Introduction

Given their prevalence, mental health practitioners will undoubtedly hear reports of subtle racism from their clients but they may not recognize these as being microaggressions. Further, even the most well-intentioned practitioners are at risk of themselves perpetuating these incidents. Similar to the concept of everyday racism (Essed 1991), racial microaggressions are identified as brief, covert, ubiquitous expressions of racial bias and discrimination (Pierce et al. 1978; Solórzano et al. 2000; Sue 2010; Sue et al. 2007a).

When a practitioner fails to recognize a client’s experience as involving racial microaggressions, the client may feel confused and invalidated. This lapse on the clinician’s part may have deleterious consequences, such as an erosion of the working alliance and errors in clinical decision-making. For example, Owen and colleagues (2014) found that when clients experience a microaggression from a counselor and this is not discussed, alliance ratings were lowered. The researchers also documented that by acknowledging and addressing these incidents, practitioners can repair ruptures in the helping relationship.

In this primer, we will summarize the literature on racial microaggressions that has emerged since Sue et al.’s (2007a) influential writing on their implications for clinical practice. Encompassing 60 articles (see Wong et al. 2013, for a listing of studies), empirical investigations have documented their various manifestations for a diverse range of racial and ethnic minority groups. A subset of these studies (for an example see Smith et al. 2011) has also investigated the negative outcomes. Moreover, an additional subset of burgeoning research (e.g., Constantine et al. 2008) has focused on examining and understanding the common responses used by targets.

Though the majority of this research has been conducted among different populations in the United States, certain studies have addressed mental health practitioners’ (e.g., Hernández et al. 2010) and students’ (e.g., Houshmand et al. 2014) experiences in Canada. To our knowledge, one study (Burdsey 2011) has also examined such incidents among British Asian cricket players in predominantly White teams in the United Kingdom. One commonality across these settings is a pervasive assumption that racism is always overt and intentional (e.g., denial of entry of certain individuals onto a public bus on the basis of race) and that it is a historic or out-dated issue. Hence, it is possible that these findings are transferable to racialized minorities in predominantly White countries where racism is assumed to be absent; however, additional research is required to examine international patterns. Ultimately, the purpose of this article is to aid practitioners in understanding, recognizing and addressing the racial microaggressions that often are part of the narratives of racializedFootnote 1 clients in Canada and the United States.

Racial Microaggressions and Mental Health

Counselors may perceive a client’s experiences and reports of racial microaggressions as being seemingly harmless; however, because these incidents are ubiquitous and detrimental they can present unique challenges for professionals. Regardless of the initial reason for a client’s engagement in counseling, racialized individuals in Canada and the United States regularly encounter microaggressions and, consequently, experience adverse cumulative effects at the social, behavioural and psychological levels. Within the current post-racial mindset there often is a pervasive assumption that believes racism is a problem of the past, and so with each new experience of microaggressions the individual may be left with feelings of confusion, frustration, and isolation (Solórzano et al. 2000). Over time, racialized individuals may develop a susceptibility to developing what is often referred to as ‘racial battle fatigue’ (Smith et al. 2011), which is a constellation of negative reactions that includes shock, anger, disappointment, anxiety, helplessness, hopelessness, and fear (Smith et al. 2011).

As a result of these experiences, targets may develop distrust of others, decreased self-esteem (Sue et al. 2007b, 2008), diminished sense of belonging (Smith et al. 2007), undermined physical health (Nadal et al. 2016) and specific mental health symptoms (e.g., binge alcohol use, Blume et al. 2012; depression, Choi et al. 2016). Moreover, racialized individuals are at risk of further harm when they face agencies and practitioners who are naïve to the occurrence or detrimental consequences of these incidents. For example, in one study (Owen et al. 2014), failure to recognize these incidents in the context of clinical work had deleterious effects on the helping relationship, discouraged clients from accessing services in the future, and led to negative outcomes. In another investigation (Constantine 2007), African American clients’ perceptions of racial microaggressions perpetrated by their White counselors negatively influenced the therapeutic relationship and, consequently, affected clients’ perceptions of their therapists’ competence.

