Within the group therapy literature, individuals who behave in ways that are perceived as negatively impacting the group dynamic or process have commonly been referred to as problematic group members. Largely, this research has identified intrapsychic and interpersonal reasons for challenging client behaviors and provided clinical recommendations for challenging group work. However, this work has not considered a sociocultural and systems approach to understand the impact of systems of privilege and oppression on members' in-group behaviors. In this paper we argue that members' "problematic" in-group behaviors may in fact be a recapitulation of problematic systems of privilege and oppression that occur outside and within the therapy group. We provide evidence of the impact of cultural processes, and by extension, the impact of systems of privilege and oppression on group processes and outcomes. Finally, we provide clinical recommendations for addressing members' problematic in-group behaviors from a multicultural orientation framework. Public Significance StatementTo date, group psychotherapy research has theorized 'problematic' group members (e.g., members who disrupt group dynamics through interpersonal patterns like silence) are doing so because of intrapsychic and interpersonal reasons such as a personality disorder or other mental illness. Because this conceptualization has not fully considered the impacts of oppression on interpersonal behaviors, we used the multicultural orientation (MCO) framework to reconceptualize 'problematic' group members in order to allow clinicians to view members interpersonal styles as potential responses to systems of privilege and oppression. Finally, we provide recommendations for clinicians to address disruptive group member behaviors using the MCO framework.

As clinical records continue to become digitized, technological competence is increasingly part of clinical competence. Clinicians must be mindful of how they are storing client data and consult with information technology professionals to best protect client data stored online. Clinicians have offline, local computer storage options that require minimal technological competence, but it is essential for clinicians and practices to be thoughtful in storing client data in ways that both suit their clinical needs and best protect client data. A practice without compelling reasons for storing client data in an online environment exposes client data to undue risk, because of the multitude of security vulnerabilities to which such data are exposed. Given the increasing reliance on electronic records, it is important for clinicians to understand exactly how such records are stored, accessed, and transferred. Although all technology can fail, clinicians who carefully consider their own unique data storage needs and have robust reasons for how they store their data can best uphold the ethical standards of privacy and confidentiality with an understanding of how client data is being stored. Public Significance StatementThis article explores whether or not psychological clinicians can ethically store client data online and gives recommendations to help guide clinicians. Because of the large number of online security threats, clinicians must provide clear rational for hosting client data online, particularly because there are a number of local storage options for clinicians that do not require much skill with technology to use securely.

It is well established that cultural factors greatly influence mental health as well as the effectiveness of psychosocial treatments. However, all clients might not readily discuss cultural experiences in therapy, a process recently termed cultural concealment. Drinane et al. (2018) introduced the concept of cultural concealment and found a significant within-therapist and between-therapist effects of clients' cultural concealment and their perceived improvement in therapy. Despite an extensive literature on multicultural group work and recent developments in assessing cultural processes within therapy groups, there is a paucity of research examining the process of cultural concealment in therapy groups. Informed by social norm theory and the multicultural group literature, this study examined within-group and between-group effects of clients' cultural concealment and their perceptions of improvement, group cohesion, and a global therapeutic factor. Data consisted of 341 clients across 81 interpersonal process therapy groups. Results indicated significant within-group cultural concealment effects for clients' perceptions of improvement, group cohesion, and a global therapeutic factor. In contrast, between-group cultural concealment effects were only found for clients' perceptions of a global therapeutic factor. These findings suggest that group members' own cultural concealment is negatively associated with their perceptions of improvement, group cohesion, and a global therapeutic factor, whereas the group-as-a-whole's cultural concealment is negatively associated with members' perceptions of a global therapeutic factor. Group therapists should be cognizant of the consequential effect of cultural concealment at the member and group level to enhance the effectiveness of group treatments for all clients. Public Significance StatementThis study suggests that clients who experience group therapy as an unsafe space to share parts of their cultural identities experience group therapy as less effective. This indicates that interventions in group therapy designed to help clients bring their true selves into the therapy room can help to increase the effectiveness of group therapy for clients of various cultural identities.

The white racial equilibrium is a social, historical, and cultural location where whiteness is insulated from critique and the importance of race is largely ignored by white people. The expectation of the white racial equilibrium is one way white people define their whiteness, and this expectation protects white supremacist epistemologies and ideologies. We completed interviews with fourteen white undergraduate students to understand more about the processes employed by students when challenged by the white racial disequilibrium. Using consensual qualitative research (CQR), we coded their responses and found seven representative domains, with two categories endorsed by every participant: "assumption of valid knowledge" and "non-racist beliefs." While some respondents displayed thoughtfulness about race and whiteness, findings suggest that most participants attempted to restore the white racial equilibrium by centralizing the innocence and beneficence of whiteness and white people through various rhetorical maneuvers, including (1) invoking superficial and incomplete knowledge of complex racial topics, and (2) depersonalizing themselves from racist acts and ideas,This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.