Beverley Spalding, Jan Grove and Alison Rolfe An exploration of Black and Asian counsellors’ experiences of working with White clients Beverley Spalding, Jan Grove and Alison Rolfe

The Aims of my research My Motivation Defining Terms - (Lago and Thompson 2002)

Very little research conducted in the area of the Black & Asian counsellor and White Client. (Moodley and Dhingra, 2002) Canadian study (Kistan, 2004)

Newman University, Black & Asian Therapist Network and a Local counselling agency Qualitative design – face to face semi structured interviews Transcribed & analysed using Thematic analysis.

Findings: 3 Main Themes Theme 1 Theme 2 Skin Colour Blindness Theme 2 Skin Colour Race and Culture unimportant Elephant in the Room Is it my skin colour I am a professional who is Black Theme 3 Counselling Process Preconceptions Stating the Obvious The Need to Validate myself

Elephant in the room Skin Colour “It is as if black counsellors, I did not exist on my course. As a black person I feel there is a “oh you are the same as us and that you are not different” but I am different” (P1) Skin Colour “Some of the middle class white clients, I did feel through their initial reaction when they would enter the room...I use to internalise that and think is it because of my colour” (P6)

The Need to Validate Myself Stating the Obvious “I’m aware of my background and I think I bring it to the forefront when I first see my client in the first session which is contracting which is part of that” (P7) The Need to Validate Myself “When you have a white client again there’s that sense that you feel, there’s this perception of are you good enough... I think personally, I think there may be times where you just over compensate to allow them to think that you know what you’re doing... because you are thinking about how you can make sure they feel that they’re safe and that you’re good enough”(P4)

Conclusion Some of the findings of this research echo those of previous studies. Moodley and Dhingra, 2002 & Kistan, 2004. They all highlight the significance of race for Black and Asian counsellors. They also emphasizes the impact it can have when working with white clients.

Limitations Small number of Black and Asian counsellors Opportunistic sample Participants all from the Midlands Minority counsellor

Implications There are implications for Black and Asian therapists, training institutions and supervisors. Current training (Ellis and Cooper, 2013). Supervision Black and Asian counsellors

The End Thank You Any Questions