Constantine (2007) articulated that racial microaggressions perpetrated by helping professionals may be perceived as being more detrimental than those perpetrated by others because of the sensitive nature of the therapeutic relationship. Thus, an ethical, empirically-informed practice requires that counselors keep current with developments in the field. To that end we provide a primer on manifestations of racial microaggressions, typical responses among the targets of racial microaggressions, and suggestions for how to address some of these issues within a mental health service.

Racial Microaggressions: Taxonomy, Impact and Examples

Sue et al. (2007a) specified three categories of racial microaggressions that occur in various contexts: (i) microinsults, (ii) microinvalidations, and (iii) microassaults. Microinsults are indirect communications that convey insensitivity toward a person’s racial heritage and identity. For example, a counselor who advises a client of Asian descent, “Perhaps you should just speak up for yourself and tell your parents how you feel” may denigrate collectivistic cultural values and communicate that the ways of the dominant White culture (i.e., being assertive) are best (Owen et al. 2014; Sue et al. 2007a).

Microinvalidations negate racial and ethnic minorities’ thoughts, feelings, and experiential reality. For example, a female counselor who states to a Black American family that she “…does not see color” (i.e., racial colorblindness; e.g., Neville et al. 2000) dismisses the clients’ reality and something that is an integral part of their identity and shapes their day-to-day experiences. In comparison to overt forms of racism, such examples reflect a pervasive yet hidden form of racism in society today. Relative to overt expressions of racial bias, Noh et al. (2007) articulated that subtle manifestations of this kind may actually be more harmful because of their ambiguity.

The third form, microassaults, are more obvious deliberate slurs or actions intended to defame the target’s racial background and are analogous to blatant forms of racism HJS71690documented in the racism literature. For example, a counselor who refers to a Chinese American client as “Oriental” is engaging in distinctive discriminatory behaviour (Sue et al. 2007a).

Experiences with Racial Microaggressions

Rooted in systemic racism (Essed 1991), all racial and ethnic minority individuals arguably experience certain types of racial microaggressions that reflect assumptions and stereotypes about their racial and/or ethnic group. Like racism in general, these incidents are not unique to distinct racial and ethnic groups and are commonly encountered across the range of racialized individuals. These experiences are represented by three broad categories: (a) acts of invisibility and exclusion; (b) targeting and pathologizing of differences; and, (c) voicing color-blind racial attitudes. Notably, in the targeting and pathologizing of differences category, certain experiences have been found to be unique to certain marginalized groups and/or intersecting forms of oppression, such as race and gender. Below, we discuss the three broad categories.

Acts of Invisibility and Exclusion

Racial and ethnic minority individuals in the United States and Canada have regularly reported being treated like second-class citizens, experiencing exclusion, and feeling invisible among the dominant group (cf., Allen 2010; Clark et al. 2014; Houshmand et al. 2014; Poolokasingham et al. 2014; Sue et al. 2009). Across several predominantly White universities, racial and ethnic minority students have reported (e.g., Harwood et al. 2012) experiencing segregation from certain parts of their campus. Elsewhere, Yosso et al. (2009) found that Latino American students who were the target of racist jokes on campus reported that these events hindered their sense of belonging. Moreover, some qualitative research has documented the elimination or misrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities within the curriculum. In Clark et al.’s (2014) study examining Aboriginal students’ experiences with racial microaggressions at a Canadian university, participants described that Aboriginal issues were not addressed or were inadequately portrayed.

While these findings are specific to higher educational contexts, there is further evidence from society at large in the mainstream media (e.g., television and movies), which feature predominantly White casts and implicitly exclude people of color, even among roles representing racial and ethnic minorities (Sue et al. 2007a). Nnawulezi and Sullivan (2013) examined Black women’s experiences at a domestic violence shelter in the United States and documented covert acts of invisibility and exclusion; e.g., Black women noticed a dearth of Black hair products, culturally specific food and diversity among the staff. Acts of exclusion and avoidance, such as limited products or culturally specific food, may seem minor, but serve to portray messages of what people spaces are meant to serve and thereby solidify dominant cultural narratives that produce inequities and marginalization.

