Surviving Being Black and a Clinician During a Dual Pandemic:Personal and Professional Challenges in a Disease and Racial Crisis

Abstract

I CAN'T BREATHE! Social distance! I CAN'T BREATHE! Stay six feet apart! I CAN'T BREATHE! Make sure you wash your hands! I CAN'T BREATHEEEE! When can I schedule a session? The duality of being Black in America and a mental health professional during a global pandemic is stressful enough; however, coupled with a simultaneous racial pandemic, the intrapsychic, interpersonal and professional responsibilities feel incessant. This article seeks to explore the lived experiences of two Black mental health professionals residing and providing clinical services in Los Angeles County during a dual pandemic. Utilizing autoethnography methodology, the authors will reflect upon their personal and professional experiences of being Black and a mental health provider during a dual pandemic. Special attention will be allocated to unpacking issues of systemic racism, White supremacy, White fragility, anti-racism and third space oppression while providing clinical services to White and Black clients and attempting to engage in ongoing self-care activities. In addition, the authors will explore recommendations examining the nexus between racial identity, social location and professional expectations during a dual pandemic.

Investigating Race-related Stress, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress for Black Mental Health Therapists

“…Other strategies for mitigating burnout and STS include limiting the hours worked per week to lessen the work-related aspect of burnout. Limiting access to media/social media could prove beneficial for Black mental health therapists (Lipscomb & Ashley, 2020). Other proactive self-care interventions, such as doing mindfulness practices, or joining professional peer groups, clinical supervision, or seeking therapy, could demonstrate positive outcomes for Black mental health therapists (Giordano et al, 2020;Posluns & Gall, 2019).…”

“…Higher levels of racial discrimination are associated with higher levels of trauma symptoms in Black Americans, which, potentially, places Black therapists at higher risk of burnout and STS (Chou et al, 2012;Kirkinis et al 2018). Moreover, Black therapists are navigating the same race-related stresses as their Black clients (First et al, 2020;Lipscomb & Ashley, 2020). Black therapists' perceptions and appraisals of their race-related stresses may overwhelm their ability to cope in their personal and professional settings.…”

“…The increased anxiety caused by the race-related stressors has led more African Americans to seek therapy and mental health services specifically with African American mental health practitioners (Henderson, 2020). African American mental health therapists are helping clients through these mental health challenges while also processing these same challenges for themselves in addition to their professional responsibilities (Lipscomb & Ashley, 2020). The combination of the stressors, race-related stress, and increased caseload of Black clients with similar concerns, or shared racial trauma, could possibly lead to burnout and STS for Black mental health therapists (Lipscomb & Ashley, 2020).…”

Tackling Burnout in the School Setting: Practical Tips for School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists

“…As another example, SLPs from majority groups can use their privilege to advocate for colleagues in marginalized groups, such as BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ and work to dismantle long-standing racist systems and barriers. Creating a sense of urgency here can include drawing attention to microaggressions (ASHA, 2020b), speaking out when marginalized colleagues are asked to participate in more service opportunities to increase diversity on a committee, or drawing attention to the mental health disparities that exists (CDC, 2020;Lipscomb & Ashley, 2020). Unreported racism is directly related to stress, anxiety, isolation, and burnout (Chaudhary & Berhe, 2020).…”

COVID-19 and Mental Health

“…Within the context of race, the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention notes the mental health disparities disproportionately experienced by Black populations, with the addition of COVID-19 putting them at a higher risk for mental health challenges (Lipscomb & Ashley, 2020). Czeisler et al (2020) also found that suicide ideation was significantly higher among respondents who were from minority racial/ethnic groups.…”