Assessing and Exploring Racial Identity Development in Therapy: Strategies to Use with Black Consumers

Few counselors explore racial identity development with Black consumers. Although the construct has demonstrated to influence a variety of behaviors, research has found that many counselors, especially non-Black counselors, do not feel comfortable broaching race-related topics in therapy. Specifically, counselors don't feel that they know when or how to approach the topic. As such, this paper serves to provide practical, real-world strategies for helping practitioners to assess and explore racial identity with Black consumers. More specifically, the authors outline specific tools (i.e. a card sort, racial identity statements, and scaling tools) practitioners can use as a means to minimize any concerns counselors may have about addressing race-related matters in therapy. This paper serves to augment the existing literature on broaching the topic of race in therapy by offering a client-centered approach that outlines how to apply a specific model of racial identity development, Cross's (1971) Nigrescence model, to address the Black consumers' racial identity in therapy.