Targeting and Pathologizing of Differences

In microaggressions research, participants have reported experiencing insults that reflected assumptions that people of color were regarded as unusual and inferior to White individuals (e.g., Nadal et al. 2012; Sue et al. 2008). Among Asian American students, Sue et al. (2007b) identified that such insults typically target cultural values and communication styles and convey an intolerance of difference. Further, people of color often receive comments and actions that reflect an underlying assumption about their intelligence as compared to White people (Solórzano et al. 2000; Torres et al. 2010). For example, people of Asian descent have reported being perceived automatically as being intelligent, particularly in disciplines related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (i.e., STEM) as well as in business contexts (e.g., Poolokasingham et al. 2014).

Similarly, considerable empirical research employing focus groups has shown that Black American people are generally assumed to be intellectually inferior and incompetent (e.g., Solórzano et al. 2000; Sue et al. 2008; Torres et al. 2010). In one study, Black clinical supervisees observed their White supervisors making negative assumptions about the inability of Black clients to engage in intrapsychic therapeutic work and to change unhealthy habits (e.g., drinking heavily; Constantine and Sue 2007). Assumptions about intellectual abilities are harmful and may serve to restrict opportunities for Black Americans as well as people of Asian descent in Canada and the United States.

In an examination of positive stereotypes, Tran and Lee (2014) employed an experimental method to decipher how Asian Americans rated interactions in which they were complimented for speaking English well. The authors found that many such compliments targeted at Asian Americans (e.g., “You speak English well for an Asian”) communicated the hidden message that the person was a positive exception to an otherwise inferior racial or ethnic group. Even participants who received compliments that were not directly linked to race (i.e., “You speak English well”) allotted less time for future conversations with the person delivering the compliment in the experimental study, suggesting that compliments about English language abilities, which are grounded in subtle assumptions about Asian Americans, were costly to cross-racial relationships with Asian American participants.

As noted above, at times, unique experiences with racial microaggressions reflect the intersection of different forms of oppression based on one’s identity (e.g., race and gender, or race and religion). Using the framework of intersectionality (Crenshaw 1991), recent research on these incidents has placed greater focus on individuals’ experiences of multiple systems of oppression (e.g., race, gender, class). That is, race and ethnicity comprise only two identity markers and oppression often targets multiple identity markers simultaneously; thus, an intersectional approach is intended to address one’s entire identity, as opposed to distinct segments that make it up. Intersectionality in racial microaggression research underscores the importance of differentiating between various identity markers, such as gender, which may influence the expression of and experience with microaggressions.

In a distinct combination of racial and gender oppression, particular groups of women of color reported being exoticized or sexualized (e.g., Sue et al. 2008). In Sue et al.’s (2007b) qualitative study with Asian American participants, Asian American women described White men as being very forthcoming about their stereotypes, communicating an inherent message that equated the women’s identities to “that of [being] passive companions to White men” (p. 76). In a focus group with Black American participants (Sue et al. 2008), Black American women reported feeling that their hair was “on display” for White persons to gaze upon and reach out and touch. Moreover, Asian American women (Sue et al. 2007b) and Arab Muslim Canadian women (Najih and Spanierman 2014) also described having to withstand perceptions that they were subservient and docile. Thus, certain racial microaggressions that target or pathologize difference are linked to the dominant group’s assumptions and biases about the gender characteristics and expressions of people from particular racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Voicing Color-Blind Racial Attitudes

Color-blind racial attitudes refer to the denial, distortion, or minimization of individuals and to institutional racism (Bonilla-Silva 2006; Neville et al. 2000, 2013). By minimizing race and the existence of racism, the lived realities of people of color are negated. In one qualitative study, Black clinical supervisees reported that their White supervisors minimized, dismissed or avoided racial dialogues in supervision (Constantine and Sue 2007). The supervisees attributed their supervisors’ color-blindness to discomfort surrounding racial issues and to a lack of multicultural training. In turn, supervisees described feeling frustrated and invalidated. Further, these assumptions might have negative consequences for the clients of supervisees (e.g., Constantine and Sue 2007). In another study, Latino American students reported that when they attempted to address racial microaggressions explicitly, they were accused of being oversensitive because of what was regarded as a growing attitude that race was a non-issue (Yosso et al. 2009). Indeed, in one investigation that focused on perpetrator expressions of racial microaggressions on the web, researchers found that a common racial microaggression theme was alleging oversensitivity (Clark et al. 2011). Color-blind racial attitudes and myths of meritocracy erroneously conceal and invalidate the system of racial stratification in the United States and Canada, as well as the lived realities of racialized people.

