts the decisions we
make, the lives we live, and as a result, the therapeutic approach we utilize (Arthur, 2001,
Booth & Cottone, 2000; Rosin & Knudson, 1986). Ecological thinking considers the
individual as shaping and being shaped by gender, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and
race. The human ecological perspective was selected as the theoretical framework

because of its “person-in environmem” traditional social work focus that takes into

consideration the unique background experiences and contributions of ethnic population”
(Ho, 1987).

Understanding the unit of analysis, therapists of color in this study, and the social
system in which its development occurs is the primary concern of the ecological
approach (Ray, 1988). For example, the ecological approach is helpful in examining a
therapist’s experience in the social system and how the social system changes depending
on the therapist’s role in it (Bulboz & Sontag, 1993). Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1989, 1994)
proposed an ecological model of human development assessing the individual within
several settings and how the settings affect the developing person. In this context, the
human individual is considered to be at the center of a series of concentric circles. In
Bronfenbrenner's model, the person interacts with these contexts as part of a system. That
is, the person acts on the context while the context acts on the person. Bronfenbrenner
(1979) promoted the need to pay particular attention to the developing person within
several settings and how the settings affect the developing person, thus creating a
systemic interplay of inﬂuences. Indeed, to some extent, all the contexts interact with
one another. Exploring the differing levels of analyses allow for a better understanding of
the individual’s life and the inﬂuence of these contexts not only on each other, but on the
individual as well.

The chronosystem consists of the change in time in the environment. Since
development is a continuous process, this level addresses the transformations therapists
experience over a lifespan. It can also reﬂect the changing racial demographics in society
and the changing perceptions of personally held and socially accepted beliefs about

various ethnicities over time. For the purposes of this study, participants were reﬂective

of how varying factors had inﬂuenced development up to a certain point— a snapshot in
time.

The macrosystem consists of the values, norms, and institutional patterns of a
culture or social structure (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). They are directly related to the belief
systems that the culture holds and become important factors in the transmission of
societal values to the individual (Vygotsky, 1978). The macrosystem is the level that
examines what the dominant society deems as appropriate social behavior and thereby
inﬂuences the therapist’s values and practices. This is vital given the current and
historical negative ethnic perceptions held in this nation. For example, participants often
described their racial identity as a product of the social culture.

The exosystem consists of the settings or events that do not directly involve the
unit of analysis but still inﬂuence it (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). This level includes religion,
media, government, and other constructs or institutional entities that inﬂuence an
individual’s development though not directly or actively affecting the person. These
inﬂuences can shape the individual therapist’s values and belief systems and may impact
behavior. This level examines the potential indirect inﬂuences - for example, the
negative portrayal of African Americans in the media as criminals or promiscuous or
certain governmental policies restricting immigrants - on an individual’s development.
Participants not only reported challenges in debunking these stereotypes in the classroom,
but also cited examples of encountering these stereotypes as a clinician — with
supervisors and clients.

The mesosystem consists of the settings in which the individual directly

participates (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). Speciﬁcally, are the belief systems of various

settings (family, workplace, school, church) aligned with one another? When discord in
these multiple entities exists, the developing individual is faced with conﬂict.
Participants focused on the graduate training program and clinical work within the
mesosystem. At times, personal beliefs disagreed with the graduate school experience —
creating challenges for the participants to reconcile.

The microsystem includes the interpersonal activities in the individual’s face-to-
face settings, such as her peer network and family members (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). This
level includes constructs related to value transmission, formation of racial identity, and
viewpoints of personal development. The family is the key agent in the transmission of
those values and belief systems it deems important. These values then reﬂect
determinations of what is right and are further inﬂuenced by society, culture, and other
environments (Bubolz & Sontag, 1993). As a result, by looking at the ecological factors
within a therapist’s personal background from multiple levels of the ecosystem, a better

understanding of how it affects therapists’ development was obtained.

Feminist Theory

A feminist lens is applied in this study to better understand power and neutrality
as ecological factors inﬂuencing therapists’ development. Basic tenets of feminism
include a belief in the equal worth of all human beings, recognition that each individual’s
personal experiences and situations are reﬂective of society’s attitudes, and a
commitment to political and social change that equalizes power among people (Myers—
Avis & Turner, 1996). A feminist lens recognizes and attempts to reduce the inﬂuences
of oppressive societal attitudes where power is used to the detriment of others (Gale &

' Long, 1996). Feminist theory addresses the understanding of power and its connection to

gender, race, culture, class, physical ability, sexual orientation, age, and any forms of
oppression based on religion, race, and heritage.

A feminist perspective views the ‘personal as political’ (Corey, 2005), meaning
the concerns of an individual are not separate from the social and political constructs
within which the person is socialized. This framework is useful in examining racial
identity and therapist development as a therapist experiences race in a larger social,
political, and cultural context. A feminist lens explores the meaning and impact of the
therapist’s racial identity, cultural background, gender, class, age, and sexual orientation
with a goal of uncovering and respecting cultural and experiential differences (Corey,
2005)

The feminist theory framework implies that therapeutic neutrality is not an option
since therapists can not ignore their own personal experiences in therapy (Prilleltensky,
1997). This approach facilitates an understanding of how a therapist’s personal values
inﬂuence their development as clinicians. Also according to a feminist lens, it is
impossible for a therapist not to have biases or interpretations of interpersonal dynamics
within the world around them (Melito, 2003). These tenets are integral to identifying
various ecological factors that comprise therapists’ values and beliefs.

A feminist approach validated the process by which a participant understands how
her personal values, racial identity, and other ecological factors inﬂuence her
development as well as her comfort with racially charged topics in her family, classroom,
supervision, or therapy room; each setting contributing to her development as therapists

in a meaningful way.

Focus of this Study

The primary focus of this research is premised on the idea that therapist
development is an ecosystemic result of racial identity, society, and family interaction.
The assumption is that lived experiences in various contexts and interactions with
multiple systems are inﬂuenced by racial identity and contribute to therapist
development. Ultimately an understanding of development is important because the
therapists’ own meanings and beliefs systems have clinical effects — namely, how therapy
proceeds, the questions asked, the interpretation of client’s behaviors, and the
interventions selected. The aim of the research is to decipher how racial identity is

present in the development of African American female student therapists.

Research Questions

A conceptual map is included (Figure 1.2) to display how research questions were
derived from the guiding theories. The primary research question for this study was:
Given a therapist’s racial identity, how do ecological factors, including family of origin,
graduate training, and clinical experience inﬂuence therapist development? Table 1.1
illustrates the relationship between questions and theories. This complex question was
subdivided as follows:

Question I : How do interactions with various ecological systems from therapist ’5

family of origin inﬂuence development?

Question 2: How do interactions with various ecological systems from therapist ’s

graduate training program inﬂuence development?

Question 3: How do interactions with various ecological systems from therapist ’s

clinical exposure inﬂuence development?

10

Question 4: How do messages received regarding race and power inﬂuence

development?

This study is a unique addition to the ﬁeld of marriage and family and therapy,
explaining therapist development from a perspective not previously shared — that of
Aﬁican American female student therapists. By focusing on the actual beliefs, attitudes,
and experiences of these student therapists, this study provided a more complete
understanding of how racial identity inﬂuences ecological factors and development. It is
hoped that these results will shiﬁ the focus of literature in the ﬁeld such that values,
attitudes, and perspectives of minority therapists will be incorporated in a substantial

manner.

11

Figure 1.]: Theoretical Map

 

Human Ecological Theory

 

-Individuals are inﬂuenced by various interactions
with systems in their environment

-Individual development processes take place over
time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KTherapist’s Beliefs\ ( \

Therapist’s Personal

The value and belief ,
Reactions

systems of each

therapist are Each tlrera ist is
inﬂuenced by p

. . unique and interacts
various systems 111 with the world in
their life. They

uni ue wa s.
encounter a range of q y

. “Neutrality“ is not
messages on how to . .
attainable and therr
behave, what to

think and how to presence cannot be

interact with others Ignored m the therapy

that are internalized r 00m.
to create personal k

belief systems.

 

 

 

 

 

u j. >

K j l 0......

Ecological Factors:

Therapists are
inﬂuenced by a wide
range of factors in
their environment
over time. Their
development as
clinicians are affected
by systems and
constructs found
within their own
individual, historical,
and clinical
experiences as well
as the greater societal

J

 

F crninisLIIIrrm:r

 

 

political context.

 

manage power in clinical settings

-Messages regarding power in society and family of
origin. Individuals are inﬂuenced by societal and

-Therapist awareness of ethnic identity and ability to

 

 

 

 

 

12

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1.2: Conceptual Map

 

 

Developmental
processes —
inter and intra
personal

 

 

 

41

 

 

 

Internalizing
Power Beliefs -
power, hierarchy,
expert stance

  

  

 

Interaction
with systems
- ecological
constructs

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Values Beliefs
and
Assumptions
- about self.
clients, world

 

 

 

Feminist
Theory

 
   
 

 

 

Meaning Making processes
— own deﬁnitions, power
messages, interpretation of
lived experience

 

 

Table 1.1: Relationship Between Guiding Theories & Research Questions

 

 

 

Theoretical Framework Research Question

.Human Ecological I. How do interactions with various ecological systems
from therapist’s family of origin inﬂuence

Theory
development?

Human Ecological 2. How do interactions with various ecological systems
from therapist’s graduate training inﬂuence

Theory

development?

 

3. How do interactions with various ecological systems

H m nE l i l - , - - ' '
u a coog ca from therapist sclrnrcal envrronment Inﬂuence

Theory; Feminist Theory development?

 

 

Human ECOlOg'CaI 4. How do messages received regarding race and power

Theory; Feminist Theory inﬂuence development?

 

 

Human Ecology Model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1999; Griffore & Phenice, 2001)

Feminist Theory (McGoldrick, 1998; McGoldrick, Anderson, & Walsh, 1989)

14

 

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Ecological Factors of Therapist Development

As stated within Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Human Ecological model, development
is a process inﬂuenced by systems relevant to the individual’s personal history, family of
origin, and unique life experiences. These systems contribute to a developing therapist’s
belief systems, emotional needs, technical skill, and clinical interaction. The ecological
context does not just produce alterations in development but is inﬂuenced by the
individual’s characteristics. Therefore, the development of a therapist is an interactive
process where the individual both inﬂuences and is inﬂuenced by the social, cultural and
physical features of his/her own environment (Whiston & Keller, 2004). The following
sections contain scholarship relating to various ecological factors within the therapist’s
environment and how they relate to the therapist’s personal and professional

development.

Racial Identity and Ethnic Identity

. The term ethnic identity suggests an emphasis on cultural behavior patterns and
beliefs associated with being African American, whereas racial identity focuses more on
the cognitions and attitudes associated with the individuals’ attempt to ingrate their status
as African American into their self-concept (Sellers, Shelton, Cooke, Chavous, Rowley &
Smith, 1998). Speciﬁcally, racial identity centers around the signiﬁcance and meaning
attributed to race in deﬁning self. The conceptualization and measurement of racial

identity originally demonstrated a deﬁcit in the Aﬁican American psyche resulting from a

15

stigmatized status, but in the 1970’s African American scholars reconceptualized this
construct as an example of African Americans’ resilience and strength despite oppression
(Marks, Settles, Cooke, Morgan & Sellers, 2004).

Several conceptual models explore Aﬁican American racial identity. William
Cross (1971) published the Nigrescence model to describe the phases through which a
person passes through in developing a Black identity and continues to revise this model
(Cross, 1991) now deﬁning the transformation as a process from non-Aﬁocentric to
Afrocentric. During the ﬁve stages: Pre-Encounter, Encounter, Immersion/Emersion,
Intemalization, and Internalization-Commitment. In this 55-item scale, participants
indicate whether or not each item is applicable, on a scale of 1-7, to his self-description
for different time periods (past, present, future). This model has become the foundation
for the development of subsequent research on African American racial identity.

Parham and Helms (1985) developed the Racial Identity Attitudes Scale (RIAS)
measuring the stages of Cross’ model and extended the original Nigrescence model to
reﬂect the different ways adults progress through the stages. Parham suggests three paths
to racial identity development: stagnation— stay at the same stage of development
throughout life, linear progression — moving through phases as normally expected, and
recycling -- rethinking and regressing identity, due to an experience. The RIAS has been
used to relate racial identity attitudes to various constructs.

Diverging from the previous studies on racial identity development, Phinney
(1992) conceptualizes ethnic identity — part of the self-concept that attests to a person’s
knowledge of his own membership group and the signiﬁcance placed on this

membership. Phinney developed a scale, the Multi-group Ethnic Identity Measure

16

(MEIM) that identiﬁes four components of ethnic identity: self-identiﬁcation, ethnic
behaviors and practices, afﬁrmation and belonging, and ethnic identity achievement.
Although signiﬁcance may differ across individuals, self identiﬁcation is the individual’s
self-categorization and could be based on nationality, language spoken, skin color,
culture or other factors. Identifying as a member of a group does not indicate how one
feels about the group or how much the group membership inﬂuences the person’s
perceptions or life experiences (Wright & Littleford, 2002). The second component,
ethnic behaviors and practices, focus on how much the group membership inﬂuences
his/her practices or life experiences. Afﬁrmation and belonging to the ethnic group
reﬂects the feelings of pride or attachment felt for the group. The ﬁnal component,
racial identity achievement, refers to the level of importance given to ethnic background
and the security felt about membership in the group. Because different ethnic groups
face different ethnicity issues, it is important to research the common experiences and
beliefs that inﬂuence the components of ethnic identity within groups and those factors
that distinguish each group.

Like Phinney, Sanders-Thomson (1995) also constructed a model based on
various components of racial identity. Unlike other models, this author refutes the idea
that racial identity development is linear, with one optimal end point. This instrument,
the Multidimensional Racial Identiﬁcation Scale (MRIS), measure racial identity at a
speciﬁc point in time along four dimensions (physical, cultural, soci0political, and
psychological) with a focus on discrimination and racism, involvement in the African

American community, and racial socialization.

17

Similar to Sanders-Thomson (1995), Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley and
Chavous (1998) developed the Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI)
which also is concerned with the status of an individual’s racial identity and not its
development. Another assumption of the MMRI is that identities are situationally
inﬂuenced and also stable properties of an individual. Racial identity in African
Americans has dynamic properties that are susceptible to contextual cues and allow the
stable properties of identity to inﬂuence behavior at the level of the speciﬁc event (Sellers
et.al, 1998). A second assumption of the MMRI is that individuals have different
identities and they are hierarchically ordered. Thus, the MMRI provides a way to
investigate race within the context of other identities such as gender and occupational
identity. A third assumption is that individuals’ perception of their racial identity is most
valuable. Therefore, the MMRI takes a phenomenological approach toward studying
racial identity that focuses on the person’s subjective self-perceptions. There will be
individual differences in these qualitative reports in the meaning individuals ascribe to
being a member of the Black racial groups; MMRI makes no value judgment as to what
constitutes healthy versus unhealthy racial. Based on these assumptions, the
Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI) was developed to measure the four
dimensions: racial salience and centrality refer to the signiﬁcance individuals attach to
race in deﬁning themselves and racial regard and ideology refer to the individuals’
perceptions of what it means to be Black.

There is no consensus as to the best way to conceptualize or measure racial
identity in Aﬁican Americans. Each model presents unique features; often addressing

different aspects of racial identity. Some models describe the process by which identity

18

develops (Cross and Phinney) and place individuals on a continuum of racial identity
attitudes. Other models describe the structure and nature of racial identity (Sellers and
Sanders-Thompson). Because of its phenomenological approach and ability to focus on

an individual at a cross section in time, MIBI was used in this study.

Ethnicity and Racial Effects in Therapy

Much of the research that exists on the interplay of race/ethnicity and therapy is
from the perspectives of the client of minority status (Casas, 1985) and the White
therapist working with a client of color (Ponterotto & Casas, 1991). Some of the
variables studied have included: trust or mistrust of Black clients toward White therapists
(Leach, Rowe, & Steward, 1995), effects of ethnicity match on therapeutic outcome
(F laskerud, 1991), perceived effectiveness of counselor with respect to counselor’s race
(Lee, Sutton, France & Uhlemann, 1983) and minority client reaction to therapists’ race
(Sanders Thompson & Alexander, 2006).

