Who Are You Bringing in the Room? A Self of the Therapist Workshop on Working with Interracial, Intercultural, and Interfaith Couples and Families. 

Description:

Therapists are important for conveying hope and warmth during therapy; that we believe in our clients and can hold our clients’ painful experiences. Being mindful of the therapist’s role and presence, therapists must explore their experiences of power struggles within the family, parental conflicts, lack of validation, and lack of intimacy in relationships. Therapists often work multifacetedly, navigating intrapersonal wholeness, mind, body, and emotional integration, communication, authenticity, and recognition of self, individuals, couples, families, and larger systems. For example, influences and attitude from family of origin (mesosystem), implicit rules of “not marrying outside race or ethnicity” or “partner has to meet cultural expectations in a spouse,” may contribute to a heightened expectation of the “perfect” relationship. In taking on the task of self of the therapist work, the therapist can deconstruct rigidity through personal awareness developed through self-reflection or personal therapy to promote flexibility with their clients. While both the Interracial Couple Questionnaire and the Multiple Heritage Questionnaire help the therapist to start this work, there must be a deeper dive (Henriksen et al, 2007 Watts & Henrickson, 1998).

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to –

1. Define an intersectional ecological systems framework.
2. Apply an intersectional ecological systems framework to their self of the therapist.
3. Recognize self of therapist and cultural humility working with interracial, intercultural, and interfaith partners and couples.
4. Apply and practice an intersectional ecological systems framework and self of therapist working with interracial, intercultural, and interfaith partners and couples.