Impact of Racial Microaggressions on Racialized Individuals

Racial microaggressions may be brief and covert but they have detrimental consequences for targets (cf., Blume et al. 2012; Smith et al. 2007). Wang et al. (2011) found that Asian American students reported greater negative emotion when they attributed a subtle negative interpersonal interaction to their race (e.g., a White woman does not sit next to you on a crowded bus). In fact, the more the Asian American participants appraised the negative interpersonal interaction as relevant to their racial group membership, the more intense the negative emotion (i.e., anger, frustration, resentment, scorn, anxiety, embarrassment, shame, and confusion). Notably, the covert, ambiguous, and often-unintentional nature of racial microaggressions may demand different coping strategies relative to overt forms of racial bias.

Resilient Responses to Counter Racial Microaggressions

We acknowledge that the term “coping” can be problematic in racial microaggressions scholarship. These incidents are symptomatic of a social problem that reflects structural inequities, whereas coping implies an individual response to pathology or distress. The danger in using this term is that unintentional messages may be communicated, such as targets bear the burden of racism or that racialized individuals are pathological or victims. Such messages thereby shift responsibility for addressing the negative consequences of racism back onto racialized individuals (e.g., victim-blaming). Instead, we assert that they use a range of resilient responses to counter the detrimental impacts of everyday inequities.

Using primarily qualitative methods, researchers have begun to examine coping responses to racial microaggressions (cf., Constantine et al. 2008; Hernández et al. 2010; Holder et al. 2015; Houshmand et al. 2014; Lewis et al. 2013; Nnawulezi and Sullivan 2013; Pittman 2012; Salazar 2009; Solórzano et al. 2000; Yosso et al. 2009). Across ten qualitative studies, researchers identified 37 coping themes among groups of mental health professionals of color, Asian international students, Latino American students, Black students and community members, and faculty of color. These themes comprise a two-step process of cautiously deliberating responding to racial microaggressions, followed by four broad coping categories: spiritual, resistant, protective, and collective strategies.

A Process of Cautious Deliberation

Racialized individuals typically undergo a deliberate, cognitive, and often lengthy, process of decision-making when responding to racial microaggressions. Because of the often ambiguous and indirect nature of these incidents, the process of decision-making is further complicated by concerns that one’s appraisal of an experience is valid. For example, in a study by Hernández et al. (2010) participants discussed their interpretation of racial microaggressions with members of their support networks before proceeding with a response. Sue et al. (2008) described this process as a “sanity check” (p. 332) whereby targets turn to others for validation of an experience.

Additionally, Lewis et al. (2013) reported that, at times, Black American women participants felt powerless in the face of racial microaggressions, and lacked information about efficient resolution of these incidents. Hence, participants cautiously deliberated their appraisal of the situation and explored response options alone and/or with others. The process of cautious deliberation requires much cognitive energy to deconstruct the often subtlety of racial microaggressions and to identify appropriate response strategies (Lewis et al. 2013). After the appraisal process, some targets rely on collective, resistant, protective, and spiritual strategies.

Collective Coping

Collective coping consists of group-centered strategies and reliance on support networks and can refer to seeking support from family members, allies, friends, and partners. In one study (Solórzano et al. 2000), Black university student participants came together in networks referred to as counterspaces (e.g., African American student organizations, Black fraternities and sororities, peer groups, and study halls) to challenge racial microaggressions targeting Americans of African descent and to support one another. Elsewhere, Pittman (2012) described Black faculty members responding to these incidents by doing service work to ameliorate the campus racial climate and providing support to students of color. Support was not only sought from in-group members, but Hernández et al. (2010) documented that for mental health practitioner participants of color, White allies served as additional sources of validation and advocacy when dealing with the challenges of racist events.