Despite the extensive research on same ethnic therapeutic dyads, generalizable
conclusions are difﬁcult to attain with variations across and within ethnicities. In
reviewing the literature, Sue, lane and Young (1994) found that Latino Americans do not
appear to have a preference for therapist race. However, additional research also shows
that when Latino clients could choose a therapist, and not just evaluate one, a preference
was found for therapists of the same ethnicity. Within every ethnic group there is within
group variation, reﬂecting heterogeneity over various ecological factors, including
economic, social, political, cultural, religious and regional indices (Beauvis & Trimble,

2003; Boyd-Franklin, 2003; McGoldrick, Giordano & Pearce, 1996).

19

It was also found that when clients had English as a second language, speciﬁcally
in the Mexican American or Asian American community. there was a more favorable
therapeutic outcome, a higher number of sessions attended and a lower likelihood of
premature termination when the therapist was an ethnic, gender, and language match
(Sue, Zane & Young, 1994).

Determining conclusive results across research on ethnicity and therapy is
complicated by the inconsistency in deﬁning constructs across studies. While similar, the
following variables are not the same and therefore, make comparisons challenging: client
preference in race of therapist, client perception of the effectiveness or competency of
therapists, client degree of self-disclosure, client ability to achieve rapport, therapist
perception of cross-racial therapy effectiveness, or client utilization of therapy rates.

Another confounding factor in understanding effects of ethnicity in therapy is the
difficulty in researching minority groups. For example, many ethnic groups have learned
the customs and norms of both the White majority and their speciﬁc ethnic group and are
capable of functioning at high levels in both worlds (Turner, Wieling & Allen, 2004). At
times it can be difﬁcult to determine which culture is most inﬂuential in the therapeutic
setting since many have learned to adopt the practices and values of a majority culture.

Finally, studying racial identity as a distinct variable in research may be too
simpliﬁed and at times biased, serving to reinforce racial and gender stereotypes
(Flaskerud, 1990). F laskerud suggests that the basis of this kind of research is founded in
ethnocentrism and sexism where the constructs being measured- client preference or

perception, therapist competence, client rapport, etc. — were developed exclusively on the

20

basis of majority culture. In effect, what is really being measured is how close or how far

ethnic groups are from being Anglo, male, and middle class.

Therapist Development

Since research has proven that successful therapeutic outcome can be linked to the
competence of the clinician, research on the study of therapist development has grown
(Neufeldt, 1999). With a more complete understanding of the complexity of therapist
development, researchers have demonstrated its inﬂuence on the therapy relationship, the
change process and on outcome (Orlinsky, Ronnestad & Willutzki, 2003). Since
individual therapists do not obtain equal results, even when holding the method constant
(Crits-Christoph, Baranackie, Kurcias, Beck, Carroll, Perry, Luborsky, McLellan,
Woody, Thompson, Gallagher, Zitrin, 1991; Henry & Strupp, 1994; Orlinsky & Howard,
1980), it can be concluded that the more research is needed on who the therapist is rather
than which method is used.

Ronnestad and Skovholt (2003) approached therapist development by studying
the changes in how practitioners experience themselves as therapists on a variety of
parameters related to their work over time. The authors formulated six stages of
development: the Lay Helper, the Beginning Student, the Advanced Student, the Novice
Professional, the Experienced Professional, and the Senior Professional. As the latter
three phases discuss post-training therapists, the ﬁrst three stages are examined further.

In the Lay Helper phase, individuals are helping others make decision, resolve
problems, and improve relationships before entering any professional training in roles
such as parents, friends, colleagues, etc. The lay helper usually gives advice based on

one’s own experience and provides strong emotional support — there is no regulation of

21

emotional engagement or empathy. These individuals strongly identify with and are
often over-involved with the other.

In the Beginning Student phase, individuals try to sort out theories, clients,
professors, supervisors, personal life, and social cultural environment; all of which are
competing for attention. Moving from the role of lay helper, students are taught easily
mastered straight forward interventions with universal client applicability. Learning
these methods well eases the anxiety and apprehension and, over time, translates into
feelings of competency. Students are open to learn and willing to grow with criticism.

Towards the end of training, students enter the Advanced Student phase. These
individuals have completed an internship and necessary coursework. At this phase,
pressure is felt to reach perfection increasing the tendency to seek external conﬁrmation
and heavily depend on supervisors. These individuals oﬁen complain about a lack of live
professional models to observe.

Development is experienced as a continuous process of change and can be
initiated by a speciﬁc critical incidence or by transforming life events over time
(Ronnestad & Skovholt, 2003). Personal experiences and environmental factors
inﬂuence the development of a therapist. A study by Ronnestad and Skovholt (2003)
demonstrated that across education and experience levels development is informed by
childhood, adolescent and adulthood experiences. An individual’s paradigm stems from
culturally deﬁned family values and experiences and is likely to be a powerful inﬂuence
on career choice (Brown, 2004). These experiences shape the selection of theoretical
orientation, contribute to therapeutic style, and affect ways of c0ping in practice.

Skovholt and Ronnestad (1992) found that both difﬁcult and normative life experiences

22

affect the professional -— participants identify the value gained from their own distress and
loss that produced reﬂection and insight to foster an empathetic understanding of clients.
The growth or deterioration of conﬁdence based on life events and environmental
experiences has ongoing implications in the developing therapist (Bischoff & Barton,
2002)

Though personal experiences can be informative and motivational for a
developing therapist, it also works as a double edged sword with increased likelihood of
blind spots or over-identiﬁcation with clients. The development of the therapists’
emotional availability has critical professional implications. Feelings of pain and distress
can be triggered in a therapist who has not achieved the emotional capacity to accept,
tolerate, and contain the client’s painﬁrl and overwhelming feelings (Zeddies, 1999). The
therapist’s capacity to use personal emotional experience forms the basis for
understanding the client, developing as an effective therapist, and generating therapeutic

interventions (Zeddies, 1999).

Therapist-Client Dyads — Ethnicity Adds Multi-level Complexities

A therapists’ conscious, unconscious, immediate or delayed, conﬂict-based,
inappropriate and irrational feelings, needs and impulses, unrealistically related to the
current behavior of the client (Epstein & Feiner, 1979; Gorkin, 1986; Maki, 1990; Siegel
(1997) can affect the therapist’s ability to be objective in the therapeutic process. These
responses can vary by the therapist’s developmental level and by the interpersonal
relationships in the therapist’s past.

There is a dearth of literature describing when therapists of color work with

clients of same or diverse ethnicities; perhaps because of the low numbers and low

23

visibility of marriage and family therapists of color. Pinderhughes (1989) suggests that
the lack of information could be attributed to this society’s tendency toward cultural
blindness which functions as though all people can be described by the same constructs.
Siegel (1997) conﬁrms the importance of exploring racial identity as a possible
contributing factor to dynamics in therapy when he identiﬁes interpersonal relationships,
societal reactions and family of origin as a few of the many inﬂuential dynamics
experienced in therapists personal life. Ridley (1995) states that therapists of color may
act defensively by over-identifying with minority clients, encouraging excessive
discussion of race issues, possibly under-diagnosing clients, or encouraging clients to
“tone down” their reactions to race. The pseudo positive bond a therapist of color may
feel when treating a minority client may lead to: over-involvement with the client’s
problems, not challenging issues because the therapists feels knowledgeable about what
the client is saying, or accepting the client’s analysis without question (Grifﬁth, 1977).

Maki’s (1990) article cites a case of a Japanese therapist and Japanese adolescent
client, where several issues surfaced including: therapist guilt for escaping poverty,
denial or over-identiﬁcation with the client, aggression taken out in the form of
confrontation of the client, and avoidance of dealing with client’s envy toward the
therapist. This example demonstrates how a client can be inappropriately assessed and
can receive less than optimal interventions as a result of the multiple levels of complexity
faced when ethnicity is considered in therapist-client dyads.

Although therapists are trained to address a variety of situations, they are still
inﬂuenced by the socio-cultural environment. In a society that historically discriminated

between races, implications should be expected for the thoughts, feelings and experiences

24

of therapists of color. Speciﬁcally, African American therapists are vulnerable to their
own reactions when presented with ethnicity issues; these are not merely negative and
intrapsychic with little basis, but is an outcome of a historically oppressed group.
Whereas racial identity was originally conceptualized as a way to demonstrate a deﬁcit in
the African American psyche resulting from their stigmatized status, racial identity and
its inﬂuences on reactions should be seen as an example of African Americans’ resilience
and strength in the face of oppression (Marks et. a], 2004). How racial identity is used in
a therapeutic setting can be viewed as either dysfunctional or facilitative; most
importantly it should be acknowledged, understood, and used in the formulation of

interventions.

Feminist Lens

A feminist lens is applied in this study to better understand power and neutrality
as ecological factors inﬂuencing therapist’s personal and professional development. This
lens provides a theoretical framework that is sensitive to wider social, environmental and
structural factors that affect therapist’s of color such as the distribution of power and
authority (Hughes, 2002). A feminist lens allows a therapist to acknowledge the values
and beliefs they hold and accept that true neutrality is not an option. A therapist will
have biases or interpretations of interpersonal dynamics surrounding them (Melito, 2003).

Feminist theory recognizes and attempts to reduce the inﬂuences of oppressive
societal attitudes. Feminist theory addresses the understanding of power and its
connection to gender, race, culture, class, physical ability, sexual orientation, age, and
any forms of oppression based on religion, ethnicity, and heritage. A feminist

perspective views the ‘personal as political’, meaning the concerns of an ethnic group are

25

not separate from the social and political constructs within which the person is socialized.
Therefore, development is not pathologized, instead individual development is viewed as
a building of protective mechanisms permitting survival within oppressive conditions
(Nabors & Pettee, 2003). This tenet is integral to identifying ecological factors that
comprise therapists’ development and beliefs.

The feminist framework emphasized the importance of hearing and understanding
voices of all members of the therapeutic process, including the therapist (Walsh &
Scheinkman, 1989). Therefore, despite the implicit power differential in therapy, the
therapist works toward collaboration, not hierarchy. At the same time, within this
framework, therapists value self-disclosure and attempt to remove the ‘we—they’ barrier

of traditional therapeutic relationships.

26

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This exploratory study sought to understand the development of marriage and family
student therapists from an ecological perspective. The research explored how therapists’
racial identity is present in various contexts as they reﬂect on their development as
therapists. Stiles (1993) suggests that the context includes researchers’ and participants’
cultural and personal histories. With this goal in mind, qualitative methodology was
chosen because it allows the researcher to generate knowledge about an individual’s
experience within context (Merchant & Dupuy, 1996). Additionally, qualitative studies
allow the experiences and valuable contribution of participants to be highlighted (Berg-
Weber, Rubio, & Tebb, 200]). This study used qualitative methods to expand knowledge
about the inﬂuence of racial identity and ecological factors on therapist development.

A qualitative method is informed by and also complements the feminist perspective
well (Myers-Avis & Turner, 1996). Whereas quantitative methods assume the researcher
is value-free in her approach to knowledge and research, qualitative methods is based on
the belief that subjectivity is unavoidable in any research endeavor. The feminist lens
requires that the researcher be reﬂexive and acknowledge personal values and attend to
power relations in the research process (Myers-Avis & Turner, 1996). Since the
researcher is an instrument of research — instrumental to the decision making throughout
the process, it is necessary for the researcher to have an awareness and understanding of
his/her own racial identity. As Rappaport (1994) suggests, “As researchers, we will

always represent our own voices, and it would be naive to assume that we can ever

27

simply present the voices of others. .. the question the researcher asks reveals what he or
she thinks is worth asking” (p. 360-361).

Lastly, the use of qualitative research to study cultural issues has been advocated by
several researchers (Helms, 1989; Hoshmund, 1989; Ponterotto & Casas, 1991). Many
authors strongly support the notion that qualitative methodology holds particular
relevance in the ﬁeld of minority research. Ponterotto and Casas (1991) state that while
psychological and clinical quantitative emphasis on the minute examination of large
group differences may be of value, the incorporation of qualitative, small-group designs
would greatly augment the arena of multicultural research. Additionally, qualitative
methodology is ideal for researching the impact of racial identity and ecological factors
on development because it inherently makes social and cultural contexts explicit and
values interpersonal relationships and subjectivity (Merchant & Dupuy, 1996).
Qualitative methods allow for making implicit racial assumptions explicit. By
acknowledging assumptions up front, qualitative research ﬁrlly examines the cultural
context of the research participants. Additionally, qualitative research involves personal
contacts and interpersonal relationships with participants, which is highly valued in many
cultures; thus, enhancing the richness and credibility of the data (Merchant & Dupuy,
1996)

This study is also phenomenological, characterized by the premise that individuals
have their own reality (Boss, Dahl, & Kaplan, 1996) and purposed to describe experience
as it lived and understood by people (Husserl, 1970). This approach explains the process
by which participants make sense of racial identity and her lived experience as inﬂuential

to development (Seidman, 1991). Multiple interviews offered the opportunity for

28

participants to reﬂect on their experiences and the content of each interview and to

conﬁrm or modify previous statements. This process resulted in increased reliability.

Sample

The sample for this research study will be nonrandom and purposive, or criterion
based, in that it will only include African American female marriage and family therapy
Master’s level students in an AAMFT accredited marriage and family therapy program in
the mid-Atlantic region. Speciﬁcally ﬁve trainees were sampled from Marriage and
Family Therapy training programs in this region. Although a range of 5-8 was targeted,
in qualitative research, it is generally not necessary to predeﬁne an exact or desirable
number of respondents before the research begins (Edgerton, 1970). It was felt that the
in-depth and repeated interviews of this small sample provided rich data and told an
important story. Choice of participants was based on availability and interest of
respondents.

The researcher chose to target African American female marriage and family
therapy Master’s level students for various reasons. To best study how therapists
develop, it was important to start research at the level where training ﬁrst begins. It was
thought that some homogeneity could be achieved and facilitate parsing out themes, if
those at a similar educational level were studied. Also, since few Aﬁican Americans elect
to enter the ﬁeld of marriage and family therapy, it was thought this group has not had a
strong voice or representation in the current literature. Given the increased complexity of
navigating their own racial identities in a dominant culture, it was believed that this group
would provide a unique perspective on the inﬂuence of race on therapist development.

Finally, due to the likelihood that trainees have not been in the role of being a clinician

29

for an extended period of time, they may have been less likely to have addressed
themselves or explores how their beliefs and identity have been incorporated into their

development.

Recruitment

Recruitment for this study was conducted at the American Association for
Marriage and Family Therapy accredited marriage and family therapy Master’s programs
in the mid-Atlantic region. These sites were chosen to allow for the researcher to cost
effectively and conveniently meet with participants for face-to-face interviews. It was
also thought that accredited programs would provide some consistency in training and
make it possible to compare therapist development across universities. Announcement
and recruitment letters were sent to the chair of the marriage and family therapy program
at each institution describing the study and requesting volunteer participation. Once
interest was expressed, the researcher schedule appointments for the interview via

telephone.

Sample Demographics

The sample of Marriage and Family Therapy trainees came from two universities
in two states within the mid-Atlantic region. All participants’ names have been replaced
with pseudonyms and identifying information has been omitted. The total number of
participants was ﬁve. Though the participants were enrolled in Masters Programs, they
varied in number of clinical hours, coursework completed, and grade classiﬁcation. Two

of them had close to 500 contact hours, two of them were less than 250 hours, and one

30

had completed the required 500 contact hours. One was interested in pursuing a doctoral
degree and two were unsure at the time of this interview.

The ages of the participants ranged from 21 to 27; two were married; one
cohabitated with a partner; two were single and lived alone; none had children.
Regarding their regional background: one was from southern US. and the others were
from the local area. In terms of racial identity: one deﬁned self as African American,
Latino, Native American; one as African American, Indian, Portuguese, and African; one
as African American, Caribbean, Muslim; and the last two participants deﬁned self as

African American.

Protection of Participants

In order to ensure protection of participants, Michigan State University’s
University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects reviewed the
methodology, procedures, and consent form for the study. Data collection began only
after receiving full approval. Participants signed an informed consent document
explaining the nature of the study, risks and beneﬁts involved and describing the
voluntary participation. Information and data collected was kept conﬁdential in locked
ﬁling cabinets and privacy was addressed through the use of pseudonyms. Furthermore,
to protect participants from unintended emotional harm, support resources in the

community were provided.

