Trauma in the Black Community: The pain of misconnection Professional Resource Article
The black community has experienced generational traumas that have caused some of my clients to feel they cannot connect to a therapist that is not a person of color. As a community mental health therapist, I sometimes will get referrals where the client is requesting to have a “therapist like me”. I am an uncommon sight as a black male therapist and clients that seek me, or those like me, will report that they have more hope that I will understand when they share about the struggles they face. Some people are hesitant to try therapy because of misconceptions about mental health services, but my black clients have expressed concerns about feeling that they will not be truly heard and believed. A proper therapeutic alliance cannot form without a sense of connection, and my clients that share in the experience of being black in America feel I am one who is on the same journey as themselves. I am afforded the opportunity to be a cosojourner of sorts in their quest for healing, and it is in that moment that I am able to provide a model of the connection that many feel they never had. My observation is that many in the black community have felt that the society that they live in sees them as a threat so they pull away into exile. I am defining community as a grouping of people knit together for mutual survival and mutual benefit. In addition, communities have their own culture which I will define as set of practices, values, expressions, and expectations for those that engage in the community. In light of the events of 2020, FMHCA.org | InSession- July 2022 | 37
