Abstract:

In recent years, investigators have indicated that the psychotherapy process is ofconsiderable importance in the context of interracial psychotherapy. Despite theinterest in the area, minimal research has examined how racial difference impacts thepsychotherapy process. This study examines the lived experience of interracialpsychodynamic psychotherapy via an in-depth interview with an African–American manwho had been in therapy with a European American therapist. This qualitative studyutilizes a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, which accepts that understanding iscontingent on both sociohistorical situatedness and relational dynamics. The studyparticipant was chosen because of his interest in the area and willingness to explore it indetail with the interviewer. A number of themes emerged, the most salient of which arethe multidimensionality of the experience and the 'absent presence' of race in thetherapy process. This client’s experience was both positive and negative, and in manycases, the same process-related variables contributed both positively and negatively tothe client's therapeutic experience. Issues of trust, perceived cultural issues and therapyfocus contributed to and detracted from the therapy experience. The depth of thetherapy experience was limited by the therapist not explicitly addressing race.

Document Type:

DOI: 10.1348/147608307x209896