Culturally Sensitive Guidelines for Non-Black Therapists Working with African American Couples

This training will explore the historical and cultural context in which African American intimate couple relationships have developed and presently function. Participants will be introduced to the pressures, needs, and functioning that emanate from the historical and cultural experience in America for these African American couples. This exploration is particularly targeted to non-black clinicians treating black couples. Constructive as well as destructive forces will be explored, allowing participants to gain insight that will be critical to the effective treatment of African American coup...Read moreles. Additional insight and exploration will be done that will help non-black clinicians examine their own biases, prejudices, and preferences that are anchored in their core identity. Finally, this knowledge will be integrated into treatment models that hold promise, both through research and through the tenets they espouse, that suggests they are the best practice for white and non-white clinicians working with African American couples. Less...

Learning Objectives

• Describe and address historical and current issues that impact African American couples from slavery, Jim Crow and recent media portrayals of African American life.
• Describe how current social, economic and political issues impact the quality of marital life within the African American community.
• Describe key issues in identity development for both black and white couples.
• Describe how to build therapeutic alliances with black couples in a therapeutic setting.
• Assess ones’ own cultural and racial biases.
• Describe how to manage the issue of race in counseling and couple’s therapy.

Target Audience

Learning Levels

• All Levels

Friday, July 15, 2022

10:00 AM EDT - 05:00 PM EDT