Procedures

31

Data Collection

The researched contacted potential participants by telephone and explained the
goals and procedures of the study. Upon agreeing to participate in the study, interview
times were scheduled to be held in private therapy rooms on their university campus to
maximize conﬁdentiality, ease of logistics for participant, and foster ﬁee disclosure. At
the start of each interview, participants received a packet of information including a letter
of introduction, a consent form, the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity
('MIBI), the demographic questionnaire. The primary data collection process involved
the following stages: 1) completing a demographic questionnaire; 2) completing and
reviewing the MIDI instrument; 3) constructing a diagram highlighting inﬂuential
ecological factors; 4) two in-depth qualitative interviews. Data points include the
demographic proﬁle, the participant’s completed MIBI, researcher’s observations, semi-
structured interviews, and a sketch of ecological inﬂuences. The demographic
questionnaire and MIBI were completed in front of the researcher at the start of the
interview. Participants agreed to be audiotaped, to facilitate transcription, and consented
to allow researcher to take notes to capture any non-verbal cues. The researcher also
monitored her non-verbal responses to exemplify neutrality such that participants’
responses would not be altered in any way. Immediately after the interviews were

completed, they were transcribed.

Demographic Proﬁle

The personal data questionnaire provided the researcher with demographic
information pertaining to race, marital status, family background, and education, etc. (see

Appendix B). These questions were important in that they became additional information

32

for the semi-structured interview. Participants were asked to reﬂect on these responses
throughout the interview, such as the region of the country where they were raised or
parental education and income. The researcher also found great beneﬁt in the
information because it may account for cultural differences that may be a factor in
development. Unfortunately, the regional backgrounds of the participants did not vary
greatly. It was unable to be determined the impact of regionality on development or their
experience in the therapy room. Lastly, this proﬁle helped to identify the graduate level

of the student, their educational background, and some family history.

Ecological Factors Interview

Participants were asked to draw a diagram to graphically depict the ecological
factors, as the participant assesses, inﬂuencing her development as a therapist.
Participants were asked to label a circle ‘self-development’ at the center, and identify
ecological factors using circles varying in size and proximity to center to depict the
magnitude of various inﬂuences. This exercise allowed the student therapist to identify
how the different components inﬂuencing her development are connected to one another
and which ones are deemed most important. The researcher followed this exercise with a
brief semi-structured interview with open-ended questions regarding those ecological
factors identiﬁed by the participant’s drawing. Personal recollections shared during this

activity enhanced the rich story of each individual’s development.

Measures

A generally accepted instrument, the Multidimensional Inventory of Black

Identity (MIBI) will be administered. This measure was developed by Sellers et al.

33

(1998) as a framework of African American racial identity. The MIBI focuses on
describing the status of individual’s racial identity at a speciﬁc point in their lives as
opposed to describing an individual’s racial identity development. The instrument is
comprised of four dimensions: racial centrality — whether race is a core part of self-
concept over time; racial salience — extent to which race is relevant to self-concept at a
moment in time; racial ideology — individual’s beliefs, opinion and attitudes about the
way Aﬁican Americans live and interact with society; and regard — individual’s judgment
of her race.

The four subscales reﬂected the participants’ overall racial identity. After
completing this inventory, participants were asked to discuss those items that were
meaningful to them as they understand development. This unstructured interview
provided more detailed information as to how their lived experiences, academic training
and personal interactions inﬂuenced their racial identity and ultimately their development

as a therapist.

Semi-Structured Development Interview

Lastly, semi-structured interviews were conducted between the researcher and
each participant. These open ended questions were guided by the primary research
questions, theoretical foundation, and information gained though the participants diagram
of ecological inﬂuences. The researcher followed a guide with questions and possible
probes, but remained ﬂexible to allow participants the freedom to expound when
appropriate. The primary research question for this study was: Given a therapist’s racial
identity, how do ecological factors, including family of origin, graduate training, and

clinical experience inﬂuence therapist development? To answer this broad research

34

question, several interview questions were developed asking about the inﬂuences of these
ecological factors (See Appendix C). Table 3.1 demonstrate the relationship between

research questions and interview questions.

Clariﬁcation & Veriﬁcation

After the data collection and interview process was complete (approximately two
weeks later), participants were sent a copy of their transcribed interviews. The researcher
then contacted the participants by phone. At this time, participants were thanked for their
participation and given an opportunity to add, amend, or delete any prior statements from
the face-to-face interviews. After reviewing the transcripts and reﬂecting on their
responses, participants did not submit any new information or changes be made. The
researcher expressed enjoyment of the process and volunteered to send participants the

conclusions from this study.

Data Analysis

All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. In general, the data analysis
involved examining transcripts for themes that responded to each research question and
identiﬁed the inﬂuence of racial identity and ecological factors on development —
speciﬁcally the inﬂuence of ethnicity on values, beliefs, and assumptions. The identiﬁed
factors were then categorized into themes across all participants. An additional qualiﬁed
individual, who also signed a UCRIHS conﬁdentiality agreement, coded the data
independently. The two coders compared codes and reached consensus to maintain

consistency.

35

Coding Procedures

After transcribing audio taped interviews, the researcher coded data using NVivo
qualitative data management soﬂware (Bazeley & Richards, 2000). Each distinct idea or
thought was a unit of analysis (Giorgi, 1997) and was categorized within the broad
themes of racial identity, family of origin, graduate training, or clinical experience.
Within each of these broad themes, more specific themes began to emerge throughout the
participant interviews. For example, within graduate training ideas that emerged
included: helpfulness of faculty, spokesperson in classroom, and interaction with peers.
Finally, following guidelines set by Giorgi (1997), emerging sub-themes were grouped
together into descriptors under the broad initial themes.

The constant comparative method, simultaneously coding and analyzing, as described
by Glasser & Strauss (1967) was used to analyze data further. This method is designed to
facilitate generating theory that is integrated, consistent, and close to the data (Glasser &
Strauss, 1967). In other words, while a proposition might engender interest when it is
uncovered in one or two interviews, if it is not supported in subsequent interviews, its
saliency might be diminished or it might be used to explain a unique phenomenon. The
constant comparative method involved processes including: 1) coding data into existing
themes; 2) in a reciprocal process, data was delineated into categories and integrated
across categories to support ﬁndings; 3) ﬁndings were classiﬁed into thematic categories;
4) the researcher articulated her contribution to existing theory (Glasser & Strauss, 1967).

As recommended by Miles and Huberrnan (1994), before even gathering data, broad
initial codes for this study were developed guided by the theoretical framework and

research questions. The initial codes for this study followed the research questions and

36

included: 1) Racial Identity; 2) Family of Origin; 3) Graduate Training; 4) Clinical

Experience; 5) Beliefs about Power.

Validity, Credibility, and Trustworthiness

Credibility refers to the requirement that ﬁndings should clearly reﬂect the experience
of participants. As Giorgi (1997) has indicated, an important beneﬁt of having multiple
interviews and a small number of participants, as was done in this study, is achieving a
rich and deep description of the participants’ lives. Multiple interviews also enhance the
process of validation of analyses by conﬁrming initial results with subsequent interviews.
Participants participated in three interviews each and were given the opportunity to
clarify and verify data.

From a research design perspective, various forms of documentation in the form of
ﬁve points of data collection (demographic proﬁle, therapist’s MIIBI results, researcher’s
ﬁeld notes, the semi-structured interview and the ecological factors diagram) aid the
trustworthiness and credibility of the participant’s interview responses.

For validity and credibility and to guard against effects of researcher blind spots and
other sources of researcher error, several steps were taken. First, as is suggested by
Newton (1995), a thorough inspection of data was undertaken, reviewing each transcript
several times and having the question in mind, “Are the data presented adequate to allow
an interpretation (p. 155)?” The data must ﬁt the propositions, not vice versa (Taylor &
Bogden, 1984). Secondly, negative cases - those which signiﬁcantly vary from the
general trend were analyzed and explained. Thirdly, other factors that may inﬂuence the
data, e. g. participants crafting responses to be amendable to the researcher and protect

their self-interests (Miles & Huberman, 1994), were kept in mind as themes were

37

developed and conclusions were drawn and were addressed in concluding comments.
Lastly, a second coder, instructed on the coding system, was given research questions and
sample unmarked transcripts. This independent coder’s results were compared with those

of the primary researcher to ensure accurate and credible data.

Reﬂexivity

In qualitative research, where the researcher is an instrument of the study, I
needed to reﬂect on howl brought some of myself to the research. By setting aside
preconceived biases to collect and analyze data with an open mind, I followed a model of
bracketing in data analysis (Girogi, 1997). Bracketing forced me to remain reﬂective and
explore ways in which there are connections between my life and the interpretation of the
research. I continually remained aware of possible blind spots when participants’ stories
were similar to themes in my own life and development process.

As the researcher I was interested in this research study for a number of reasons.
First, whereas feminist pioneers such as Myers-Avis and Turner (1996) challenged and
raised awareness of the gender insensitivity in existing theories, discourse around issues
of racial identity in clinical settings are still limited. Second, though cultural awareness is
incorporated into most marriage and family therapy training programs, it could be argued
that these courses perpetuate stereotypes of various ethnic groups indicating that there is
a speciﬁc approach that works well across all clients of a particular ethnic background.
Lastly, as an Aﬁican American female therapist, I felt it important to contribute our voice
to the ﬁeld of research since, as a group, we are greatly underrepresented in numbers and

in the existing body of literature.

38

Table 3.2: Relationship Between Research Questions and Interview Questions

 

 

Research Question Sample Interview Questions
Question 1: How do interactions How important was race/racial identity in your family when you were growing up?
with various ecological systems Were issues of racel racial iderntity openly discussed?
from therapist’s family 0f origin Think back to the time when you were growing up. Can you give me a few examples of
irnﬂuence dCVCIOPant? nnearningful race/racial identity related incidents which happened to you?

What were your reactions?
How do they affect you even today?
looking back, how was all of this helpful to who you are now? How was it detrimental?

 

Question 2: How do interactions
with various ecological systems
from therapist’s graduate trairning
program irnfluence development?

What about the recent past, since starting graduate school, can you give rrne any examples
of race/racial identity related incidents which happened to you or that you witnessed?
What was your reaction? How has that affected you?

Upon retlectiorn, do you wish you handled things differently”? How?

How has race/racial identity been dealt with in your training program?

Give examples of race/racial identity- related incidents which you felt were difﬁcult and
positive. What did you think /feel? What did you do?

Have you ever felt you were viewed as the “spokesperson for your ethnicity”? Ilow lnave
you handled this?

flow has trainirng as a marriage and family therapist affected (enhanced or diminished)
your racial identification or your feelings about your culture?

Have you experienced pre$ure to be/act white? Give examples and your reactions.

What strategies did you use to do so?

 

Question 3: How do interactions
with various ecological systems
from therapist’s clinical exposure
irnfluence development?

How inﬂuential do you think racial identity is for you as you develop irnto a therapist?
IGive examples.

Brieﬂy tell me about your current client load? # and demographics? Would you say
you’ve had a chance to work with a diverse group of clients?

Do you think your credibility is ernhanced or dimirnished because of your race? In whose
eyes? Do you feel that you had to give up any aspects of your racial identity? What are
your feelings about havinng to do so?

How much do you bring up/point out racism directly to your cliernts?

 

Qnestion 4: How do messages
received regarding race arnd
power influernce development?

As you develop as a therapist, you may have encountered a power dynamic inn various
relationships Can you tell me how the role of power in your family of originn, graduate
training, and clinical experience?

In your clinical experience, how have you managed the role of power in your therapy
with clients?

How have you viewed power in your development as a therapist (your intervention,
stance, etc.)

 

Foundation Setting: Racial
lderntity

 

Describe your racial identity. Have you ever identiﬁed yourself differently inn different
situations? Why?
What prejudices are you aware that you hold?

 

 

 

39

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS

This chapter presents the primary ﬁndings of this study. First, an overview of the
research process will be presented. This will be followed by a review of the research
questions. Finally, key ﬁndings corresponding with each research question will be
demonstrated and sample demographics will be introduced. The results of the interviews
suggest that issues of racial identity are complex and inﬂuence development signiﬁcantly,
not as that which could be objectively named, but as that which was personally

experienced.

Overview of Process

This study was an attempt to better understand the process by which Marriage and
Family Therapy students’ development are inﬂuenced by racial identity. This required an
emphasis on the meaning-making process relative to how therapists have come to
develop personally and professionally. To accomplish this, participants must be
reﬂective and insightﬁrl, not to mention willing to examine the complexity of racial
identity. It also requires the researcher to be attentive to details that tell a story of how
participants’ development has been inﬂuenced.

Throughout each of the participant interviews, I found myself surprised by the
insight shared in their stories and how they have come to make sense of their
development as therapists. Though ﬁndings revealed that participants had unique
experiences and viewpoints, similarities began to emerge across interviews and broad
themes were created. To openly share experiences, participants needed to feel

comfortable with the researcher, the research topic, and acknowledge the value of their

40

contributions. With this achieved, the interviews provided insight into the factors and life
experiences that inﬂuence how they explain racial identity and its signiﬁcance on their

development as therapists.

Review of Research Questions

The primary research question for this study was: Given a therapist’s racial
identity, how do ecological factors, including family of origin, graduate training, and
clinical experience inﬂuence therapist development? Since this question is multi-layered,
it was divided into several sub-questions. As one of the primary guiding theories for this
study, Human Ecology theory focuses on the multiple layers of environments and the
interaction between the developing individual and systems within their environment.
Table 4.1 illustrates the relationship between research questions, interview questions and
guiding theories.

Question 1: How do interactions with various ecological systems from therapist’s family
of origin inﬂuence development?
Question 2: How do interactions with various ecological systems from therapist’s
graduate training program inﬂuence development?
Question 3: How do interactions with various ecological systems ﬁom therapist’s clinical
exposure inﬂuence development?
Question 4: How do messages received regarding race and power inﬂuence
development?

To understand how racial identity inﬂuences a therapist’s personal and professional
development, the researcher asked participants to recall family, childhood, educational,

and clinical experiences to gain insight to the values and beliefs that affected

41

development. Though information gained from these interviews revealed how families of
origin, clinical experience, and developmental processes have contributed to
understanding the inﬂuence of racial identity, the other forms of data gathered (e.g., ﬁeld
notes, racial identity measure) were helpful in validating this information. Although each
participant identiﬁed themselves as African American females when recruited for the
study, results demonstrated divergent lived experiences. This demonstrates the
widespread inﬂuence of various systems on their development. The responses reﬂect the
phenomenological, meaning making experience of the participants and how they make
sense of their development as therapists.

The following sections address each of the research questions and how the
participants have made sense of their development as it evolved ﬁ'om the interactions
with varying systems. Speciﬁcally, the research questions address the inﬂuence from the
participant’s ecological environment and attempt to uncover the meaning-making
dimension regarding values and beliefs held. The implications for each of the emerging
themes and how they ﬁt together into consolidated stories will be further expanded upon
in Chapter 5. To assist the reader in understanding the stories, the table below (Table

4.2) highlights brief demographics of each participant.

Key Findings on Racial Identity

Since the primary objective of this research was to understand: given a student
therapist’s racial identity, how do ecological factors, including fannily of origin, graduate
training, and clinical experience inﬂuence therapist development, it was paramount that

each participant ﬁrst discuss racial identity.

42

When asked to describe their racial identity, each participant, without exception,

elaborated beyond just one category — Aﬁican American. In analyzing data, ﬁve facets

of racial identity were described: (1) always or almost always present, (2) complex, (3)

varying under different circumstances and changing over time, (4) capable of affecting

one’s perception of self and others, (5) sometimes experienced as a burden. These factors
give a greater appreciation for the richness of personal notions of racial identity.

1. All participants described their racial identity as being important and ever-present in
their lives. Even Celeste, whose pattern of responses in the interview was somewhat
terse and infrequently descriptive, elaborated by saying “it’s always there no matter
what.” She goes on to say,

“And then sometimes I got tired of having to be the one to say okay let me you
know bring-«open this up to a discussion that incorporates race and sometimes I
would feel like they thought that oh you know here she goes again talking about
the black being kind of you know-«being separatist or you know something like
that. But I can’t help but bring it up, race is just a part of, you know, everything.”

