Being Seen: A Therapist’s Path for Working with the Racial Trauma of Invisibility and Marginalization

Janina Fisher, PhD is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Instructor at the Trauma Center, an outpatient clinic and research center founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known for her expertise as both a therapist and consultant, she is also past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, a faculty member of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of research and treatment and how to introduce these newer trauma treatment paradigms in traditional therapeutic approaches.

Debra Chatman-Finley is a Licensed Professional Counselor with over 20 years clinical experience. She is a graduate and former Associate Faculty of the Multicultural Family Institute and is certified in domestic violence, trained in EMDR, and has completed certificate programs in child maltreatment as well as traumatic stress. Ms. Chatman-Finley is currently in private practice providing therapy for diverse individuals and families. In addition to her private practice, she has facilitated numerous workshops on the topic of children and divorce, the impact of domestic violence, blended families, and interracial/intercultural families.

Gliceria Perez is a Psychiatric Social Worker at the Office of George J. Otlowski, Sr., Center for Mental Health Care where she works primarily with individuals, groups, and families of Latino descent. She has been an in-home therapist for Creative Consulting Services, Inc. for the past 15 years where she works with low-income troubled children, youth, and their families who are in crisis and need short-term therapy. Ms. Perez is a graduate of the Multicultural Family Institute and the Trauma Center at JRI and is trained in EMDR and Family Systems Therapy. 

We all want to be part of the solution to a racially traumatizing society, but it requires responsibility, a willingness to self-reflect, and a commitment to equity.

Those who are privileged are often unaware of their privileges, whereas individuals of color are all too aware of being marginalized.  If privilege and marginalization inevitably go hand in hand, how can we ensure attuned and informed help for BIPOC clients?  How can we create an anti-racist environment in psychotherapy?

Webinar I: Developing a Deeper Understanding of Implicit Bias Microaggression

Centuries of marginalization and traumatization by those with power and privilege have left an indelible legacy of implicit bias throughout society.  Even therapists who eschew racism and consciously support creating an anti-racist culture may fail to see and hear the challenges and stresses faced by BIPOC individuals.  Or we may see them through an unconscious lens as “angry black women” or “dangerous black men.”  Implicit bias is inherent in all mammals, including human beings, and it must be consciously understood to ensure that it does not result in unintentional microaggressive words or actions.

Webinar II: Visibility vs. Invisibility

In the context of systemic racism, to be BIPOC is to be simultaneously invisible and all too visible.   How is it possible to be both invisible and visible at the same time?   To be unseen results in feeling in danger, without dignity, without protection, even unworthy of protection.  To be ‘seen’ as implicitly as dangerous, angry, or threatening risks attack, exclusion, or institutional inequality.  Because it is essential in psychotherapy for the client to feel safely seen, therapists must have an understanding of how systemic racism has resulted in these twin dangers.

Webinar III: Racism, Culture and Dissociation

Threat and danger automatically instinctive survival responses of fight, flight, freeze, submit or cry for help.  In the context of systemic racism and racial trauma, it has been imperative for BIPOC individuals to submit to the dominant white culture, to flee from visibility, and to hang their heads in shame to avoid appearing disrespectful.  Fighting or running have historically increased the danger for the BIPOC community and reinforced explicit and implicit bias in the white community.   Dissociation is the mental mechanism that automatically shuts down active defenses and facilitates submission.  However, as necessary as dissociation has been since the beginning of slavery, it is often misunderstood and misconstrued by the white majority, including therapists.  Understand dissociation as an indicator of fear, not resistance or disrespect, is essential in clinical settings.

Webinar IV: In Session with Real Therapists, Discussion and Resources

To overcome the implicit racial biases that perpetuate systemic racism in psychotherapy settings requires that we understand privilege and acknowledge its harmful impact on BIPOC individuals.  To change the culture requires that those with privilege to accept and acknowledge their implicit bias and to make conscious changes in their usual way of working to ensure the safety of their BIPOC clients.

Session I: Developing a Deeper Understanding of Implicit Bias Microaggression

At the end of this session you will be able to:

• Define ‘implicit bias’ and its impact on the therapist
• Describe the conscious and unconscious aspects of having ‘privilege’
• Identify signs of unconscious privilege in the therapist
• Detect microaggression and provide therapeutic repair

 

Session II:  Visibility vs. Invisibility

At the end of this session you will be able to:

• List ways in which BIPOC individuals experience invisibility
• Specify the negative ramifications of negative visibility
• Discuss the ways that visibility and invisibility pose emotional and/or physical threat to BIPOC individuals
• Identify ways in which therapists can help BIPOC clients feel understood

 

Session III:  Racism, Culture and Dissociation

At the end of this session you will be able to:

• Describe the survival advantages conferred by dissociation
• Define the Structural Dissociation Model
• Differentiate resistance from inhibition of the social engagement system
• Identify the survival responses exhibited by BIPOC clients

 

Session IV:  In Session with Real Therapists, Discussion and Resources

At the end of this session you will be able to:

• Describe the meaning of “privilege always comes at the expense of others”
• Identify aspects of privilege inherent in the therapist’s role
• Discuss ways in which therapists can create an anti-racist environment
• Demonstrate an understanding of privilege in the context of therapy

 

Webinar I:  Developing a Deeper Understanding of Privilege and Microaggression (2 hours)

