Race, culture, and psychotherapy: transference to minority therapists

Abstract

We present observations on the use of racial and cultural stereotypes in psychoanalytic psychotherapy with patients from the majority culture and with those from minority backgrounds. Earlier work has centered on black/white patient dyads and has not taken other possible combinations into account. "Race" and "culture" have sometimes been used synonymously. Our clinical experience indicates that there is some overlap in the themes of transferences to us as members of different racial minorities. We note, however, that for the African-American therapist, projections are more often based on racial stereotypes, whereas for the Chinese-American therapist, projections are based more on cultural assumptions. When careful attention is paid to the manifestations of racial and cultural stereotyping, much can be learned about the patient's inner life, to the benefit of the analytic work.