Overcoming Unintentional Racism in Counseling and Therapy: A Practitioner′s Guide to Intentional Intervention

by Charles R. Ridley and Chris Ridley

Book Overview

Any counselor or therapist, regardless of race, background, or motives, can engage in unintentional acts of racism. In so doing, they may inadvertently sabotage their own efforts and perpetuate the very problems they seek to overcome. In this book, the dynamics and the effects of racism in counseling are examined with an emphasis on the insidiousness of unintentional racism. Workable solutions and practical alternatives are proposed with the goal...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803948700
• ISBN13: 9780803948709
• Release Date: November 1994
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Helpful but...

Ridley does an excellent job of opening up issues regarding cultural competency in the mental health services professions. However, while the examples given do illustrate the problems as they currently exist, I found several of the "how to" examples of interaction rather condescending. Still, overall, the book is a great entry into just how and why the mental health field has not served our culturally-diverse populations in the past and how to better serve them in the future.

be aware of differences

Ridley teaches that counselors should be aware of, and sensitive to, cultural or ethnic issues, when aiding their clients. In part because, at least for American counselors, the diversity of the American population is likely to cause them to have a diverse caseload. Many ways are suggested for help counselors. One perhaps a propos method is for a counselor to herself seek counsel. This congruency or professional self awareness may be a good way for her to not later project her issues onto her clients. In terms of client diversity, examples are given that counselors should be careful about generalising from the ethnic of a client. For example, the fact that a client is Asian might not mean that she had much in common with another Asian client. The sheer national and cultural diversity in Asia means that stereotyping can be fraught with errors.