• The unconscious/conscious advantages of privilege
• White privilege does not mean white supremacy.  (One can have white privilege and not be a white supremacist.)
• What it means for BIPOC individuals to be ‘normal’ in a white dominant society
• What it means to be marginalized and traumatized
• Different types of conscious and unconscious microaggressions
• How to recognize and repair microaggressions

Webinar II: Visibility vs. Invisibility (2 hours)

• Relationship of racial trauma to rates of PTSD in BIPOC individuals
• How ‘otherness’ makes the BIPOC community both invisible and yet too visible
• The challenges posed by invisibility versus the dangers of visibility
• How invisibility impacts a sense of safety and reinforces shame
• How negative visibility creates a perceived and ongoing threat

Webinar III: Racism, Culture and Dissociation (2 hours)

• Racial trauma, like all threats, evokes instinctive fight/flight responses
• In a white dominant society, avoiding the threat of racial trauma requires automatic responses of submission: compliance, shame, and retreat
• Dissociation is the mental ability that allows rapid shifts from defensive impulses to shuting down, allowing BIPOC individuals to be ‘here but not here’ as necessary
• Recognizing the signs and symptoms of dissociation
• How dissociation is misperceived when exhibited by BIPOC individuals

Webinar IV:  In Session with Real Therapists, Discussion and Resources (2 hours)

• Change requires discomfort and disequilibrium: how do we increase our capacity to tolerate the discomfort in order to make the BIPOC client more comfortable?
• As much as we agree on the need for change, the human body unconsciously resists it
• Transforming our implicit biases and habits of privilege requires deliberate self-and body-awareness
• Because privilege and marginalization are systemic, their unconscious effects will be present in the session
• How we can harness the power of mind and body in the service of anti-racist therapy

This course is $347. You can purchase it here.

If for some reason you are not satisfied with the course, you have 7 days from your purchase date to cancel and request a refund.  Please refer to the policy section for details on how to cancel.

Cost of CEs are $40 and can be purchased at the end of the program. You will be notified by email at the end of the program with instructions on how to obtain CEs.

We are approved to provide 8 hours of continuing education credit co-sponsored with R. Cassidy Seminars.

Satisfactory Completion
Participants must have paid course fee, verified identity by checking checkbox on verification webpage, completed evaluation, and completed post-test with passing grade of 75% in order to receive a certificate. Failure to complete and submit these materials will result in forfeiture of credit for the entire course. No exceptions will be made. Partial credit is not available.

This course is co-sponsored by R. Cassidy Seminars, P.O. Box 14473, Santa Rosa, CA 95402

Psychologists 
NY: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0018. 8 contact hours. Self-study Psychoanalysts
NY: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychoanalysts. #P-0005. (8) clock hours self-study. Social Workers 
Other States: Most states will accept the approval of other state licensing boards of the same license type. Some states, either do not require pre-approval of courses, or will allow licensees to retroactively file for course approval themselves. Check with your board to obtain a final ruling..
IL-SWs: Illinois Dept of Professional Regulation, Approved Continuing Education Sponsor, #159.000782. (8) hours.
NY: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider (#0006) of continuing education for licensed social workers. This program is approved for (8) contact hours self-study.
OH: Provider approved by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board for (8) clock hours, #RCST110701

MN: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the Minnesota Board of Social Work, CEP #2281 approval 2/22/22 – 2/22/23.  4 CE hour.

Counselors/Marriage and Family Therapists 
Other States: Most states will accept the approval of other state licensing boards of the same license type. Some states, either do not require pre-approval of courses, or will allow licensees to retroactively file for course approval themselves. Check with your board to obtain a final ruling.
IL-MFTs: Illinois Dept of Professional Regulation, Approved Continuing Education Sponsor, #168-000141. (8) hours.
NY-LMHCs: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board of Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0015. (8) contact hours self-study.
NY-LMFTs: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board of Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists. #MFT-0011. (8) contact hours self-study.
OH: Provider approved by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board for (8) clock hours, #RCST110701
TX: Approved CE Sponsor through the Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists. (8) CE Hours. Provider #151 Creative Arts Therapists
NY: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board of Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists. #CAT-0005. (8) contact hours self-study Chemical Dependency Counselors
CA: Provider approved by CCAPP; CCAPP Provider #4N-00-434-0222 for (8) CEHs. CCAPP is an IC&RC member which has reciprocity with most ICRC member states.
TX: Provider approved by the TCBAP Standards Committee, Provider No. 1749-06, (8) hours general and/or (13) hours (specific specialization), Expires 3/31/2022.  Complaints about provider or workshop content may be directed to the TCBAP Standards Committee, 1005 Congress Avenue, Ste. 460, Austin, Texas 78701, Fax Number (512) 476-7297. Dentists
CA: R. Cassidy Seminars is a provider approved by the Dental Board of California as a registered provider of continuing education. RP# 4874. (8) CE Hours. Some state dental boards are reciprocal. Check with your licensing board to be sure. Nurses
CA: Provider approved by the CA Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #CeP12224, for (8) contact hours. Many state nursing boards are reciprocal with other states. Check with your licensing board to be sure. Educators
TX: R. Cassidy Seminars is an approved provider with the Texas Education Agency CPE# 501456. This course is (8) CE Hours.

Disability Access – If you require ADA accommodations please contact our office 30 days or more before the event. We cannot ensure accommodations without adequate prior notification.

Please Note: Licensing Boards change regulations often and while we attempt to stay abreast of their most recent changes, if you have questions or concerns about this course meeting your specific board’s approval, we recommend you contact your board directly to obtain a ruling.