Linda said of her racial identity, “It’s present in you know when I go to eat you know I

notice who is around or I—when I go you know like you know who I’m talking to like it’s

always something that enters conversations or enters my mind.” Similarly, Paula and

Tamara concur, both stating, “It’s presem every minute-every day.” Keisha echoed this

sentiment but also added that race is more present depending on the region of the country

where you live. Raised in the south, race was prominent, “You were constantly reminded
that you were Black where we grew up. I think it’s like that in the south. It wasn’t like
hidden or anything, it was in your face. It was always right in your face.”

2. Three student therapists referred to the complexity of their racial identity and were

challenged to answer a question identifying themselves as a member of one racial

43

category. “I think of myself as being a mixture of things,” begins Keisha, a self-
described African American woman who traces her heritage to Indian, Portuguese, and
African She continues, “. .. the whole question of racial identity for me is complex. I
don’t want to leave out the other parts of me by saying ‘African American’, you know? I
think I am a rich and complex individual. I really hate it when I’m boxed in and someone
wants me to identify myself as one race or the other. I am a complex multitude of things,
only one of which is African American.” Likewise, Tamara who is of Aﬁican American,
Caribbean, Muslim heritage, said that the very question of racial identity is a loaded one
for her, given that she views herself as “a multidimensional ethnic person of color.”
Paula also speaks to the complexity of deﬁning racial identity,
“Because everyone that’s black in America is not necessarily African American.
Some pe0ple originate in the Caribbean; then like I’ve had clients that are actually
from Africa and the African diaspora. It’s one of those labels that to me like can
capture a whole range of people; so I prefer black but it’s you know--one of those
little things for me, sometimes I just don’t know how to label it -— its
complicated.”
3. Participants described the changes they have experienced in their racial identity over
time and in various situations. To this question, the responses ranged from no changes or
short-lived changes that took place in childhood to changes in identity that were context
speciﬁc. All but one participant indicated that across time and circumstance, they always
identify as Aﬁican American. Tamara states that she did go through a “phase where she
wanted to be white.” She had all of her ﬁiends call her Alice, which she felt was a “less
ethnic sounding name.” In a predominantly white school, Tamara describes this short-
lived phase as a period where she “just wanted to ﬁt in.”

Two participants described little to no changes in how they labeled themselves

with respect to their personal racial identity. Keisha, born in Mississippi and raised in

44

Vermont, states that she has always identiﬁed as African American and that while her
ideas about culture has changed over the years as she moved to the northeast, her racial
identity has not. Linda said she really has not changed her African American identity at
all, with one small exception - she preferred to be called ‘Aﬁican American’ when she
was younger. She has since embraced the term ‘Black’, rather than what she deemed a
“more politically correct” title. To explain this progression, she said,

“I think for a while I know when I was younger I preferred other people to call me

African American just because I don’t know—I felt like it had—it held more

[value] than just being called black. And I even found myself here in class when

describing black people using the term African American, which is interesting

now that I think about it. But yeah; I think it’s more politically correct than
anything else.”
Though Linda uses these two identiﬁers interchangeably, she prefers to identify as
‘Black’ now.

Lastly, one participant says that although she has not changed her racial identity
over time, she has changed her reaction to issues of race over time - developing more
conﬁdence in confronting issues of race:

“I think only now have I developed kind of a voice-to speak out on issues like

that, like you know very like blatant racial things. I’m comfortable with my racial

identity now. Any kind of treatment like that I’ll be the ﬁrst one to say like you
know wait a nninute, but I think back then I just didn’t--I was shy and quiet in
general and I’m still shy and quiet in general so that—I don’t think it had anything
speciﬁcally to do with like I was scared of her or anything like that.”

A few participants reported that declaring a racial identity varies depending on the
context. In other words, how one experiences her racial identity varies with the speciﬁc
situation in which she ﬁnds herself. Tamara, who clearly identiﬁes with all parts of her

African Arnericarn, Caribbean, Muslim heritage, said that usually Muslim is her primary

identiﬁcation, “there is something prideful about being a Muslim. Since September 11th

45

though, it’s been more difﬁcult to claim that part of my heritage. Instead of being
connecting, it was alienating and brought out hatred I didn’t know existed.” In some
settings, she feels and deﬁnes herself only as African American. While she feels
predominantly Muslim in particular situations, since her other identities are also present
and more visible, she has made adjustments. “So depending on where I am, since you
can look at me and know I’m African American, I’ve gotten used to, you know, I just
keep quiet about being Muslim. It’s easier that way.”

As Celeste noted, “I am always going to look Black to the next person. I have
found it convenient to claim my Latino or Native American roots for certain scholarships
and stuff. Usually I’ll say ‘Black’, but sometimes it’s to my advantage to identify as
something else.” For her, declaring a racial identity is very ﬂuid.

4. Because of the prominence of race in this culture, it was not surprising to ﬁnd that
participants view their racial identity as a lens through which they perceive social reality.
Supporting this idea, Celeste said,
“I always consider like the context of things like the person’s culture you know--
my culture, like I always like see things through that lens and try to see like how it
might be impacting whatever is going on. Whereas, you know some people who
aren't used to having look through those lenses might only see it through you
know the ones they’re used to using.
In a similar account, Linda explained how this lens has been helpﬁrl to her development.
For example, she reported “In terms of race, I wouldn’t consider myself like a privileged
person growing up necessarily. Because of my race I think I can you know just kind of

better see the scope of the things than say if I were of the majority group—white.” In

reﬂecting further, Linda also added,

46

“I--I mean I wouldn’t be the same person without my racial identity. For one
thing I think it’s worked as an asset for me especially the fact that I’m going you
know to be a therapist--licensed therapist eventually and working with clients I
think it has opened my scope of things and so I think I can not better identify but
just more easily identify what oppressed groups, under-privileged groups-“

While on examination, Paula may ﬁnd that race is not a salient issue in a
particular situation, she nonetheless scans most situations to determine if race is an issue.
She credited her predominantly African American university experiences as an integral
component of her outward perceptions - evaluating the issue or race in every situation:

“And so it’s very difﬁcult to me, probably because I went to an HBCU. .. For me,
race is such a distraction. I think everything that comes out of someone’s mouth--
I’m not expecting it to be racist but if it’s even somewhat related to it it’s like--it
strikes a cord with me a bit or I pick up on it or-. I don’t know.”

5. Many participants described racial identity as a burden to be carried, longing for a time
when race could be invisible while still valued. This sentiment was articulated most
clearly by Paula:

“There’s so much pressure being Black in this society. I guess the pressure is to--
to like not--not bring in the cultural differences and to just kind of you know--
keep it peaceﬁrl, keep it you know non-confrontational, or keep it--keep it within
like their language style or their style of relating and not my style of relating--that
type of thing. It’s never like stated-mo one has ever said you know you need to
talk like this, you need to comb your hair this way; like it was my choice like not
to wear my hair you know in an Afro-centric type styles you know--twists or
Afro-centric styles, and no one comes right out and says it — you just know it
wouldn’t be accepted —and that’s pressure. I wish people could see me as Black,
love that about me, and then just move on — just make race invisible you know.”

Linda also described her identity as burdensome when she said,

“Being Black, for me. . .. it’s like I think it’s like extra stress, extra effort; it’s like
having to meet another standard you know—I have to go out of my comfort zone to
help other people feel comfortable instead of the other people going out of their
comfort zone to help me to feel comfortable. So you know sometimes you get tired
of doing it but then you know it’s part of--part of what you have to do.”

47

Before responding to the research questions that highlighted speciﬁc ecological factors,
participants were asked to visually demonstrate those ecological factors that they felt
were most inﬂuential to their development. As depicted in the diagram below,
participants used size and proximity of circles to describe those ecological factors most

inﬂuential to their development as therapists.

48

Figure 4.1: Sample Ecological Factors Diagram

 

 

 

    

Parents/
Family

 

 

 

 

49

Upon review of the interview data, the diagrams did not provide the rich complexity as
the stories participants told. However, it was interesting to compare these diagrams,
drawn prior to the interview and thus reﬂective of the participants unbiased reactions,
with the responses in the semi-structure interview. In most cases, these two sources
provided matching data, with the exception of one participant that discovered a
previously unacknowledged factor (time spent abroad) through the course of the semi-

structured interview.

Research Question 1: How do interactions with various ecological systems from
therapist’s family of origin inﬂuence development?
Emerging Themes: Direct and non-direct inﬂuences; making sense of family of origin
After exploring various components of racial identity, participants were asked to reﬂect
on experiences within their families. It became clear that all participants felt their
development was affected by the experiences, events, and interactions related to their
family of origin. The themes that arose highlighted both overt and subtle inﬂuences.
Some of the interview questions asked to determine the inﬂuence of family of
origin were: How important/ present was race and racial identity in your family when you
were growing up? Were issues of race or racial identity openly discussed? Tell me about
the role of race in your family and how it has shaped your identity and development. It
was evident in their responses to these questions that for the most part, a shared belief
existed - family of origin played a signiﬁcant role in the inﬂuence of racial identity on

their personal and professional development. The responses ﬁ'om the participants

50

surrounding their family of origin fell into the themes of Direct inﬂuences, Indirect
inﬂuences, Making sense of family inﬂuence.

Direct inﬂuences. The code for family of origin was separated into two thematic
categories, direct and indirect inﬂuence, based on the manner by which the participant
believed that race within their family of origin inﬂuenced their personal development.
The direct inﬂuences pertained to those responses in which the participant felt the
interactions with their family members directly inﬂuenced how they came to their values,
beliefs, assumptions. Tamara’s words seemed to capture this theme in her statement:

. .My parents deﬁnitely talked about race and—the environment they worked in you
know they were very open to talk about race and racial identity — really, any racial issues.
It’s pretty easy for me to say that race was very much a part of how they raised us. It was
in the values they taught us.” This passage illustrates Tamara’s acknowledgement of the
connection between her family’s emphasis on race as she was growing up and how it has
shaped her personal values and beliefs.

Paula also provided insight into the direct effects of being exposed to her parent’s
“extreme Black pride” in her statement: “I think my parents were extremely proud to be
Black and instilled that in us. I never apologize for being Black. Because of them I have
certain values — I feel good about Black people and believe we have more strengths than
faults. ”

Keisha similarly stated a ﬁrm belief that her professional development and her
therapy with clients are affected by her racial identity and her experiences surrounding
race within her family of origin. “My mom taught me through the way that she lived that

we are individuals ﬁrst and Black second. She accepted differences. I take that with me

51

now in my work with clients - I don’t see race ﬁrst, I see a person.” Keisha’s statement
provides evidence that her experiences as a child, not necessarily observing racial issues
her mother handled, but the inherent way acceptance of differences was interwoven in her
interactions, have increased her sensitivity to clients.

Paula also reﬂected on the more direct comments from her mother that guided
Paula’s development, “My mom yeah she’d always talk about you know-~you know the
school bus you have to be--you have to be very behaved-~the other kids on the school bus
because you’re the black kid on the school bus. That’s one of the things she taught me.”

Lastly, Linda credited the older generations within her family for shaping her
racial identity and guiding her development, “I know for my great-grandmother it
probably was more important than any--for anyone else. She talked about it all the time--
the importance I guess of race or doing something meaningful, something great--the
points of preparing yourself to be successful in the world—mainly a white world--”

Indirect inﬂuences. While each participant could report signiﬁcant dynamics
within their family of origin that played a major role in how they developed personally
and professionally, about half of the participants also addressed inﬂuences from what had
not occurred in their family of origin. For example, Linda reported developing as a
product of what went unsaid in her family,

“I think growing up we didn’t get any direct like there was no direct discussion

like this is what it is to be black, you know you need to do this, that, and the other

or like direct exposure to black culture speciﬁcally. There wasn’t that necessarily
but--you just kind of knew. I think it wasnit wasn’t something that was opennlike
constantly talked about all the time or looking back at my experiences I don’t
think it was--like my family made a conscious effort to talk about the importance

of race or racial identity. But again, you just never questioned it, but it was still a

powerful inﬂuence on how I became me.”

Similarly Tamara also reﬂected on indirect interactions within her family of origin,

52

“We were usually like the only blacks in the situation in you know growing up.

My dad is a doctor so we were the only black pe0ple in my neighborhood,

sometimes the only black people you know some of my white ﬁiends knew so

race and identity was very important in my family because you know we always

stood out. And even today, I don’t try to be like anyone else — I stand out.”
These examples demonstrate that participants could still connect the indirect messages in
their families to aspects of development. However, one participant, Celeste felt
differently — not clearly articulating anything from her family of origin that led to her
development. For example, Celeste reporting having almost no discussion about racial
identity within her family. Everything about race was external, and though she knew she
was African Arnericarn, it was not something openly discussed at home

“I can’t look back and say we did this, this, and that and spoke about race or tried

to engrain a strong sense of racial identity in the--in the family. Looking back all I

saw was a family; I knew we were black. . .. I’m not sure how important it was.

My family was not the type to push me toward black art, black culture, black

inventions; it was not a heavy focus on Aﬁican American accomplishments. It

wasn’t singled out or highlighted in any way. So I think I developed a racial

identity and I think I got some values, but I can’t point my ﬁnger to any one thing

that my family really did’

Making sense of family of origin

Interestingly, a major theme that emerged involved the participant’s ability to
make sense of what they had been exposed to within their family of origin. In general,
participants seemed quite open to reﬂecting on childhood experiences and the messages
learned about race within their family.

Though Celeste initially did not report any family of origin inﬂuences, with
further questioning and introspection, the researcher did uncover that this avoidance of

race within her family profoundly inﬂuences the way Celeste views herself as a

developing professional. She admits annoyance with clients and peers that inject race

53

into every situation. Her response indicates that she deems this family experience as a
hindrance to her ability to fully comprehend the racial incidents others may encounter.
At the same time, she feels that because her family is different than the one presenting
clinically, it keeps her from potential induction or collusion, “I know my family was just
it’s own animal and I don’t try to look at my clients in the same way, but I think its hard
for me to identify with clients who present racial incidents.”

Keisha also discussed ways in which she understood or made sense of the
messages within her family of origin and subsequemly how it helped her develop as a
clinician and confront issues of race with clients. In this passage, Keisha describes her
parents’ negative reaction to her sibling dating someone of another race. Keisha
disagreed with her parents’ response and as a result, has incorporated a different
perspective into her value system, allowing this to guide her personal and professional
development:

When my sister was dating this White guy, my parents just about ﬂipped. They

made it very clear that they didn’t approve of the whole interracial dating thing —

before even meeting him, y’know? And I was like, isn’t that like reverse racism
or something - how can you not like the guy before you meet him just because
he’s White. So I know my parents didn’t like it, but I challenged them on that.

They never changed their minds and she stopped dating the guy for some other

reason I can’t remember. But, that memory really sticks out ﬁ'om me. I

remember making a very conscious decision to never be that way. To see people,

as people and challenge others if they do that. That’s how I am with ﬁiends now
and that’s how I am with work too. I will challenge a client or anyone who pre-
judges like that.

Research Question 2: How do interactions with various ecological systems from

therapist’s graduate training program inﬂuence development?

54

Emerging themes: diversity coursework needs improvement, being a spokesperson
shapes you as a therapist, challenging peers in the classroom, faculty pressure to conform
or resist

To uncover other ecological factors that inﬂuence racial identity and a therapist’s
development, questions targeting marriage and family therapy training were raised. It
was assumed that beliefs and values acquired through experiences from both educational
training and working as a student therapist would inﬂuence the personal and professional
development of the participants. Responses are categorized according to the relationship
between the participant’s various graduate training experiences and the inﬂuence that
they believe it has on how they have developed.

All of the respondents believed that their experiences while training to become a
therapist as well as being clinically active played an integral role in how their racial
identity shaped their development. This was evident in their responses to interview
questions. Some of these questions were:

1. How has race or racial identity been dealt with in your training program?

3. Give examples of ethnically—related incidents which you felt were difﬁcult
and positive. What did you think /feel? What did you do?

2. Have you experienced pressure to be/act white? Give examples and your

reactions. What strategies did you use to do so?

3. Have you ever felt isolated? How have you handled that?

4. Have you ever felt you were viewed as the “spokesperson for your ethnicity”?

How have you handled this?

All but one participant could point to specific examples of how race or racial
identity was handled in the training program. Celeste, however, could not recount any
incidents while in the training program and feels supported by a minority faculty

member. She reported, “I think that there haven’t been any specific incidents; I think

race has come into play in this program for me just kind of gradually throughout the

55

whole process and I think it’s been really, really great for me to have [Margaret] here as a
faculty member because I go to her and talk about these issues.” Celeste does not deny
the existence of any racial incidents but rather has sought a minority professor as her
recourse.

