Talking about race, culture and racism in family therapy

Family therapy practice in the UK, as elsewhere in the world, takes place within the context of structural and systemic racism. Hence the practice of family therapy has the potential to mirror racist and colonialist tropes found within society. There are low levels of satisfaction by people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds to the level of sensitivity to culture and racism that takes place in therapy. This paper explores ways a systemic psychotherapy might be more sensitive to differences in race and culture. Drawing upon systemic and anthropological constructions of culture, suggestions are made for practice that is more questioning of the barely conscious or unconscious assumptions made by the therapist, which can then lead to open scrutiny of these assumptions. In doing so, I draw upon my own experiences, and those of my own family, of racism, of culture and of movement across cultures.

Practitioner points

• Structural racism in society will find its way into the therapy room unless therapists are open to an examination of their own prejudices and often unconscious assumptions.
• Such an examination then opens the way to forms of practice that are more sensitive to differences of race and culture.
• A form of practice more sensitive to race and culture is proposed as a systemic response to racism, whilst keeping in mind the need for change at a social and political level.