(Re)Imagining Dialogues About Race, Resilience, and Processes of Resistance With Black Families

During this webinar, AAMFT Clinical Fellow Dr. Leslie A. Anderson draws on her research exploring processes of racial socialization in Black American families to explain how these practices can be used to promote sociocultural resistance and actively push back against racial oppression. Dr. Anderson discusses the clinical implications of “skin-deep resilience” and the John Henryism hypothesis when working with Black families in therapy. She emphasizes the importance of therapeutic practices that acknowledge the deleterious effects of social injustices and the potentially damaging effects of repeatedly “bouncing back” in the face of inequity for marginalized groups.

After this workshop, participants will be able to explain the relevance of addressing issues of systemic and systematic racism in therapy, be able to differentiate between resilience and resistance processes for members of chronically marginalized and subjugated populations, and be able to identify practical ways to promote social justice in my work as a CMFT.

The presenter is Dr. Leslie Anderson, LMFT. Dr. Anderson is a Family Scientist, Family Therapist, and Assistant Professor in the School of Child and Family Sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Anderson earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy at the University of Georgia. Her research broadly focuses on Black American familial processes and specifically, their processes of racial socialization. Her scholarship is rooted in a commitment to social justice and undergirded by Critical Race Theory. In her clinical work, she is intentional about practicing as a culturally responsive practitioner with underrepresented and underserved groups. She has 10+ years of experience providing community and home-based mental health services to impoverished and rural families in MS and GA.

CEs Available: 1.5 hours