Graduate Coursework on Diversity Needs Improvement

Most of the respondents referenced a speciﬁc course on diversity as a clear
example where racial identity was addressed in training. For example, Tamara stated
. . .we’re enrolled in Gender and Ethnicity it’s designed to make us more culturally
sensitive and competent in therapy.” Tamara goes on to discuss the value in taking a
course on diversity, “I think it’s a course that everyone needs, but we need more than just
one course.” Keisha concurred that the course was important to training but voiced
ﬁ'ustration at repeatedly correcting the pervasively held stereotypes in the class,

“We took only one class. . . it’s called Gender and Ethnicity; it is a class that seeks

to enlighten us on cultural diversity issues and marriage and family therapy. Yeah

right, like one class is going to do all that... Myself and the only other black
student in my cohort. . . ,we were in the class together and we spent so much time
debunking myths about African American culture and maybe not so much myths-

-now that I think about it-—but stereotypes and providing a different spin or

perspective. It was so crazy.”

Paula, who came from a historically black undergraduate experience, also spoke
out a lot in the class and described taking this required course from the perspective of the
only black in the program,

“I took a Gender and Ethnicity Course that we are all required to take as a part of

this program, and I mean I think I deﬁnitely spoke up quite a bit in that class-

quite a bit about black issues and getting rid of stereotypes; it was kind of difficult
though because when I came to the program the ﬁrst thing I noticed is that I was

the only minority in the class. It’s such an important topic — I can’t believe we
only have that one class.”

56

Keisha echoed a similar sentiment, but more importantly discussed her
disappointment with the lack of integration of race throughout all graduate courses. She
described meager attempts at integration when she said,

“. . .I think race was brought up in one or two class periods when we talked about

using different models-«things to consider, cultural things to consider. . .. And

there was a 45-minute presentation that I did in that class. And I’m trying to think
if we really talked about it aside from that in class--I don’t think so.”

77% Role of Spokesperson -- Shaping Therapist Identity

Given the low numbers of African American females enrolled in marriage and
family therapy training programs, it was not surprising to hear many participants cite
examples of being the only one in a class. Because of this, most participants could
identify with being placed in the role of spokesperson, or expert on the African American
race and experiences. Whether this role was embraced with appreciation or regrettably
forced, participants have demonstrated that these experiences have shaped their identity
as therapists.

Oﬁentimes, participants reported annoyance or exasperations with this
responsibility. For example, Linda reported, “When we are having discussions on race
the whole room will like look a me like you know speak up; you’re the spokesperson...
whatever I say is almost like you know I have lOO-percent credibility. Sometimes you
want to scream.”

Likewise, Paula expressed,

“. . .I’m a black student and whether it’s meant to be that way or not I feel like I’m

representing black people in that class and so that creates a whole new list of

pressures for me and a feeling like I have to speak out when we talk about
minority issues or black issues or the fine line of when to speak up and when not

to speak... when I’m speaking am 1 providing insight or am I affirming those
stereotypes with these people? And so it’s very difficult to me in that way.”

57

Linda agreed that at times the decision to speak out is a struggle, especially when:

“People in my class would say things about Black people that was insensitive or
from my perspective mean or hurtful and at that point it would be stressful to sit
and listen... to stay diplomatic or be politically correct when they were
demeaning my experience as a human being... There’s a level of sensitivity
sometimes in other cultures or maybe just the Caucasian culture that makes it hard
for them to receive information about some of the things they say about other
cultures primarily the African American culture that may be callous or insensitive
without them then becoming offended or without them dubbing us the ‘angry
black person’; that’s another battle within itself--when to correct somebody
and when not to.”

The participants demonstrated that they use these experiences as they develop their
therapeutic style. Celeste articulated this best when she said,

“I felt somewhat uncomfortable because I feel like I’m put in the expert seat and
I’m not the expert. There is no one black experience and I’m not the expert and I
think that’s the main thing that makes me uncomfortable is that I feel like I’m put
in that seat and I feel like I’m requiredul’m supposed to know everything there is
to know about black people and black experiences. I think about that when it
comes to my clients. They are the expert on their own lives. Just because a client
is female or is black or both, doesn’t make me an expert on her life. I do my best
to make sure the client knows she’s the expert on her own experience.”

Keisha voiced frustration with being a spokesperson when she said, “Sometimes
it’s annoying and ...I get tired being the negro in the china cabinet... and everyone
looking at me and like putting me on the shelf and seeing what I’m going to say or do.”
But she also described how this experience has shaped her development as a therapist,
allowing her to better relate to her clients feelings of isolation.

“Sometimes you just get tired of like not really fitting in like you know sometimes

it--it feels good... to walk in a room and everyone looks like you and you know

for your norm to be their norm instead of having to adjust to other people’s
norms... it’s always hard being like the only whatever... I guess that’s how
clients must feel. They come in this therapy room and put all their life on display
and I’m sure it feels good when someone can normalize what they feel instead of
making them feel crazy. I try to take that approach when I meet a client.

At times, these same participants can cite examples of embracing the role of

spokesperson for the race —- grateﬁJl to enlighten others. Celeste stated, “But then other

58

times it’s like they don’t know the answer; they are like really looking at you as someone
that’s like an insider trying to help the outsiders out.” Linda similarly reported, “usually
my attitude is positive about it because I want people to understand that some of the
things they believe and have seen about African Americans is untrue.”

As far as inﬂuencing development, Paula highlighted the response of one faculty
member when she was the only African American in a class, “the ground rules were
we’re not going to make Paula the representative for all black students... that was a huge
relief for me because that’s how I felt in the other classrooms whether it was said or not.”
Paula indicated that she was grateful for that teacher and has since used similar phrasing
when starting a therapy group on campus for eating disorders. In realizing that there was
only one male in the group, she also assured him that he would not be asked to speak on
behalf of all males.

Challenging Peers in the Classroom

Participants were also asked to examine the role of peers as inﬂuential to their
development. As expected, the classroom environment presented opportunities to
confront issues of race and played a part in the developmental process. Celeste recounted
a time in class when, “we were talking about your ethnic genogram and so we’re
talking about when your people ﬁrst came to America and some of them didn’t
acknowledge that slavery happened they ignore really big things. What do you say to
that, it’s ignorance. I didn’t even argue it.” Celeste acknowledged that there are times
when she will not address “ignorance” and believes that her acceptance of self-
constructed reality has helped her development and supports her allegiance to

postmodern therapy approaches.

59

Likewise, Paula identified frustration with peers when discussions of race came
up in class and also chose not to confront her classmate.

“I felt like we were in a China cabinet that day--that all of our issues as a race had

been dissected and scrutinized by other cultures as if we’re not human beings

sometimes. And even though it’s okay to talk about people’s issues and you know

want to understand more sometimes I just get tired of hearing other people’s

perspectives on why the African American culture is the way it is. ...it was so

frustrating... it was complicated... I ended up never approaching her about it.”

Unlike Paula and Celeste, Tamara could recall an incident where she did
challenge a classmate who made generalizations about the entire race. This example
typiﬁes her response in personal and professional settings. Tamara did not fault the
classmate, but blamed authors who publish works on therapy and ethnicity. She reported
that these articles confuse student therapists and make them believe that there is a shared
experience in each racial group. In a discussion with a classmate, Tamara said,

“. . . You can’t say things like that... I know that we read these books and you

think, ‘oh, that’s all black people’, but it’s not. Franklin is [These authors are]

good and I like her writing but she’s not like--that’s not the only person you bring

in when the word ethnicity comes up and you’re talking about a black family...

there’s not just one example for black families. .

Faculty Conﬂicts — Challenge Self: Conform, or Resist

Inherent in the faculty-student relationship, the faculty member holds power.
When participants examined the role of faculty in their development three themes
emerged, when conﬂicts arise either a student feels forced to challenge her own beliefs,
conform to the faculty’s belief, or resist addressing the situation. Tamara shared an
encounter when her professor, who also serves as her clinical supervisor, advised her to

refrain from bringing up race in the therapy room unless the client initiates it. Keisha

received this comment negatively,

60

“It was like you have to be black on your own time, not when you’re at school
or... in therapy... unless you were in a class with a discussion on ethnicity. Then
it’s like you know more okay to you know be black. But if I feel a client is
experiencing racism or oppression, I’m not allowed to bring it up?!”
In this circumstance, Keisha felt she had a choice to make — she could follow the advice
of her supervisor or continue to respond according to her own beliefs.

In another example, Paula explained that although professors make attempts at
cultural sensitivity, they often set a poor example for other students. Again, these
situations force a student to determine whether to challenge conﬂicting beliefs or
conform. Paula spoke about one professor as follows:

“. . . she’s a feminist and she’s like all about culture and you know understanding

multiple cultures but then a couple times I’ve pointed out where I thought that

maybe she was--she could you know have a-a wider perspective on things. She
was like defensive and closed to that idea... Generally the faculty is really trying
to be what’s the word—they try to be open to culture and have open discussions
about culture but sometimes I think they aren't able to and aren't able to like
recognize or acknowledge when they’re not. So the other students see that.”
Research Question 3: How do interactions with various ecological systems from
therapist’s clinical exposure inﬂuence development?
Emerging Themes: relevance of race to clients, racial identity increases vigilance, race
enhances credibility, race as a help to therapy

As a student therapist, each participant balances a combination of clinical and
theoretical courses with practical application — clinical sessions. The didactic and the
applied are instrumental in shaping the development of student therapists. Participants
were asked to reﬂect on racial identity as it was experienced in their clinical exposure.

Participants were asked to think about how racial identity is present for them in their

professional role as clinicians. Though racial identity is acknowledged, it remains

61

unclear whether, when or how to bring up these issues in clinical practice (Cardemil &
Battle, 2003). Some of the interview questions asked included:

I. Do you think your credibility is enhanced or diminished because of your racial
identity? In whose eyes? Do you feel that you had to give up any aspects of your
racial identity? What are your feelings about having to do so?

2. How inﬂuential do you think racial identity is currently in your professional life?

How much do you bring up/point out racism directly to your clients?

4. When a racial/ethnic related issue is brought up in therapy, how do you handle
your thoughts and emotions - with client and internally?

F"

Racial Identity Affects Therapist — Relevance to Work, Increased Vigilance

In examining their clinical activity with diverse clients, respondents introduced a
broad spectrum of responses; for the most part differences were demonstrative of their
years of clinical experience. Linda, a ﬁrst year student who has very limited clinical
experience, does not identify racial identity as integral in her work when she stated”
“I think they see the fact that I’m young and in a training program as a sticking
point. And I think they focus more on like how can you help me and not like how
can this black therapist help me? That’s how I think too. I don’t think about race
in therapy most times. I try to walk in that room as just a therapist, not a black
therapist.”
Tamara, who in addition to completing the 500 Masters level clinical hours has also been

trained to become a supervisor, expressed a differing opinion in the passage below:
“I bring a lot of me to my work with clients. I am conﬁdent in my racial identity
and feel strongly about certain values. I don’t check my ethnicity at the door. It’s
right there in the room with me. I leave it very open for clients to discuss race
and particularly to discuss how it is for them having a black therapist.”

For Tamara, her racial identity is integral to her work with clients.
Overall, the other respondents felt similarly. Most participants commented on the

omnipresence of race in their clinical experience; speciﬁcally, how they develop as a

therapist and how they view a client’s reality. Primarily, the participants felt that racial

62

identity was present for them as clinicians at all times, regardless of the race of the client
or the presenting issue. One participant said,

“being black and thinking about race is important every minute because no matter

who I’m in here with realistically if I’m here with a white client I’m thinking

about race and thinking about how it is or is not affecting what’s happening, how
their struggle is similar to a struggle I’ve heard before from another ethnic group
or how it’s similar to my own struggle and making sure that I try to stay balanced
and look at them as an individual as not as a Caucasian person who is you know
going through this for X, Y, or Z reason.”

A few participants reported increased vigilance concerning racial issues in
therapy. Paula, in particular, reported gaining strong comfort with her racial identity
through her client experiences and describes this comfort a factor that helps her as a
clinician. “Because I’m so attentive to race, I think that makes me a better therapist. I can
relate better to minority experiences.” Somewhat differently, Keisha also acknowledges
strong comfort in her racial identity, but reports this factor as an impediment in her
professional role. She ﬁnds that she is hyper-vigilant to issues of race in the therapy
room — often seeking supervision to monitor her blind spots. She stated:

. . .For me, I always have my antenna up. Like I’m waiting for something racial

to come up or be hinted at. It’s so bad that I bring it up in supervision all the time.

I think I know myself pretty well and I want to make sure I’m not doing the client

a disservice, by seeing things that aren’t really there.”

Racial Identity A ﬂects Therqoy — Credibility and Joining

Participants varied in response to how they viewed their credibility as therapists —
at times because of differences in experience level, but more often, participants reﬂected
on their racial identity as inﬂuential to credibility. For some participants, they view racial

identity as an enhancement to credibility as a therapist. For example, Celeste stated:

I feel like the word credibility is kind of like difﬁcult for a therapist in training
that’s young — but Ithink it’s somewhat enhanced. ...I feel like it’s [my racial

63

identity’s] given me a broader scope of you know being able to empathize with
different clients and different situations. I think my credibility is deﬁnitely
enhanced - both by me and by my clients.

Paula also describes how her racial identity enhances her credibility, but speciﬁcally feels
this way for clients within the African American community. She reported:

....within the African American community I believe that for the most part so far
it’s been enhanced. They trust that I have a certain amount of background
knowledge about their struggle. Whether that’s true or not, you never know; but it
is a perception that they have before therapy starts sometimes. With other
populations I can't really tell whether or not it’s enhanced or diminished. I just
don’t know.

One participant explained the challenge of race and joining with clients as follows:
...in some ways has actually helped me [dealing] with certain clients--not just
black clients--clients of different minority groups... I think sometimes with
clients I--myself go into the room thinking okay like this is a black family. I
should be able to join with them more comfortably than a similar white family
and that’s my own mistake, like I go into it thinking-4t will be great. And it does
not necessarily... it does not always help the joining and sometimes it--it seems
like it’s almost a hindrance to joining. I think some of these clients pick up on—-
well they know you’re in Grad School for one thing and they’re like oh you must
be spoiled or from a different class... they don’t look at race as a joining point
and like you know we’re not the same and you don’t get it; you don’t understand
X or Y...

Research Question 4: How do messages received regarding race and power inﬂuence

development?

Emerging Themes: Managing the role of power, clients’ response to power, power and

therapist style
Managing the Role of Power
When participants discussed the inﬂuence of racial identity in their work as

therapists, it was primarily in this context that participants shared how they have learned

to manage power differentials. Some reported difﬁculty, while others stated more ease.

64

Participants deﬁned their beliefs about power as something “you may hold but don’t need
to ﬂaunt”, something to “take pride in, it’s not often a Black women can say that she
holds the power”, and something that is “a little terrifying... I’ve never been taught how
to handle that role”.

Clients’ Response to Power in Therapy

As a few stated, inherently the therapist in the room holds a more powerﬁil
position but a few participants voiced that the complexity of ethnicity diminishes that
power — as in Linda’s passage below,

“You would think we had more power as the therapist. But I think clients see a

Black person ﬁrst and a therapist second. And in some way feel that, especially if

they’re not Black, that they have the upper hand or that I’m in some way inferior.

Maybe that’s more mental than anything, but sometimes I wonder...”

These individuals reported incidents where clients questioned their interventions
or their ability to empathize because they lacked conﬁdence in an African American
therapist. Remarkably, these comments about power cut across the lines of race or
gender, as participants cite similar remarks from clients of various ethnicities and both
genders. For example, Paula stated,

“It didn’t seem to matter who the client was. I’ve either felt that doubt or they’ve

been more obvious about it. Sometimes I just feel like they doubt my abilities —

like, ‘what could this Black lady really have to say?’ And other times, clients have

just come out and asked me, even other Black female clients, to explain where I

was in the training program and if I had enough experience with this or that -

depression, eating disorders, whatever - to really help them.”

