#Counseling intergenerational trauma full

Holding onto a parent's pain leads into tricky territory, says Teng. 'The challenge,' Teng explains, 'is to recognize that how you're feeling about yourself can also be internalized oppression.' It doesn't account for racism, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination directed toward them.

You just need to think better about yourself,' right? Like you need to be more positive.'īut for people of color, that framework of just being 'more positive' doesn't always work. 'There are opportunities that are not given to you because of your identities,' she says, 'But if we look at it through the lens of self-esteem, it's like 'Something is wrong with you. She gives the example of microaggressions in the workplace, or job interviews. 'I think the best way to describe decolonized therapy is that it is really making space to examine the external pressures, stressors, and layers of oppression that my clients have endured and survived,' Teng says. Jennifer Mullan, who refer to this work as 'decolonizing therapy,' a process of addressing the structural racism and other forms of oppression that keep therapy from serving many marginalized communities. Teng was initially inspired by people like Dr. Embracing a practice of 'decolonizing therapy' For her, that meant joining a growing movement of other counselors hoping to transform the practice of therapy, to make it more accessible and relevant to people of color and - ultimately - to help them find healing. That's why Teng wanted to take a new approach. 80% of psychologists, 63% of counselors and 59% of social workers are white, according to Data USA, a website that constructs visualizations of public federal data.Īsia Verdict On Khmer Rouge Leaders Is First To Officially Acknowledge Regime's Genocide Therapy is a predominantly white field in the U.S. Teng's graduate program isn't the only one like this. 'I just felt silenced in my own history my own experience in the work that I was doing.' 'I didn't feel represented, and I felt that so much of my family's history just didn't feel like it was considered,' she says, adding that she was studying under teachers who were predominantly white.

She began to notice how dealing with certain issues, including race and immigration, were not given priority in her clinical training - even though she knew how important they are in shaping a life.

#Counseling intergenerational trauma full

It was this realization that compelled Teng to become a therapist in 2018 she began her graduate studies in Seattle.īut when COVID-19 hit and the Black Lives Matter movement came into full force, with communities of color having a more public conversation about their struggles in the U.S., Teng says she started feeling differently about her training and the profession she'd be entering.