Racial Difference in Therapy

Abstract

The culture of lower-class and underclass African Americans is distinctly different from that of the professionals who treat them in analysis, whether they are Black, White, or of some other race. Children are often raised by mothers who are very young, without the involvement of the father, and are often exposed to violence and trauma. Ego development may therefore be poor, leading to depression and intellectual limitations. Therapists must carefully examine their own preconceptions about people from other races and be prepared for racialized transference and countertransference. They must also be sensitive to the possibility that a child may have had important parental figures other than his or her biological mother, and probe for these in composing the patient's history.

Notes

Carlotta G. Miles, M.D., is in private practice of Psychoanalysis, and Adult and Child Psychotherapy.