Power and Developing a Therapeutic Style

Participants described the challenge of developing their therapy style and

managing the role as power position. Celeste reported difﬁculty developing a therapeutic

65

style and discomfort accepting the role as the more powerful individual in the room. This
participant describes the feeling as traveling through “new territory”:

“It’s like a whole new feeling to be the one with the power. I don’t know what to

do with that most of the time. It’s like new territory that no one has really taught

me how to traverse — not my family, not this program... So I struggle with
ﬁguring out my approach to therapy sometimes.”

Linda stated that she works hard to minimize the power difference in therapy and
tries to create collaborative settings but has found that some clients resist her attempts,
seeking more directive therapy.

“I try to discourage this barrier of ‘I’m the mighty therapist’ and ‘you’re the lowly

client’. I mean, I’m no expert. I try to remind the client that they’re the expert on

their own lives and tell them that they have control of the therapy process. But

sometimes they don’t want that. It’s like they want me to be in control, tell them
what to do, lead the process. They’ll say things like ‘what should I do?’ Or ‘I’m

3”

paying you money for answers .

From these results, the researcher found that participants have varying
internalized beliefs around power in relationships, formed from either messages within
the family or from lived experience. In either case, these ﬁndings convey that
participants have an awareness of power differences in the therapy room and, based on
their belief system, have sought different ways to manage it. Haddock, Zimmerman and
MacPhee (2000) state that feminist informed therapists should be proactive, not neutral or
silent, about addressing power dynamics in therapy or risk conveying implicit support of

power differentials.

Racial Identity Measure Results

Before beginning the interview, participants answered questions related to their
racial identity using the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (Sellers et.al ,

1998). The purpose of this instrument was to articulate the heterogeneity in the

66

signiﬁcance that African Americans place on race in deﬁning themselves as well as in
their deﬁnitions of what it means to be Black. The results of the Multidimensional
Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI), see Table 4.2, which measured centrality, regard and
ideology actually provided interesting insight into the concepts that participants found

important in shaping who they are — self-governing values and belief systems.

Understanding Results

The racial centrality scale consists of 8 items measuring the extent to which being
African American is central to the respondents’ deﬁnition of themselves. The 36-item
racial ideology scale refers to the individuals’ attitudes and beliefs about the ways in
which African Americans should act. Four ideological themes have been identiﬁed —
nationalist, oppressed minority, assimilationist, and humanist. The ﬁnal dimension,
racial regard, refers to individuals’ affective attitudes toward African Americans. It is
divided into two subscales with 6 items each - public regard and private regard. Public
regard refers to the extent to which an individual feels the African American community
is viewed positively or negatively by others. Private regard refers to the extent to which
an individual feels positively or negatively toward the African American community as
well as how she feels about being a member of the community.

After the MIBI was completed, the researcher asked the question: As you think
about your racial identity and development as a therapist, which questions would you like
to highlight and discuss?” This question was asked to give participants an opportunity to
expound on those instrument items that address development. Responses indicated that
participants could highlight questions that were helpful in exploring racial identity and its

inﬂuence on development.

67

By deﬁnition, a person with a nationalist ideology who emphasizes the
importance and uniqueness of being African American should view race as central to her
identity (Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, & Smith, 1997). Interestingly in this study,
Paula, Tamara and Linda all appear to be highly nationalist, but Paula has race as highly
central and Tamara and Linda do not have race as central to identity. In the semi-
structured interview following the MIBI, only Paula’s statements seem to support this
view. She reported: “I feel very attached to my people. I’ve been in group settings and
always feel most comfortable in my own skin and most like I belong when I’m around
other Black people.”

Private regard attitudes have been shown to be positively related to personal self
esteem in college students (Rowley, Sellers, Chavous, & Smith, 1998). Feeling positive
about Aﬁ'ican American was only related to higher self-esteem for those whom race was
central. When racial centrality is low, however, no signiﬁcant relationship was found
(Sellers, Chavous, & Cooke, 1998). Together, these studies suggest that individuals’
attitudes and beliefs regarding racial identity are only predictive of important outcomes
for those whom race is highly central in how they view themselves (Marks et al., 2004).
In this study, Keisha, Linda and Celeste all reported low scores for racial centrality.
Given the research ﬁndings, it would appear that the MIBI results are not very telling
about the relationship between racial identity and therapist development.

Many participants talked about family of origin and mentioned the emphasis
placed on exposure to church, Black art, music or museums, and Black professionals as
inﬂuential in their identity and development. These descriptions stood out as core aspects

of how participants made sense of who they are and how they got here. It is important to

68

note that this inventory makes no value judgment as to what constitutes psychologically
healthy or unhealthy identity. It describes the status of individuals’ racial identity at a
speciﬁc point in their lives as opposed to describing an individuals’ racial identity

development.

Conclusion

Overall, the research ﬁndings were compelling. Participants were reﬂective and
insightful as they evaluated the magnitude of racial identity and various ecological factors
on their development as therapists. The semi-structured format of the interviews
provided the ﬂexibility necessary to ask follow up or probing questions. Table 4.3
highlights an overview of the emerging themes by research question. Despite a few
differences across interviews, many consistencies were noted in the inﬂuence of racial
identity with respect to family of origin, graduate training and clinical experience on
therapist development. More notable variations were cited in regards to the role of power
in development. The racial identity measure was helpful in demonstrating the importance
of understanding racial centrality in predicting outcomes. The following chapter will
provide a discussion of research ﬁndings, their implications, and suggestions for ﬁrture

research.

69

Table 4.1: Sample Demographics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Participant Family Racial Level in Training Clinical
Name Background Program Experience
Celeste Aﬁican American, 1‘” year, 2“d semester; <100 hours
Latino, Native no internship
American
Keisha African American, 1” year, 2“6 semester; Approx. 200 hours
Indian, Portuguese, started internship
African
Linda African American 2"d year, 2"d semester; Approx. 450 hours
completed internship
Paula African American 2"6 year, 2“d semester; Approx. 400 hours
will complete
internship in 2 months
Tamara African American, 2"d year; graduates in Supervisor in

 

Caribbean, Muslim

 

May 2007

 

training;
completed 500+

hours

 

7O

 

Table 4.2: Results of the Multidimensional Inventory on Black Identity

Paula Tamara Linda Celeste Keisha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Centrality 52 13 7 8 6

Private Regard 40 26 23 27 22

Public Regard 12 3 4 11 4

(Assimilation 47 43 36 45 53

“6010“” Humanist 37 48 41 54 48
ﬂ Minority 42 40 36 46 31
LNationalist 38 39 41 35 32

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Centrality — scores range from 1 to 56 with higher scores indicating that being African
American is highly central to the respondents’ deﬁnition of themselves.
Ideologies — scores range from I to 63 for each theme.

Nationalist -— high scores indicate the person’s tendency to stress the uniqueness
of being Black and belief that Aﬁ’ican Americans should control their own destiny with
little input from other groups.

Oppressed Minority — high scores indicate that not only are individuals acutely
aware of the continued oppression of African Americans but also seek to ﬁnd a link with
the oppression of other minority groups.

Humanist — high scores indicate that the person does not think in terms of race
(low importance in the way they lead their lives and view the world) but rather focus on
larger issues facing the entire human race.

Assimilationist — high scores indicate the individual’s desire to interact socially
with Whites and enter into the mainstream; it does not imply a lack of acknowledgement
of racism or a disregard for the importance of being Aﬁican American.

Racial Regard - scores range from 1 to 42 on each subscale.

Public regard- high scores indicate that an individual feels the African American
community is viewed positively by others

Private regard - high scores indicate that an individual feels positively about the

African American community and about being a member of the community.

71

Table 4.3: Emerging Themes from Data Analysis by Research Question

 

Research Emerging Themes

Question

 

RQl Direct inﬂuences
Indirect inﬂuences

Making sense of family of origin

 

RQ2 Diversity coursework needs improvement
Being a spokesperson shapes therapists
Challenging peers in the classroom

Faculty pressure to conform or resist

 

RQ3 Relevance of race to clients
Racial identity increases vigilance
Race enhances credibility

Race as a help to therapy

 

 

RQ4 Managing the role of power
Clients’ response to power

Power and therapist style

 

 

 

72

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION

The ﬁndings in Chapter 4 were based on interviews and supported information
from marriage and family student therapists. This chapter provides a discussion of
research ﬁndings and their implications. It will ﬁrst address the theoretical implications
of Human Ecological Theory and Feminist Theory. Speciﬁcally, the original theoretical
and conceptual map introduced in the ﬁrst chapter will be discussed in light of new
ﬁndings. Additionally, this chapter will include study limitations and suggestions for
future research. Finally, clinical implications will be presented, which will help to
provide additional insight into the inﬂuence of racial identity on the development of
student therapists and how this information can be used in the shaping of future

clinicians.

Theoretical Implications: Human Ecological Theory and Feminist Theory

As is the case in phenomenological research, the purpose of this study is to
describe experience as it is lived and understood by people (Husserl, 1970). Participant
interviews illustrate the various factors that affect racial identity and inﬂuence personal
and professional development of student therapists. It became evident that these two
concepts informed one another, in that, personal development was inﬂuenced by
professional experiences and professional development was, in part, a product of personal
interactions. As a result broad themes of inﬂuence emerged, blurring the concepts and
creating a challenge to separate themes as inﬂuential on personal or professional

development. These themes demonstrated the inﬂuence of the two theories that guided

73

this study. As a result, a new conceptual/theoretical map (see Figure 5.1 and Figure 5.2)

and a process model (see Figure 5.3) were constructed.

74

Figure 5.]: Revised Theoretical Map

 

Human Ecological Theory

 

-Individuals are inﬂuenced by various interactions
with systems in their environment

-Indi\~'idual development processes take place over
time

 

 

 

ll

l

/ Ecological Factors: \

Therapists are inﬂuenced by a wide range of factors in

their environment over time. Their development as

clinicians are affected by systems and constructs found

within their own individual, historical, and clinical
kexperiences as well as the greater societal environment. J

/ Therapist’s Beliefs \ / Therapist’s Reactions \

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The value and belief systems of Each therapist is unique
each therapist are inﬂuenced by and interacts Wlth the \VOI’ld
various systems. They in unique ways.

encounter a range of messages “Neutrality” l5 110‘

on how to behave, what to attainable 311d the presence
think, and how to interact with 0f ethnicity cannot be
others that are internalized to ignored in the therapy

 

 

 

 

\create personal belief systems. J \room. j

 

 

 

 

F eminisLIhenry
-Messages regarding power in society and family of
origin. Individuals are inﬂuenced by societal and
political context.

-Therapist awareness of ethnic identity and ability to
manage power in clinical settings

 

 

 

 

 

75

Figure 5.2: Revised Conceptual Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interaction \
Feminist wrth SYStems ‘ Human
Theory ecological \ Ecology
cons me 5
Key Concepts / Theory
Key Concepts
- Racial Identity
' Neutrality Meaning Making - Racial Identity
' Power H— processes — own ' Family Of Origin
- Self 9f deﬁnitions, power ' Graduate
therapist messages, Training
interpretation of lived ' Clinical
experience Experience

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

  

Therapist
Development

     

 

Developmental
processes — inter and
intra personal

 

 

 

 

,_ Values Beliefs and
Assumptions — about
self, clients, world

 

 

 

 

Internalizing Power
Beliefs - power,
hierarchy, expert stance

 

 

 

76

Figure 5.3: Process Model Based on Findings

 

Ecosystemic Influences

 

FamilyofOrigin Graduate training Clinical Exposure Lived Experiences
& Interactiom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WINES and Developmental
Beliefs ~
F Prrxess
I
I.
T
E VL
R
S
Racial Identity
Client Experience
A
I

 

 

I i?t‘l"ll|l‘-[ ll,” u-lvmn-i :11

 

 

 

 

 

77

A Process Model of Student Therapist Development

Meaning-Making

A process model of student therapist development was constructed (Figure 5.3).
Certain ecosystemic environments were found to be a great inﬂuence on development.
The systems are the foundation for the components that affect personal and
simultaneously, professional development. However, in interpreting the data, it was clear
that exposure to these systems and experiences did not, by itself, explain development.
But it was the individual’s interpretation of these interactions — the meaning making or
how the individual made sense of their experiences that surfaced as a central theme
throughout the study. This ﬁnding supports Bronfenbrenner’s (1995) person-context-
process-time model. This suggests that aspects of the environment, beyond the
immediate situation containing the subject, may not have a direct effect, but an indirect
effect through how an individual makes sense of that interaction.

During the interview process, participants were asked directly and indirectly to
describe how they had made sense of the ways their racial identity as shaped through
ecological factors inﬂuenced their development. Stepping back from the data, this sense-
making theme became central in understanding each of their descriptions of lived
experiences. Throughout the interviews, participants addressed the process by which
each of the ecological factors inﬂuenced their racial identity and development. This
meaning-making process served as a theme across participants helping to explain

inﬂuential factors to development.

78

Bronfenbrenner (1995) believed that throughout the lifespan, development takes
place through processes of progressively more complex reciprocal interaction between
the active, evolving individual and different people, objects and symbols in the
immediate environment. This would suggest that the meaning-making process and the
continuous challenging of belief systems is a recursive process that does not hold still in
time. Thus, the student therapist’s development would be changing as they continue to
personally develop over time. Likewise, a feminist model would also take this
phenomenon into account in that it assumes that the therapist enters the therapy room
with evolving personal values and beliefs (Corey, 2005).

Each of the research questions addressed how the components of the individual’s
environment, including family of origin, clinical experience and graduate training, the
development of their values and beliefs, and the meaning-making process inﬂuenced their
development. The following section will address how the primary constructs, as
described by the study participants, relate to the new process model. Current literature

and guiding theoretical approaches are integrated into these discussions.

Human Ecological Theory and Ecological Constructs

Families, schools, and the community represent overlapping environments which
inﬂuence and are inﬂuenced by each other. Bronfenbrenner’s model explains how
humans develop in the context of their unique environments or ecologies. The inﬂuence
of each system - home, school, and community - interact and affect each other in
interaction with individual development. Ecological theory is helpful in understanding

how culture and different socialization experiences shape development.

79

Family of Origin Inﬂuences.

According to Family Ecological theory, the family is the central system from
which values and beliefs are primarily transmitted (Bubolz & Sontag, 1993). Despite the
range of experiences of the participants, it was evident that family of origin had both
direct and indirect effects on therapist development. As expected, participants
demonstrated that the messages received from their families of origin created the
foundation for their views on ethnicity and were integral to their racial identity.
Participants made sense of how their family interaction shaped their development —
speciﬁcally, what meaning they have taken from it and how it has shaped their beliefs
and values. Thus the themes that arose focused on the overt and covert messages
received about race and racial identity within the family.

Family of origin inﬂuences appeared on two different levels. Initially in the
interview, the participants were able to discuss their families’ openness to explore issues
of race and racial identity. As a primary socializing agent, families transmit messages to
children — through intentional and unintentional messages, childrearing behaviors, and
other interactions (Johnson, 2003). Keisha’s response was demonstrative of the strong
inﬂuence of family on her values when she said,

“I don’t know. My family was always pretty clear about the fact that as Black

peOple we have to work harder than others [white people] to get the same reward.

There was no acceptance of mediocre grades — you had to do the best. As usually

the only black in a class, my family instilled in me the importance of not just

being the ‘smart Black girl’ but the ‘smart girl’. I guess that’s why I always
pushed so hard. I wanted to make my parents proud, but bigger than that, they
taught me that I had to make my whole race proud. I knew I was Black always,
but I also wanted to be the best. Even to this day, I always try my best to succeed
at everything I do because I feel like I am representing the entire Black race. It’s

one thing to let one person down, but not the whole race. It sounds silly when I

say it out loud I guess, but it’s true. My parents deﬁnitely made me value hard
work and excellence - even now.

80

This passage illustrates that for Keisha, the values that she has about racial identity and
hard work are directly connected to messages she received growing up. When she makes
sense of her commitment to excellence now in graduate school and as she becomes a
clinical practitioner, Keisha reﬂectively attributes her development to these lessons
learned within her family.

Another way of understanding the inﬂuence of the family of origin considers
when the participants did not have anything speciﬁc to recall. This happened when two
participants reported that nothing ﬁom their family of origin impacted their development
as therapists. However, the participants still reported having closely held beliefs that in
fact were based on dynamics from the family of origin. This would indicate that the lack
of reference to a direct interaction within the family can be just as inﬂuential as having
one to recall.

