Antiracist supervision and training: bringing change to mental health care

ABSTRACT

To serve our diverse communities, clinicians must understand how racism shapes the lives of racialized people, affecting physical and mental health. Legha’s (2023) antiracist approach is an accessible guide that clinical supervisors and trainees can implement to reduce racism in mental healthcare. Supervisors and trainees learn to work toward identifying racism, understanding how Whiteness has shaped clinical care and supervision, and dismantling oppressive practices within (and outside of) clinical settings. This commentary builds on Legha’s approach by offering additional perspectives and directions, such as addressing cultural competence at a deeper level, increasing awareness of inequities, and treating racial trauma.

KEYWORDS:

• Antiracism
• people of color
• clinical supervision
• racism
• mental health

Acknowledgments

This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada Research Chairs Program, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant number 950-232127 (PI M. Williams).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Monnica T. Williams

Monnica T. Williams, Ph.D., is a board-certified, clinical psychologist, registered in the province of Ontario, for Autonomous Practice with adolescents, adults, and organizations. Currently, she is a tenured Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, Canada Research Chair for Mental Health Disparities, and Director of the Laboratory for Culture and Mental Health Disparities, and has a cross-appointment in Cellular and Molecular Medicine (Neuroscience) in the Faculty of Medicine. She is also the Clinical Director of the Behavioral Wellness Clinic, LLC in Tolland, Connecticut, and has founded clinics in Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. She is an internationally recognized expert in discrimination, racism, and trauma. She has conducted clinical research on psychological and pharmacological treatments of PTSD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorders. Her published works include over 150 peer-reviewed articles, 50 book chapters and scientific reports, and 4 books, with a focus on anxiety-related conditions, culture, and bias.

Jennifer McWilliams

Jennifer McWilliams, BSc, is a PhD student in Experimental Psychology at the University of New Brunswick. Her research interests include the psycho-social impact of social and cultural practices on the daily lives of marginalized populations and women in men-dominated occupations, the effects of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination on Black women and men, and allied healthcare professionals’ exercise recommendation behaviors and practices. During her Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-funded Master’s project, she examined the experiences of aging career women firefighters in Canada. Her PhD thesis, which is supported by SSHRC and the O’Brien Foundation, focuses on allied healthcare professionals’ exercise recommendation behaviors and practices for the treatment of anxiety.

Rehman Y. Abdulrehman

Rehman Abdulrehman, Ph.D., is a registered psychologist in Manitoba and the Director of the outpatient center Clinic Psychology Manitoba in Winnipeg, with expertise in child psychology and trauma. He is also an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba, and has been a visiting professor at the State University of Zanzibar, Zanzibar University and Muhimbili University over the past decade where he helped teach and develop mental health programs in low resource settings. A clinical and consulting psychologist, he applies his skills of creating sustainable change to leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. He has a broad international portfolio of clients and hosts a podcast on difficult conversations of racism, called Different People. Dr. Abdulrehman’s work has been recognized by the Society of Consulting Psychology for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Consulting. He has authored a new book on cross-cultural competence, published by Hogrefe and the American Psychological Association, and is the new guest editor for an upcoming coming special issue for the Journal of Consulting Psychology on working with Arab and South Asian professionals and leaders.