Another form of collective coping relies on the use of the larger multicultural milieu within which racialized people reside. In one study, Houshmand et al. (2014) identified that among international student participants, the diverse surrounding milieu of the predominantly White university served as a reminder that other racialized individuals also experience racial microaggressions, and thus provided a sense of comfort in knowing that participants were not alone. Further, attending university in a major metropolitan location enabled access to highly diverse surrounding communities where students could access support.

Resistant Coping

Resistant coping includes direct and indirect behavioral strategies that confront perpetrators and challenge dominant ideologies. For example, in one study (Lewis et al. 2013), Black women chose to wear their hair natural as a form of resistance to pressures to conform to Eurocentric standards of beauty in the United States. Salazar (2009) found that when academic professionals of color were able to recognize and name their experiences as microaggressions, it allowed them to be more assertive when responding to this form of racism. In another example (Nnawulezi and Sullivan 2013), reflecting a unique combination of collective and resistant coping, Black women came together to cautiously confront racial microaggressions by informing White individuals they identified perpetrating racial microaggressions at a domestic violence shelter about the implications of their actions. These foregoing examples demonstrate the variety and breadth of strategies that individuals use to counteract oppression.

Protective Coping

Protective coping includes those passive, individual acts that serve to detach one’s self from the experience of racial microaggressions. Racialized individuals often use self-protective strategies such as dismissing or distancing from experiences of racial microaggressions by focusing on work, eating, or sleeping (Lewis et al. 2013; Salazar 2009). For example, in a study conducted by Hernandez and colleagues (2010), racialized mental health professionals in Canada and the United used self-care techniques (e.g., exercise, acupuncture, taking time off, and positive thinking) to compensate for the distress associated with racial microaggressions. Elsewhere (Constantine et al. 2008), Black American faculty member participants used cognitive strategies of resignation to shield themselves against negative feelings brought on by racial microaggression.

Further, the process of cautiously picking one’s battles serves a protective function. For example, Lewis et al. (2013) demonstrated that in the case of obvious power differentials (such as professor and student) where direct responses may have negative consequences, individuals might use other forms of coping like social support to de-escalate his/her negative emotions prior to using other direct strategies. The authors found that at times, the process of cognitive appraisals involved led to desensitization and to the insight that every racial battle is not worth confronting and may interfere with well-being.

Spiritual Coping

Emerging in two (i.e., Constantine et al. 2008; Hernández et al. 2010) of the ten empirical studies on coping with racial microaggressions, spiritual coping refers to the use of prayer and other rituals to direct tensions associated with these stressors toward a higher purpose. In these two studies, mental health professionals and faculty of color deployed a range of spiritual activities (e.g., invoking the help of ancestors, use of meditation) and spirituality in general that were effective in helping redirect and transform negative feelings. Notably, both studies examined coping responses among professionals in mental health fields (i.e., mental health professionals of color and Black counseling and counseling psychology faculty). The use of spirituality has not yet been reported in non-professional samples.

In summary, racial microaggressions are unique in that they are often indirect, unintentional and pervasive. Yet, these characteristics do not detract from the enormous negative outcomes that they have on racialized individuals. The variety of means and methods that are used to deal with these occurrences highlight the creative and self-healing capacities that racialized individuals invoke when struggling with adversity. To our knowledge, research has not yet addressed whether response strategies differ based on the category of racial microaggressions. Additional research is necessary to better understand potential patterns in responding to these experiences. In the following section, we discuss some implications that flow from our analysis of the research on the topic.