Through discussion of results on the MIBI, even those participants who stated that
their family avoided issues of race or ethnicity, still admitted an indirect effect of this
environment on their development. Results showed that a few participants may have
adopted a similar way - learning to shy away from discussions on ethnicity or contrastly,
become hypervigilant, and in Celeste’s words, see “race is in everything, no matter what
anyone says. I think it has made me a more culturally sensitive therapist.”

Additionally, in completing the personal data questionnaire, participants
elaborated on the racial identity effects of being raised by parents with particular
education levels and varying cultural backgrounds. For the most part, participants who
had American-bom and college educated parents described themselves as a highly

assimilated, knowing when to switch their language or dress to ﬁt the majority culture.

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As Tamara stated, “I’ve been taught how to straddle... I speak a language associated with
the black culture when I'm around certain blacks because I am genuinely comfortable
with this language. I speak formal English when I'm with whites.” This is not unusual,
code-switching allows Aﬁican Americans to identify what language is acceptable in
different situations and modify their speech to the appropriate style (Hecht, Collier, &
Ribeau, 1993). Even though the use of Black English for individuals develops naturally
as a part of having been reared in African American cultural environments, Aﬁican
Americans develop the ability to code-switch in order to manage in a society in which
they are a racial minority. Although the majority culture does not have to learn non-
standard English, most members of minority groups are obliged to learn the standard
dominant language to get along in school, at work, or in any mixed group settings.
(Flowers, 2000, p. 2)

Because of this, these individuals credit their families of origin in facilitating their
development and ease of working with majority culture clients. However, the
participants who had foreign-born parents did not have a consistent response. Because of
the small sample and inconsistent responses, it can not be clearly concluded ﬁ'om the

ﬁndings that the education or nationality of parents play a role in therapist development.

Clinical Environment

Another important component of the developing therapist’s microsystem involves
the clinical environment — consisting of the graduate training program and the exposure
to clients. This part of the system has a unique role in the therapists’ world due to the
opportunity for this realm to continue to challenge and shape therapists’ value and belief

systems. The family of origin is, at this point, not central but more peripheral in the

82

therapists’ life, such that the clinical “family” becomes the new primary socializing agent
that molds a student therapist into a professional clinician. As a result, this environment,
consisting of peers, supervisors, professors and clients becomes the intimate setting from

which the individual continues to grow and challenge their belief systems.

Graduate Training

As expected, the graduate training program appeared to have a great deal of
inﬂuence on the participant’s development. In fact, professors play an important role in
inﬂuencing students directly through the microsystem which is their classroom.
Instructors indirectly inﬂuence the socialization of students (Bems, 1997). This setting
also greatly inﬂuenced the value and belief systems of the participant as they observed
how faculty and respective peers integrated, ignored or questioned the salience of race in
coursework, discussion and interactions. A consistent theme among participants included
emotional reactions aroused by faculty and classmate interactions.

As Nelson, et al., (2001) suggest, whether as a separate course and/or infusion
throughout all courses, ethnicity issues need to be a part of every clinical training
program. The study demonstrated that participants felt graduate training programs were
often remiss or did a poor job integrating race in the coursework. Most participants
spoke of a required course on diversity and culture, but expressed disappointment at their
training programs for minimizing discussions of ethnicity. Whether as an enhancement
or a detriment, participants agreed that the graduate training program heightened ethnic
awareness and subsequently altered their personal views and professional orientation. In
some cases, upon reﬂection, participants were grateful for the lack of focus on ethnicity

in their training program. These individuals explain a forced maturity changing their

83

personal beliefs and shaping their development as a clinician. In training they embraced
their racial identity, challenged others cultural awareness, and gained conﬁdence bringing
issues of ethnicity to the forefront in discussions where it was ignored. Others attribute
their sense of discomfort with clients who present racially charged issues and their
personal ambiguity with the presence of racial identity in their development to the poor
integration and at times deﬁcit focused conversations about ethnicity in their training

programs.

Clinical Experience

Additionally, participants reported how their racial identity within a client setting
has shaped their personal and professional development. Most participants reported that
their racial identity is very present in the therapy room with clients and has been
instrumental to developing their therapeutic style and choice of interventions.

Participants reported choosing to implement interventions only after evaluating the theory
for cultural sensitivity. The awareness of racial identity was a driving force for many

participants as they develop their identity as therapists.

Collision of Values

An interesting ﬁnding involved the theme in which some participant’s seemed to
conﬁJse two areas which seemed to conﬂict with one another — namely the values around
race and racial identity received from their family of origin and the lack of integration of
race and racial identity in their training program. It became evident that most struggled
with these issues and how they ﬁt together with regard to their development. These two

constructs, both being within the microsystem, refer to the speciﬁc interrelation of two of

84

more settings in which the individual participates (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). This ﬁnding
strongly addresses the potential incongruence between the value systems of the
individual’s graduate training environment (e. g., training curriculum, clinical cases) and
their family of origin. Tamara clearly articulated this struggle when she stated, “I felt
like I was told to check my ethnicity at the door when I entered the therapy room. I’m
not used to that. How do I reconcile that when I feel like I’ve always been taught that my
ethnicity is so much a part of who I am”?

As expected theoretically, since these belief systems of various microsystem
constructs were not harmonious (for the participants), it created conﬂict within the
developing individual and may account for conﬂicts in the developing therapist. In
facing this collision of values, therapists indicated a needed change in the training
process, where integrating all of self is as advantageous to development, not as a deﬁcit.

Similar to the struggle between personal values and the graduate school
experience, the participants also seemed to wrestle with the balance between being a
spokesperson for the race and staying silent in the face of racially charged topics.
Participants wavered on the importance of debunking stereotypical myths about race —
making situation-dependent choices. In their development as therapists, participants see
this as a conﬂict directly related to racial identity. Paula stated,

“I don’t think the white students in our class have to go through the same
things. No one is making generalizations about all white families. But I guess
it’s ok to do that when you’re talking about Black families. Then I have to ﬁgure
out, should I say something? No, I don’t think white students have to worry about
this at all - not in the classroom and probably not even in the therapy room. Since
being Black is visible, you know, it’s not something you can hide — I think I will
constantly be faced with the question of should I educate this person so they’re no

longer ignorant or just stay out of it. Especially if it’s a client — I know the
answer — I should just stay out of it.

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As African American therapists, participants acknowledge that how they think of
themselves and their beliefs about racial identity are closely linked to their responses in
the therapy setting. When conﬂictual messages are received in the training process,
coursework, or the classroom, therapists grapple with how to remain internally consistent

and how to externally present themselves.

Feminist Theory and the Integration of Power

The Model

F eminist-informed family therapy is not a distinct model of therapy or set of
techniques, but rather a philosophical and political perspective (Leslie & Clossick, 1992).
Practicing from a feminist perspective means being attentive to the power differentials
between clients and to their outcomes, and making efforts to facilitate shared power and
equality in relationships (Haddock, 2003). Feminist theory reveals the ways in which
society is organized and stratiﬁed not only by gender, but also by race, class, and sexual
orientation. Although feminist theory focuses on the oppression of women, training in
feminist family therapy should be sensitive to the overlapping nature of various forms of
oppression. As Aﬁican American females, these graduate student therapists must attend
to the ways in which oppression and privilege impact their development.

An interesting outcome of this study was that participants identiﬁed changes in
their racial identity over time or in speciﬁc situations. This ﬁnding begins to question
how power can effectively be used in the therapy setting. How can participants manage

power in the clinical environment when their internal identity ﬂuctuates?

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Racial Identity Conclusions

Racial identity is a multidimensional construct (Cross, 1991; Phinney, 1996;
Parham and Helms, 1985). It is shaped by oppressive and racist experiences in African-
American lives (Cross, 1991). Helms (1989) noted both positive and negative
experiences might inﬂuence racial identity. Similar to Cross's theory, this study supports
that racial identity development is inﬂuenced by many persons and factors. In this study,
various family members, teachers, and classmates were cited as inﬂuential. Cross (1991)
describes racial identity at the preencounter stage as being inﬂuenced by social structures
such as family, church, and school. Unlike Cross and previous studies that view racial
identity as a series of stages, the data provided in this study detail the ongoing dynamism
involved in racial identity and adult development from the voices of those experiencing
it. This qualitative study shared rich stories from the unique perspective of Aﬁican
American females — their struggles in embracing, integrating, negotiating, and, at times,
restraining, their racial identity as they navigate the journey to becoming clinicians. It is
from their perspective that recommendations to emphasize an exploration of self
(identity, values, etc.) in training programs, coursework, and supervision were brought to
the foreﬁont.

These participants remind researchers that racial identity is not to be ignored or
minimized, but rather celebrated as integral part of professional development. The
participants contribute immeasurable value to the ﬁeld by reﬁtting earlier beliefs that the
Aﬁican American racial identity is only a product of a historically stigmatized status.
These individuals demonstrate resilience and insight and most importantly add a much

needed voice to the literature.

87

Clinical Implications

Study of therapist development can potentially impact the ﬁeld in several important
ways. Graduate training programs can be improved by a greater understanding of the
issues therapists face as they develop. This information can be used to alter coursework
and supervisory style. Graduate student therapists can use the information to normalize

their own experiences and anticipate issues as they develop.

Se lf-of-the- Therapist

Knowledge about the signiﬁcance of and meaning of race in an individual’s self-
concept is needed to fully capture the complexity of the relationship between racial
identity and any other phenomena, namely therapist development (Marks et al., 2004).
Findings indicate that understanding self is critical to the development of a therapist.
Therapists need to understand how they have been inﬂuenced by various systems, ways
of thinking, and what they believe. Feminist scholars (Melito, 2003; Gale & Long, 1996;
Whipple, 1996) emphasize that therapists enter the clinical room with their own set of
values and beliefs. For clinical development, optimal training should provide
opportunities for the therapist to recognize their own values and beliefs and what they are
bringing to the therapeutic relationship.

The dynamic of racial identity is constantly evolving in adulthood; it is posed as
complex and multilayered. Adult development is unique in that individuals vacillate
between various states of racial identity, speciﬁcally when participants deﬁne racial
identity as situationally based. This lack of internal consistency is undoubtedly apparent
in the clinical environment. Using different deﬁnitions of self, participants are forced to

reconcile a congruence with their external presentation in therapy.

88

Graduate Training Programs

As reported by most of the participants in this study, the training program,
comprised of curriculum, faculty members, peers, and clinical experience, is an important
component in their development. It is in this context that students are expected to
embrace theoretical interventions, develop a therapeutic stance, and form a sense of self
as a therapist. Therefore, it is especially relevant when faculty, often serving in a dual
role as clinical supervisor, and students have varying belief systems that relate to clinical
development (e. g. integrating racial identity and therapist identity). Given the innate
power position that the faculty holds, students must decide to challenge their own belief
systems, conform or resist. Unfortunately, sometimes this decision can be detrimental —
there is no further addressing of the issue or acknowledging the bias and the process
becomes lost — with the student blocking any ﬁrrther development of her own value and
belief system. As Halperin (1991) suggests, the student loses self—awareness and seeks to
perform as a professional and please this faculty member rather than reconciling their
conﬂicting belief systems. As a result, much of the burden of therapist development falls
on the shoulders of faculty members who are in a position to assist students in their
exploration of self — their biases, beliefs, and values that will be present in therapeutic
settings.

This study also has implications for the coursework required in graduate training
programs. Accredited Marriage and Family Therapy programs require a course on
diversity as part of the Masters curriculum. However, the ﬁndings have concluded that
this sole course is not sufﬁcient in addressing all the important elements of self

contributing to development. According to the feminist perspective, even when not

89

explicitly articulated, the therapists’ values, assumptions, and therapeutic practices
underlie the therapeutic approach (Prilleltensky, 1997). From this perspective, the
therapist cannot be neutral; she necessarily always operates from a value position. Not
exclusive to graduate student therapists, all therapists will bring her values, belief, and
ethnicity into the therapy room. Because of this, coursework should be required that
looks not only at diversity, but also examines other dimensions of self. This proposed
self of the therapist course, would mainly allow prospective therapists a chance to reﬂect
on their values, biases, and lived experiences that have contributed to their personal
development. Armed with this knowledge of self, students will become better clinicians

— aware of biases and limitations - ultimately serving in the best of the client.

Limitations

As with any study, this research project had limitations — some that could not be
controlled, and others that are related to the methodology. First, the respondents were
self-selected in that they chose to participate after reviewing a recruitment ﬂyer
indicating the purpose of the research. Thus, there may have been inherent differences
between this sample versus those who did not choose to participate.

Furthermore, once participants voiced interest in participating, they were sent a
letter of appreciation with an elaborate description of the research topic and the purpose
of the study. Upon personal contact with each of the participants, it was evident that they
had already begun the work of connecting racial identity and ecological inﬂuences to
their development. This may have begun with the researcher’s recruitment

advertisement, appreciation letter or the informed consent form. Since each document

90

described the goals and focus of the study, this may have biased participants in the
interview process.

Another important limitation of this study involves the demographics of the
sample. Although some homogeneity was expected in recruiting only African American
female graduate students, there was very little age, region or educational diversity in this
sample in that all of the participants were in their middle 20’s, all but one were ﬁom the
local area, and all were in the ﬁrst or second year of graduate training in Marriage and
Family Therapy. Since development is a continuous process, this study only provides a
snapshot of their attitudes, beliefs, and development at a point in time. Furthermore, this
small sample prevents major generalizations to the larger population of Marriage and
Family Therapists and mental health practitioners in general. However, this qualitative
study provides a deeper understanding of therapist development from the unique lens of
African American female students in training.

Another limitation involved the interaction between the researcher and the
participant. The participants were asked to reveal personal aspects about their beliefs and
experiences regarding ethnicity and inﬂuential ecological constructs contributing to their
development. Despite two interviews with the researcher, this may have been more
difficult for some participants due to the lack of feelings of safety with the researcher or
the abrupt nature of getting straight to the point of the research topic. A very directive
interview style may have been uncomfortable for some and cause participants to choose
answers careﬁilly, rather than candidly. In addition, the nature of the research topic

involved the need for the participants to be reﬂective and introspective. It became

91

evident that this deep knowledge of self and ability to be insightﬁrl did not come easily
for some.

Since the researcher is also the instrument in qualitative research, it is important
to address the interactions between the researcher and the participant as well as the nature
of the research topic being addressed. The researcher and each of the participants are
African American females. This may have led to a different dynamic in the participant’s
involvement - for some this similarity may have increased willingness to open up
emotionally and for others it may have heightened reluctance to share.

As the researcher, I created interview questions and sought this line of research
based on my own bias that it was important for the experiences and development of
African American female student therapists to be shared. This means that I, too,
contributed to the meaning-making process by deciding the content of the questions
asked. This limitation is inherent in qualitative process and should be acknowledged as
part of the reﬂexive process given the dynamic interaction that took place between the
participants and me. I was very much involved in the meaning- making process as I
interacted with the participants and discovered that my own developmental process and
racial identity, were playing a part in the outcomes of this study. However, this study
also provided an opportunity for me to reﬂect on much of what I considered inﬂuential in

my development and some of the values and beliefs that have changed over time.

Research Implications

There are a number of ways in which the ﬁndings of this research may serve to
support future research regarding therapist development. In order to better understand

the therapist development process, it is critical to ﬁrst look at how they deﬁne and ascribe

92

meaning to their racial identity, values, and experiences. This study went well beyond
simply looking at “what” ecological factors and attempted to identify “how” these factors
inﬂuence therapist development. Thus, it is beneﬁcial to continue to conduct qualitative
research on this development process and possibly study other mental health
professionals in order to identify how other factors drive development and highlight
differences that may be unique to the ﬁeld of Marriage and Family Therapy.

This study also suggests implications for future research on identity. As was
apparent in this study, participants explain that racial identity may shift, either
situationally or over time. As racial identity is explored further in adults, the
transactional nature of development (interactions with systems, individuals, etc), is
ongoing and dynamic. Racial identity can not be minimized or overlooked, as was seen
in the depth of reﬂection provided by this study’s participants. Unlike previous research
on therapist development, these participants specify the unique inﬂuence of race and
demonstrate the importance of exploring this dimension further in ﬁrture studies.

Future study in this area could investigate the impact of experiences on therapist
development throughout various phases of the development process. This information is
particularly important during the ﬁrst 500 to 1000 hours of clinical experience. It is
during this time that therapists generally have their most intensive supervision
experiences and when the most changes in therapist development occur (Skovholt &
Ronnestad, 1992).

