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African American And European American Therapists’ Experiences Of Addressing Race In Cross-Racial Psychotherapy Dyads, Sarah Knox, Alan W. Burkard, Adanna Jinaki Johnson, Lisa A. Suzuki, Joseph G. Ponterotto

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Using Consensual Qualitative Research, 12 licensed psychologists’ overall experiences addressing race in psychotherapy were investigated, as were their experiences addressing race in a specific cross-racial therapy dyad. Results indicated that only African American psychologists reported routinely addressing race with clients of color or when race was part of a client’s presenting concern. European American psychologists indicated that they would address race if clients raised the topic, and some reported that they did not normally address race with racially different clients. When discussing a specific cross-racial dyad, African American therapists more often than European American therapists addressed race because they perceived …