Abstract
The Challenge of Racism in Therapeutic Practice is a beautifully written book that explores and reflects on how racism and racialised trauma affect the therapeutic relationship in practice and supervision. Dr Isha McKenzie-Mavinga’s book creatively dives deep and examines how therapists and counsellors can challenge and take ownership of their own personal experiences so that they can therapeutically support their Black, Asian and mixed-heritage clients. The Challenge of Racism encourages therapists to sit and listen with curiosity with the writer offering resources and lived experiences in each chapter. The book beautifully interweaves dialogues consisting of interviews with fellow therapists and client cases that are highlighted and explored throughout the book.
This is a very unique book based on theory, practice and research. It comprises 10 chapters that are organised under three different parts. Part I focuses on the ‘Ungagging: Denial, Silence and Rage’ and looks at the impact of racism on the psyche. Part II explores ‘Identity, Shadism and Internalised Oppression’ and considers intergenerational oppression and racism. Part III examines ‘The Traumatic Effects of Slavery and Colonialism’ and their relevance to working with clients in therapeutic practice and clinical supervision.
McKenzie-Mavinga beautifully argues against the myth that we now live in a post-racial society and that the work on racism is finished. By colluding with this myth, the trauma of racism is not being fully explored and leaves Black, Asian and mixed-heritage clients re-traumatised. If left unexplored, this will leave a client unsupported and fearful to discuss racism, and to bring issues of culture and identity into the therapeutic space. McKenzie-Mavinga discusses how feelings of mistrust prevent clients from opening up due to the stigma around mental health, and how they steer away from getting help due to their experiences of systemic racism and the lack of cultural sensitivities. There is also the fear that black, mixed-heritage and Asian clients are more likely to be misdiagnosed in the treatment.
The author encourages practitioners to question and reflect deeper in order to explore the pain of ancestral baggage, intergenerational and historical racial trauma that clients hold. She invites practitioners to allow themselves to sit in the pain with their clients and engage with the hurt surrounding oppression and internalised oppression in practice and supervision.
McKenzie-Mavinga argues that there is a lack of opportunity in the therapeutic space for trainees, therapists and supervisees to bring more curiosity when working with Black, Asian and mixed-heritage clients. She discusses how the need for these conversations around culture and diversity needs to begin within training institutions to allow trainees to sit with the uncomfortable silences around racism. She highlights the need for White therapists to explore their own fears of racism and privilege and encourages them to stay with the clients’ experience, and to not be afraid to emphatically open a dialogue. This in turn allows the therapist to not only deepen their understanding of racism but also explore areas around the Black, Asian and mixed-heritage experience of sexuality, gender and identity. McKenzie-Mavinga believes that this would deeply enhance White therapists’ personal development, allowing them more curiosity and acknowledgement to stay in the present.
The chapters on the impact of racism when there has been sexual abuse in families and the chapter on Black rage and silence beautifully examine the internalised pain of intergenerational, historical and racial trauma held in the body. The chapter on rage examines how powerful feelings become suppressed which then manifest into rage. Underneath rage are feelings of anger, shame and powerlessness that affect the therapeutic dynamic and should be sensitively held in a safe space. The writer invites practitioners to explore in supervision what holds them back or blocks them from sitting with their own experiences of systemic racism, White privilege and microaggressions. McKenzie-Mavinga examines through interviews and research what stops a therapist from being curious and exploring deeper the clients’ experiences of racism.
The Challenge of Racism in Therapeutic Practice is a gem of a book that has such relevance to the dramatherapy world. This book addresses the importance of the voices of people of colour that are not fully explored in the current dramatherapy theory, practice and research. Black, Asian and mixed-heritage clients are less frequently included in research, and my hope would be that this book will encourage practitioners to explore this. McKenzie-Mavinga uses great empathy to examine the deep wounds of racism and the hope to move towards a place of healing. The book also accomplishes an open dialogue around complex themes of colourism, shadism and mixed heritage, which are not only important but essential to open up conversations in the therapeutic space. I would highly recommend this book. It is a must for all dramatherapists, trainees and supervisors.