Implications for Mental Health Practitioners

It is clear that a seemingly post-racial context of silence surrounding race only serves to perpetuate covert expressions of racial microaggressions (Neville and Awad 2014). As such, the greatest challenge to improving racial climates is to make “the ‘invisible’ visible” in all microcosms of society (Sue 2004, p. 762). In the last several years, the topic of racial microaggressions has entered public discourse as well as on weblogs and in the mainstream news media in the United States and Canada. Unmasking and naming these subtle everyday events provides validation to targets - an experience that can become the beginning of pro-active responses and reduce the likelihood that these attitudes become internalized. As an example, Salazar (2009) observed that faculty of color who named their experiences as racial microaggressions were more assertive in their response to the incident. In their research with Black women at a domestic shelter in the United States, Nnawulezi and Sullivan (2013) observed and articulated that hesitation to acknowledge racism, to name it, and to disclose it to others was common. When racism is named, it often is met by post-racial allegations that these reactions are signs of oversensitivity (e.g., Clark et al. 2011), a tactic that further hurts and isolates.

Counseling professionals, by their social status and expert knowledge have a unique role to play in making microaggressions visible. In fact, we might do well to look to our community psychology colleagues for ways to intervene in the wider social context (Nelson et al. 2001). In addition, community psychology’s focus on prevention fits well with the knowledge that racial microaggressions must be challenged and confronted at the societal level, so that racialized individuals do not accept and internalize their underlying negative messages and come to feel shame associated with their racial and cultural uniqueness (Speight 2007; Watts-Jones 2002).

Although the counseling clinic may not be the ideal setting to address societal problems, it is within this setting that counselors often work and, therefore, can have a greater impact on the well-being of racialized individuals. Regardless of the reason for seeking the services of a counsellor, addressing ethnic and racial differences is essential (see Cardemil and Battle 2003; La Roche and Maxie 2003). Yet, Knox et al. (2003) identified that White therapists are often still reluctant to bring up issues of diversity. Given that racialized individuals themselves may be cautious about disclosing these incidents, due to allegations of oversensitivity (Yosso et al. 2009) and concerns of cultural mistrust (Constantine and Sue 2007), it may be imperative for counselors to deliberately inquire about such incidents.

Consistent with the standards and principles of the relevant professions (e.g., American Psychological Association 2003; National Association of Social Workers 2007; Canadian Counseling and Psychotherapy Association 2015), a culturally sensitive practitioner should demonstrate appropriate awareness, knowledge, and skills to engage in competent service delivery. Drawing from models of multicultural competence, issues of race and ethnicity are addressed in three domains: (a) awareness of one’s biases and values; (b) knowledge about cultural values and realities of members of diverse ethnic groups; and (c) possession of culturally relevant assessment and intervention skills (Arredondo 1999). Specifically, in the context of racial microaggressions, one dimension involves sensitivity to clients’ cultural values and experiences, and another refers to practitioners minding the expression of unconscious biases in their daily work with members of racial and ethnic minority groups.

In an ideal world, clinicians would recognize their own in-session microaggressions, and invite and encourage the client or supervisee to provide feedback about such incidences. However, in the real world clinicians are at times the source of racial microaggressions, but these experiences are typically not addressed. In one study (Owen et al. 2014), where therapist-client dyads were able to discuss and process these incidents, the rupture in the working alliance was repaired. Thus, ignoring the racial microaggression compounds the detrimental impact of the occurrence itself (Owen et al. 2014). Notably, racial microaggressions are not exclusive to interpersonal interactions but may be present in the counseling environment or agency as well (e.g., posters lacking diversity in the clinic). The practitioner’s ability to address racial microaggressions in the various domains of helping services requires awareness, openness, and appropriate training.

It is not surprising that training programs are increasingly focusing their agenda on diversity issues. Within a social work context, Lee and Greene (2004) offered strategies to teach transformative multicultural social work to students at different levels of readiness and receptivity to multicultural learning. In fact, across all professions, the education, training, and supervision of practitioners requires not a simple didactic description of what microaggressions are or of their impacts, but both didactic instruction and experiential learning specific to these incidents.

Increasingly we are seeing how counseling interventions are being adapted and modified to address the realities of many cultural groups (Cardemil 2010; Smith and Griner 2006). Despite histories of forced relocation, enslavement, and mass genocide, racialized individuals are resilient and continue to “maintain their dignity in the face of such hostility” (Sue et al. 2007a, p. 283). Given that many racialized individuals demonstrate incredible strength and courage in the face of difficult challenges, culturally-sensitive counseling models need to tap into personal and cultural resources and narratives of resilience, as well as into the external realities of these individuals’ lives.