Future research could also focus on the inﬂuence of graduate training programs
on therapist development. Although this study found shortcomings in the curriculum and

acknowledged the inﬂuence of faculty, it may be useﬁil to study students at various

93

university training programs to ascertain consistency in these viewpoints and justify
changes, if any need to be made, to the current structure of courses and training. It may
also be useﬁrl to interview other racial groups to analyze if this perspective is unique to
the African American females that participated in this study.

Finally, although qualitative research seems particularly suited for addressing the
rich and diverse stories of individuals, quantitative methods may be incorporated to aid in
the validity and reliability of the research (Miles & Huberman, I994). The qualitative
nature of this study makes it impossible to determine causal relationships that perhaps

could have emerged in statistical analysis.

Conclusion

The current research, as a qualitative study, may best serve as a source for future
hypotheses to be proven or disproven by more precise empirical methods. The themes
presented here suggest that therapist development is a process that occurs through the
individual’s interaction with multiple sources of inﬂuences over a long period of time.
Although graduate training has extensive inﬂuence, other sources also contribute before
entering graduate school and after training is complete. The ongoing process of therapist
development is distinct for each individual and will vary based on the meaning ascribed
to racial identity and other ecological constructs. The research has also concluded that it
is necessary to know the signiﬁcance and meaning of race in an individual’s self-concept
to ﬁrlly capture the complexity of the relationship between racial identity and other
phenomena (Marks et al., 2004).

By learning more about the development of therapists, I hope to contribute to the

advancement of therapy education and improve the quality of supervision. A clearer

94

 

understanding of the developmental process is helpful to establishing realistic demands in
graduate education. Additionally, supervisor and supervisee will be able to establish
more effective learning contracts. Also, if a more comprehensive conceptualization of
therapist development is attained, other negative outcomes can be avoided, such as

incompetence, burnout, and disillusionment.

95

 

APPENDIX A: INFORMED CONSENT

Ethnic Identity as a Factor in the Personal and Professional Development of
African American Marriage and Family Student Therapists

My name is Kris Andrews. I am a Doctoral Candidate at Michigan State University studying
Marriage and Family Therapy and I thank you for your interest in participation in this research
study. The purpose of this research study is to describe the role of ethnic identity in the personal
and professional development of African American female marriage and family student
therapists. Most research studies on therapists simply list the racial makeup of the participants but
do not address issues of ethnic identity or the saliency of ethnicity for the participants. I think it’s
important to understand how ethnicity shapes deve10pmcnt.

The research is being conducted through the College of Social Sciences at Michigan State
University. If you choose to participate, you will be asked to ﬁll out a questionnaire about racial
identity. You will also be asked to complete a basic demographic questionnaire. The
questionnaires should take about 30 minutes total to ﬁll out. You will also be asked to participate
in an audio recorded interview. This interview will ask you questions about your personal
experiences and your role as a student therapist, speciﬁcally how ethnicity has inﬂuenced your
personal and professional development. The interview will be conducted by me, Kris Andrews,
at your convenience in a private setting on the university campus. The interview portion will last
no more than I '/2 hours, for a total of 2 hours for the initial meeting. There will also be a follow-
up interview at a later time to address questions and comments that may have come up since the
interview. This interview will last no more than 30 minutes and will allow an Opportunity to
amend or clarify any responses from the fnst interview. No new questions will be asked at this
time.

Potential risks of participating in this study: Talldng about your experiences as you develop as a
student therapist can be helpﬁrl for you. However, topics may come up in the interview that may
be difﬁth to talk about. For that reason, you will be given a list of resources, including local
therapists, if you choose to talk to a professional about any issues that arise. You are also
welcome to talk to me about any questions regarding the interview or the research process.

Potential beneﬁts of participating in this study: As compensation for your time, you will receive a
$25 gift card to Barnes and Noble Bookstores at the completion of the follow-up interview. I also
believe you will beneﬁt from understanding how your experiences have shaped your journey as a
therapist. Additionally, your participation in this study will add an unrepresented voice to the
ﬁeld of Marriage and Family Therapy.

Your participation is this study is completely voluntagg, and you may choose at anytime to refuse
to answer a question or completely withdraw from the study with no penalty to you. You will
receive the gift card, even if you withdraw early, and your information will not be used in the
study. All information and audio recordings will be kept conﬁdential. Your conﬁdentiality will
be protected to the maximum extent allowable by law. Information from your interview and
questionnaire responses will only be viewed by myself and my dissertation committee members
(5 people in all). All involved with sign conﬁdentiality agreements to keep all information
conﬁdential. Your name and contact information will be kept in a locked ﬁle drawer, separate
from the data I, Kris Andrews, will be the only one with access to your name and contact
information. Electronic data (interview transcriptions, digital audio recordings of interview, data
coding, etc.) will be stored on the researcher’s personal laptop computer. This laptop is

This consent form was approved by the Social Science/Behavioral/Education Institutional Review Board (SIRE) at
Michigan State Unlversity. Approved 02/08/07 - valid through 02/07/08. This version supersedes all previous versions.
' lRB # 07-086.

96

password-protected. The data ﬁles will also be password-protected. All hard copies of data
(researcher notes, questionnaire responses, etc) will be kept in a locked ﬁle cabinet at the
researcher’s home. Only the researcher will have a key to access the ﬁle drawer. All hard copies
will be stored for 5 years or until it has outlastcd its empirical usefulness, whichever comes ﬁrst.

Ifyou have any questions about this study, please contact:

Kris Andrews, LGMFI‘ (Researcher) Dr. Marsha Carolan (Research Chair)
Georgetown University Michigan State University

2201 Wisconsin Ave, NW Suite 220 13B Human Ecology

Washington DC 20007 East Lansing, MI 48824

Phone: 202-821-7283 Phone: 5 17-432-3 327

Email: kandrews@msu.cdu Email: eggplancalmsueud

 

If you have any questions about your role and rights as a research participant or are dissatisﬁed at
any time with any aspect of the study, you may anonymously contact:

Peter Vasilenko, PhD

Director of Human Research Protections
Phone: (517) 355-2180

Fax: (517) 432-4503

Email: irb@msu.edu

Mail: 202 Olds Hall

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI 48824-1047

If you agree to participate in this study, please sign and date here:
Name: Date:
If you agree to be audio recorded for this study, please sign and date here:

Name: Date:

This consent form was approved by the Soclal Sclence/BehavloraVEducation Institutional Review Board (SIRB) at
Michigan State University. Approved 02/08/07 — valid through 02/07/08. This version supersedes all prevlous versions.
IRB # 07-086.

 

APPENDIX B: DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE

Personal Data Questionnaire

1 Age:
b.
2 Relationship a. __ Single Married/ partnership
Status:
d.
c. Separated/Divorced Widowed
3 Education:
Years
School Name Degree Attended
Undergraduate
Graduate

4 Professional License(s): Type(s) and year(s) obtained:

5 Title(s) of current professional position(s):

6 If currently a student, indicate year in graduate program and degree expected to attain:

7 Education of parent(s) or guardian(s) with whom you lived most of your life:

Parent 1 Parent 2
some
elementary a. aa.
completed elementary b. bb.
some high
school c. cc.
high school
grad d. dd.
some college e. ee.
college grad f. ff.

98

g .

(It:

 

graduate/professional degree g.

 

8 How would you describe your race/ethnicity: (if necessary. you can further clarify this item)
African American/Black a.
Caribbean/Caribbean American b.
Mixed (specify) c.
Other (specify) (1.

 

Ill

9 How would you describe the race/ethnicity of your biological parents:
(if necessary, you can further clarify this item)

 

 

 

Mother Father

African-American/ Black a. a.
Native American/ Indian b. b.
Chinese c. e.
White, Caucasian (not Latino) (1. d.
Japanese e. e.
Southeast

Asian f. f.
Latino/Hispanic g. g.
Mixed (specify) h. 11
Other (speciﬁy) i. i.

10 lfyour biological parents did not raise you, please describe the race/ethnicity of those individuals
who primarily raised you

Aﬁican—Arnerican/ Black
Native American/ Indian
Chinese

White, Caucasian (not Latino)
Japanese

Southeast

Asian

Latino/Hispanic

Mixed (Specify)

Other (speciﬁy)

09-99—59

 

E":0_‘O r":

l l

11 By percentage, please break down your client load with respect to the following racial/ethnic categories

Racial/Ethnic Group % of Caseload
African-American/ Black
Native American/ Indian
Chinese

White. Caucasian (not Latino)
Japanese

Southeast Asian
Latino/Hispanic

Mixed (specify)

:00an00’»

99

Other (specify l

12 Average personal income

l3

14

IS

16

a.

rap-9.0"

3")

Under $20000
$20.000-39.000
$40.000-59,000
360,000-7 9.000
$80.000-99.000
3100.000 and
above

Average income of spouse/signiﬁcant other: (use letters above)

Average income of mother (or guardian) before retirement: (use letters above)

Average income of father (or guardian) before retirement: (use letters above)

Please complete the following:

You

Mother
(Guardian)

Father
(Guardian)

Birthplace

 

Date Emi grated
(if applicable)

17 Provide the following information for all places you have lived for more than 3 years.

 

City & State

Age of
Residence

Average Income of
Neighborhood (lower,
middle, upper)

Race (use
letters above)

Type of
Community (urban,
rural. military, etc.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

100

 

 

 

City & State

Age of
Residence

Average Income of
Neighborhood (lower,
middle. upper)

Race (use
letters above)

Type of
Community (urban.
rural. military. etc.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lOl

 

APPENDIX C: SEMI STRUCTURED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Raciﬂdentity Questions

5. Describe your racial identity. Have you ever identiﬁed yourself differently in
different situations? Why?

6. What prejudices are you aware that you hold?

Family of Origin Questions

1. How important was race/racial identity in your family when you were growing
up?

a. Were issues of race/racial identity openly discussed?

2. Think back to the time when you were growing up. Can you give me a few
examples of meaningﬁrl race/racial identity related incidents which happened to
you?

a. What were your reactions?
b. How do they affect you even today?
i. Looking back, how was all of this helpﬁil to who you are now?
How was it detrimental?
9mm "Lraining Questions

1. What about-the recent past, since starting graduate school, can you give me any
examples of race/racial identity related incidents which happened to you or that
you witnessed?

a. What was your reaction? How has that affected you?

b. Upon reﬂection, do you wish you handled things differently? How?

102

2. How has race/racial identity been dealt with in your training program?

a. Give examples of race/racial identity- related incidents which you felt
were difficult and positive. What did you think /feel? What did you do?

b. Have you ever felt you were viewed as the “spokesperson for your
ethnicity”? How have you handled this?

3. How has training as a marriage and family therapist affected (enhanced or
diminished) your racial identiﬁcation or your feelings about your culture?

4. Have you experienced pressure to be/act white? Give examples and your
reactions. What strategies did you use to do so?

Clinical Experience Questions

1. How inﬂuential do you think racial identity is for you as you develop into a
therapist? Give examples.

2. Brieﬂy tell me about your current client load? # and demographics? Would you
say you’ve had a chance to work with a diverse group of clients?

3. Do you think your credibility is enhanced or diminished because of your race? In
whose eyes? Do you feel that you had to give up any aspects of your racial
identity? What are your feelings about having to do so?

4. How much do you bring up/point out racism directly to your clients?

Power Questions

1. As you develop as a therapist, you may have encountered a power dynamic in

various relationships. Can you tell me how the role of power in your family of

origin, graduate training, and clinical experience?

103

 

2. In your clinical experience, how have you managed the role of power in your
therapy with clients?
3. How have you viewed power in your development as a therapist (your
intervention, stance, etc.)
Questions for Foundational Knowledge and Possible Future Research
1. What propelled you getting into marriage and family therapy?
c. Tell me about the process of your decision making.
(1. What factors have contributed to your survival and success?
e. What factors have been obstacles to your success?
2. How do you think your racial group views you?
a. How do you think the white majority culture views you?
b. Have you ever felt isolated? How have you handled that?
3. When you think about yourself in group situations — when you are with others of
your own racial group or the white majority culture,
a. How do you sometimes feel different from your own racial group?
b. How do you feel a part of your own racial group?
c. How do you sometimes feel different from the white majority culture?
(1. How do you feel a part of the white majority culture?
e. How do you straddle the cultures?
4. Are there particular cultural/racial/ethnic groups with whom you get along
better/worse than others?
5. As a student therapist, you are learning many theoretical interventions. Which

theories best ﬁt for you so far?

104

6. Do you think there is a particular therapy style/theory that works better for people
of color?

7. How would you describe your role as an African American therapist working with
clients of same or difference ethnicities? What have been your experiences?

8. When a racial/ethnic related issue is brought up in therapy, how do you handle
your thoughts and emotions — with client and internally? Speciﬁcally, your level
of empathy toward client, your level of self disclosure, if you could go back,
would you make any changes to your interventions?

9. How do you think racism shows itself in the ﬁeld?

10. With respect to race, what changes do you think should be made in the
professional settings in which you have worked, in training programs, and in the

profession in general?

105

APPENDIX D: MULTIDIIVIENSIONAL INVENTORY OF BLACK IDENTITY

Sellers, R. M., Smith, M. A., Shelton, J. N., Rowley, S. A. J. & Chavous, T. M. (1998).
Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American
racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(1), 18-39.

10

11

Overall, being Black has very little to do
with how I feel about myself

It is important for Black people to
surround their children with Black art,
music, and literature

Black people should not marry
interracially

I feel good about Black people.

Overall, Blacks are considered good by
others

In general, being Black is an important
part of my self-image.

I am happy that I am Black.

I feel that Blacks have made major
accomplishments and advancements.

My destiny is tied to the destiny of other
Black people

Blacks who espouse separatism are as
racist as White people who also espouse
separatism

Blacks would be better off if they
adopted Afrocentric values

106

Strongly
Disagree

1

Neutral

2345

Strongly
Agree

7

12

I3

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

Black students are better off going to
schools that are controlled and organized
by Blacks

Being Black is unimportant to my sense
of what kind of person I am

Black people must organize themselves
into a separate Black political force

In general, others respect Black people

Whenever possible, Blacks should buy
from other Black businesses

Most people consider Blacks, on the
average, to be more ineffective that other
racial groups

A sign of progress is that Blacks are in
the mainstream of America more than
ever before

I have a strong sense of belonging to
Black people

The same forces which have led to the
oppression of Blacks have also led to the
oppression of other groups

A thorough knowledge of Black history
is very important for Blacks today

Blacks and Whites can never live in true
harmony because of racial differences

Black values should not be inconsistent
with human values

I often regret that I am Black

White people can never be trusted where
Blacks are concerned

Blacks should have the choice to marry

107

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

interracially

Blacks and Whites have more
commonalities than differences

Black people should not consider race
when buying art or selecting a book to
read

Blacks would be better off if they were
more concerned with the problems facing
all people than just focusing on Black
issues

Being an individual is more important
than identifying oneself as Black

We are all children of a higher being,
therefore, we should love peeple of all
races

Blacks should judge Whites as
individuals and not as members of the
White race

I have a strong attachment to other Black
people

The struggle for Black liberation in
America should be closely related to the
struggle of other oppressed groups

People regardless of their race have
strengths and limitations

Blacks should learn about the oppression
of other groups

Because America is predominantly white,
it is important the Blacks go to White
schools so that they can gain experience
interacting with Whites

Black people should treat other oppressed
people as allies

108

39

4o

41

42

43

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

Blacks should strive to be full members
of the American political system

Blacks should try to work within the
system to achieve their political and
economic goals

Blacks should strive to integrate all
institutions which are segregated

The racism Blacks have experienced is
similar to that of other minority groups

Blacks should feel free to interact
socially with White people

Blacks should view themselves as being
Americans ﬁrst and foremost

There are other people who experience
racial injustice and indignities similar to
Black Americans

The plight of Blacks in America will
improve only when Blacks are in
important positions within the system

Blacks will be more successful in
achieving their goals if the form
coalitions with other oppressed groups

Being Black is an important reﬂection of
who I am

Blacks should try to become friends with
people from other oppressed groups

The dominant society devalues anything
not White male oriented

Being Black is not a major factor in my
social relationships

Blacks are not respected by the broader
society

109

 

53

54

55

56

In general, other groups view Blacks in a
positive manor

I am proud to be Black

I feel that the Black community has made
valuable contributions to the society.

Society view Black people as an asset

110

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