Biracial Women in Therapy

Between the Rock of Gender and the Hard Place of Race

Cathy Thompson, Angela R Gillem

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781317718451
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Social Sciences

Get a unique perspective on the female biracial experience!

Biracial Women in Therapy: Between the Rock of Gender and the Hard Place of Race examines how physical appearance, cultural knowledge, and cultural stereotypes affect the experience of mixed-race women in belonging to, and being accepted within, their cultures. This unique book combines empirical research, theoretical papers, and first-person narrative to address issues relevant to providing therapy to biracial women and girls, helping therapists and counselors develop a treatment framework based on sociocultural factors. Researchers, practitioners, and academics provide insight into the biracial reality, taking multiple aspects of clients' lives into account rather than looking for simple hierarchies of well-being based on race.

Biracial Women in Therapy is a building block for mental health practitioners in the construction of theory and practice in working with biracial females. The book examines how a biracial women's racial/ethnic identity intersects with her gender and sexual identity to affect her sense of belonging and acceptance, addressing issues of appearance, social class, disability, power and guilt, and dating and marriage. Topics addressed in the book include:

• the complexities of multiple minority status
• how ethnic differences affect biracial adolescents
• issues encountered by biracial women from a sociohistorical context
• biracial women's attitudes toward counseling
• stereotypes of marginalization and identity confusion
• a multicultural feminist approach to counseling
• and a first-person narrative of one author's racial and sexual identity development

Biracial Women in Therapy: Between the Rock of Gender and the Hard Place of Race is a one-of-a-kind resource for counselors, therapists, researchers, and academics seeking insight into unique issues of mixed-race women.

Index

Academic achievement

of African Americans, 36

positive correlation with hope, 121

Acceptance

of biracial adolescent females, 206, 218, 229–230, 232

of biracial children, 66

as identity development phase, 72–73, 76–77, 79

of racial identity, 72–73

of racially-mixed women, 238–239

Adolescents, biracial/multiracial. See also College students

female, 203–236

Asian-White, 218, 221, 225, 226, 228, 229, 230–231, 232–233

Black-White, 218, 221, 225, 226, 228–230, 231, 232, 233

clinical work with, 234–235

cognitive and social development in, 219

conformity with racial stereotypes, 223–224

connections with biracial community, 212

depression in, 227, 228–229, 230–231

environment of, 209

ethnic-specific considerations regarding, 221–222

family issues of, 206–207

gender-role socialization of, 48, 258–59, 60

gender-specific considerations regarding, 222–224

general well-being scores of, 229–231

Hispanic-White, 218, 221, 225, 226, 228–230, 231, 232, 233

identity development in, 121, 190, 204–205, 208–209, 210–211, 220

implication of sexual stereotypes for, 206, 220, 223–224

maladjustment by, 98, 219–220

parents of, 212–213, 221

physical appearance of, 55, 207–208, 223, 226–227, 229–230, 232, 233, 234

psychological stress in, 218, 228–229, 230–231, 232

role models for, 212, 234–235

role playing by, 209–210

self-esteem in, 205, 222–223, 229–230

self-identification by, 231–232

sexual issues affecting, 206

social acceptance of, 206, 218, 229–230, 232

social affecting, 205–206, 219

social and cultural issues regarding, 224–234

social distance of, 233, 234

sociopolitical perspective for, 209–210

substance abuse by, 227, 228, 230–231, 232

therapy considerations with, 207–213

male, 222, 223

peer rejection of, 120

population of, 26

self-concepts of, 67

social assortation in, 219

victimization of, 208

Adolescent Self-Perception Profile, 226–227

Affect, positive, negative correlation with hope, 41

African-American community

homophobia of, 189

internalized racism of, 26

African Americans

academic achievement of, 36

bicultural existence of, 189

identity development in, 187

Afr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Indexing, Abstracting & Website/Intemet Coverage
• CONTENTS
• About the Editors
• Introduction: Biracial Women in Therapy: Between the Rock of Gender and the Hard Place of Race
• From Exotic to a Dime a Dozen
• Utilizing the Strengths of Our Cultures: Therapy with Biracial Women and Girls
• Biracial (Black/White) Women: A Qualitative Study of Racial Attitudes and Beliefs and Their Implications for Therapy
• Understanding and Assisting Black/White Biracial Women in Their Identity Development
• Negotiating Racial Identity: Biracial Women and Interactional Validation
• Dating Practices, Racial Identity, and Psychotherapeutic Needs of Biracial Women
• When Face and Soul Collide: Therapeutic Concerns with Racially Ambiguous and Nonvisible Minority Women
• Counseling Biracial Women: An Intersection of Multiculturalism and Feminism
• Depressive Symptoms and Attitudes Toward Counseling as Predictors of Biracial College Women’s Psychological Help-Seeking Behavior
• Biracial Lesbian and Bisexual Women: Understanding the Unique Aspects and Interactional Processes of Multiple Minority Identities
• Conversations, Not Categories: The Intersection of Biracial and Bisexual Identities
• Out of the Closet but Still in Hiding: Conflicts and Identity Issues for a Black-White Biracial Lesbian
• Therapeutic Considerations in Work with Biracial Girls
• Fitting In and Feeling Good: Patterns of Self-Evaluation and Psychological Stress Among Biracial Adolescent Girls
• Mixed Race Women: One More Mountain to Climb
• Index