Black Girls, White Suburbia: Appropriate Approaches for Counselors in Training
Session Overview:
There is an underwhelming representation within most literature, including counseling, for Black teens, especially Black Girls (BTGs). When present, the hyper-focus of race-related challenges centers entirely around poverty (Lewis-McCoy, 2016; Russell, 2015). This creates a gap in capturing the experiences of BTGs from higher socioeconomic statuses which leads to significant challenges and potential damage within the counseling therapeutic alliance. It is the ethical and professional responsibility of counselors to be apprised of modern race-related stressors that directly impact the quality of life for clients. This is imperative to counselors that serve teens/family clients in private practice who may otherwise not be completely aware of the demand for the accurate conceptualization of Black Teen Girls being an ever-growing yet still underrepresented population.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand the phenomena behind gendered racial socialization and know how to pair with developmentally sound conceptualization with suburban Black Teen Girls.
2. Understand the clinical presentation and recurring symptomology and coping mechanisms utilized when in predominantly white suburban environments.
3. Utilize targeted socialization-based developmental models of Black Racial Identity Formation and Black Feminist Theories to promote identity awareness, intersectional oppressive factors, goals towards improving wellness, and developing self advocacy through prevention strategies.
