No. The group is designed to build rapport and relationships that support discussions on race, racism, and racial responsiveness in mental health.

Growth is not possible without vulnerability, thus we offer something very valuable - our commitment to show up for the full 8 weeks.

We will start our work together sharing our values, intentions & goals for the group. Session 1 & 2 will be a bit more focused on learning about each-other and identify approaches to the work that helps foster vulnerability, growth, openness to feedback, and supporting self-nurturing through the process of reflecting on race and racism.

The remaining sessions will begin with reactions/reflections on each week’s (short) readings and then explore current or past personal or professional examples in order to bring theory to life. Additional learning resources & reflection questions will be provided as relevant. We will wrap up our work together by developing a support plan for continued growth and development in your racial responsiveness as a mental health provider.

For better and worse, I have been facilitating groups on race since starting my graduate school experience almost 15 years ago. I say “for worse” because research shows that graduate trainees (due to lack of available & interested post-graduate professionals) are often asked to teach on race & social justice without adequate training. I’ve certainly made mistakes and learned a great deal along the way.

I say “for better” because facilitating mental health providers' small group discussions on race, racism, and racial identity has been a true gift (albeit sweaty and anxiety provoking at times). I have witnessed so much growth in mental health providers when we are able to work together within a group setting across several months.

This group is for anyone who is White-identified working in mental health and is interested in advancing their racial identity (in other words, learn more about what it means to be White, be more racially responsive in provision of care, supervision, management, or even in policy development.

This course is specifically about White Racial Identity Development (WRID), however we will also learn about Helms’ People of Color Racial Identity Development (POCRID).

Individuals of all social identities are welcome. We will explore the psychological impact of intersecting social identities with Whiteness.

You will get the most out of this course if:

You are willing to be vulnerable when talking about race and racism. I’m not sure there is another way around growing racial identity without vulnerability.

You are okay with being challenged (with kindness) or being offered different ideas on race.

You are up for trying on some new ideas, and willing to do things differently than you have done before

You’re willing to self-advocate and provide feedback or ask questions in order to engage fully in the process

You want to learn in community with other mental health providers who are committed to personal & professional growth

Professionals who do not work in mental health. Please check out this other program if you are interested in working with me.

Professionals who think race and racism isn’t a big deal or they believe in White supremacy

Professionals who feel they already know all there is to know about race and racism.

This group is non-refundable. Payment in full is made at the start of the session. Each session costs $40, total cost $320.

Please set up a time to chat if you have concerns about the group in advance.

The program is 8 weeks long.

The meeting dates & times are:

Friday Apr 12, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

Friday Apr 19, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

Friday Apr 26, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

Friday May 3, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

Friday May 10, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

Friday May 17, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

Friday May 24, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

Friday May 31, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

We will be reading A Race is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being a White Person or Understanding the White Persons in Your Life by Janet E. Helms, PhD. The book is under 84 pages long and weekly readings will not surpass 10 pages.

In addition, you are welcome and encouraged to take some notes down and respond to reflection questions offered along the way as relevant. In addition, prior to starting our group you will be assigned brief “pre-work” which will include identification of goals, values & intentions for your work over the following two months.

No.

Every group & every discussion brings new opportunities to learn. I also find that repeated exposure to the WRID theory to be extremely helpful, because race works in complex ways.

The model itself can flexibly adapt to the complexity of White racial identity development, but it also means that it can take years to understand how to apply it to practice, to conceptualizing racial dynamics and relationships in real time.

I will follow up with a welcome email with instructions for your pre-work. Then, I look forward to meeting you on our first meeting date! However, if you would like to connect prior to our first meeting, feel free to reach out by email.

Click this link to apply via google forms. Following review of your application and provided you are a White-identified mental health professional looking to grow their racial responsiveness, you will be provided with a link to register for the group and pay via Stripe.