White Supremacy and Counseling Psychology: A Critical–Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The mainstreaming of White nationalism in the United States and worldwide suggests an urgent need for counseling psychologists to take stock of what tools they have (and do not have) to combat White supremacy. We review the rise of social justice issues in the field of counseling psychology and allied helping professions and point to the limits of existing paradigms to address the challenge of White supremacy. We introduce transnationalism as an important theoretical perspective with which to conceptualize global racisms, and identify White racial affect, intersectionality, and allyship as three key domains of antiracist action research. Finally, we suggest three steps for sharpening counseling psychologists’ approaches to social justice: rejecting racial progress narratives, engaging in social justice-oriented practice with White clients, and centering White supremacy as a key problem for the field of counseling psychology and allied helping professions.

From Womb to Neighborhood: A Racial Analysis of Social Determinants of Psychosis in the United States

“…To truly adopt an antiracist framework, it is necessary to walk in the opposite direction on the path that seeks to maintain the status quo (142). The evidence reviewed suggests that a greater appreciation of how racism shapes social determinants of psychosis would support such a framework in North American psychiatry.…”

Developing into a group therapist: An empirical investigation of expert group therapists’ training experiences.

“…While we did not ask participants expressly about multicultural competence in group work, it is likely meaningful that its discussion did not emerge as a more salient theme, and may indicate a gap in knowledge and training particularly among this all-white sample of expert group therapists. Such a gap would, of course, be meaningful because research confirms that white therapists do harm when white racial identity stays invisible and makes essential antiracist therapeutic practices impossible (Comas-Díaz et al, 2019; Grzanka et al, 2019; Helms, 2017; Porter, 1994).…”

Toward an Abolitionist Practice of Psychology: Reimagining Psychology’s Relationship With the Criminal Justice System

“…By integrating the principles of liberation, humanistic, community psychology, and interdisciplinary studies, such as CRT, into the more individualized arenas of our practice, we can transform psychotherapy into an experience that focuses on autonomy and liberation for oppressed individuals and communities. Additionally, we must acknowledge and embrace our responsibility to address anti-Blackness, racism, and white supremacy with our white clients (see Grzanka et al, 2019).…”