| Feelings of mistrust, alienation, and the need for safety are symptoms that both ethnic minority individuals and traumatized individuals may experience. These effects may look similar in the therapeutic environment and one cause of symptoms may be overlooked in favor of the other. The purpose of the current research is to provide empirical data about therapists' perceptions of ethnic minority status and trauma history based on clients' presentations of these issues in therapy. Eighty-five therapist participants viewed three vignettes of actors portraying clients. Participants then responded to questions regarding the etiology of clients' symptoms, their attitudes towards race in the U.S., and their trauma and dissociation histories. All clients were chosen to be clearly identified members of African American or Middle Eastern groups and all presented a trauma history that was a plausible cause of the presenting symptoms. A 2 x 2 x (3 x 2 x S) analysis of variance and multiple regression were used. The between-group variables were the order in which the vignettes were viewed and the race of the client. The within-group variables were the client's stated cause of symptoms (Neutral, Trauma, or Race) and the type of distress. As expected, the results of the study suggest that when the client did not cite a cause of symptoms or stated that the cause of symptoms may have been due to trauma, the therapist would cite Trauma as the main cause of symptoms. However, when the client reported the belief that the cause may have been due to race-related discrimination, the therapist weighted Trauma and Ethnic Minority Status similarly. Therapists weighted Trauma similarly for African American and Middle Eastern clients, but weighted Ethnic Minority Status more heavily for African American clients than for Middle Eastern clients. The most highly dissociative therapists were less likely to cite Trauma as a cause of symptoms. Respondents with the highest levels of color-blindness were less likely to see Ethnic Minority Status as a cause for the clients' symptoms. The diminished role of race-related issues in the face of trauma suggests that further training is needed within graduate training programs to adequately identify and address the impact of race-related discrimination among ethnic minority populations. |