Marsiglia and Kulis (2009) conceptualized a culturally grounded resilience-based approach to mental health practice, which is a promising framework for addressing racial microaggressions as part of counseling. A culturally grounded resilience perspective maintains that all humans have an innate capacity for growth and change, even in difficult circumstances. In fact, moments of distress and challenge, while negative, may offer opportunities for psychological growth (Berry and Kim 1988; Zoellner and Maercker 2006). Further, the framework requires that the practitioner develop a counseling approach that reflects the client’s cultural context and values (e.g., appropriately integrating indigenous-based concepts). In placing culture at the centre of practice and a source of strength, counselling has the potential to embody cultural relevance for a diverse clientele by considering the ways in which social group identities (e.g., gender and race) intersect and interact with the behaviour of the individual, as well as how the individual is perceived and treated by others.

Compatible with a resilience-based framework, solution-focused and narrative therapies both assume that individuals have innate abilities to respond effectively to psychological challenges (De Jong and Miller 1995; De Shazer 1988; White and Epston 1990) and there is much from these approaches that can be used in culturally-relevant clinical work. Each in its own way, and through the use of a particular set of lenses and questions, pays careful attention to honouring and bearing witness to unique resources (including personal and cultural strengths), exceptions to problematic behaviors and unique outcomes - times when the client’s agency, resilience or coping are activated. For example, validating and recognizing strengths among African American males may facilitate rapport and increase self-worth (Aymer 2010).

It is important to acknowledge and validate the problem of racism while empowering the client and promoting agency. Narrative therapy, in particular, turns the lens outward to examine how the larger cultural context has undue influence over individuals. One of the principles of this approach is that barely-visible sociocultural factors impinge on the individual to appropriate and internalize normalizing judgements about oneself. This approach offers a number of practices and procedures to de-construct oppressive discourses (i.e., ways of seeing and thinking about oneself; cf., White and Epston 1990).

The research on the use of adaptive collective coping suggests that group work, whether in the form of peer support, psychoeducation, or counseling groups, could be a preferred mode of providing services to individuals who have experienced or continue to experience various forms of racial microaggressions. Group interventions are well established, provide support for a wide range of purposes, and are relevant for clients with collectivist values. In a group, members can validate each other’s experiences and exchange information and empowerment strategies. The group can serve to facilitate racial and ethnic identity development among group members while bolstering coping resources. The professional group facilitator can mobilize members to bear witness to each other’s stories and to engage in what White and Epston (1990) have called “definitional ceremonies” – a practice that is uniquely suited for group work.

Building on sociological and anthropological ideas, the uses of ceremony, ritual, and enactments are central to therapeutic practice and have been used by professional helpers as well as indigenous healers (Al-Krenawi 1999; Cole 2003). The group facilitator can use psychoeducational techniques and creative activities, such as writing, to facilitate conversations about racial microaggressions, tap into personal and cultural strengths, and validate and externalize forms of internalized oppression. Anecdotally, in the first author’s experience of conducting focus groups on racial microaggressions, participants tend to appreciate and benefit from discussing these incidents among others in a suitable, respectful, setting. Coping with these incidents is no easy feat; Lewis et al. (2013) documented that the deliberation prior to responding to racial microaggressions alone is taxing. Counselors must be aware of the complexity of responding to these incidents and work with clients to connect them with appropriate forms of support in their communities and outside of therapy.

Conclusion

Racial microaggressions are ubiquitous and have been described as occurring among peers and colleagues in both formal (e.g., classroom) and informal (e.g., domestic violence shelter, locker room) settings. Because racial discrimination generally is perceived to be overt, these incidents often are dismissed or rendered as being unintentional. Yet, they have detrimental cumulative behavioural, psychological and social effects. Counseling practitioners inevitably will encounter clients who have experienced racial microaggressions. In this primer, we featured key findings pertaining to the manifestation of racial microaggressions, their societal impact, a range of resilient responses to the incidents, and suggestions for their integration into a resilience-based multicultural mental health practice.