There but for the Grace of God

Within African American society, social class separation has long been a historical factor related to cultural assimilation, within group stratification and distressed relational dynamics. Moving from the macrocosmic to the microcosmic, two African American female therapists share their experience of class privilege dilemmas that surface in their relationships with African American female clients. Typically, privilege intrudes and is felt as either vehement rejection and objectification indicative of class strife, or a shared realization of the need to break free of institutional constraints by choosing to forge connection. Key insights into both the objectifying and growth promoting consequences of this social reality are presented from the vantage point of client and therapist. Three vignettes are presented to illustrate the Black female clients' and therapists' need to speak and feel their truths. Here samples of their dialogue portraying the dilemmas of class privilege are highlighted as one perplexing element of the therapeutic relationship

Class (philosophy · Epistemology · Objectification · Political science · Privilege (computing · Sociology · Counseling Practices and Supervision · Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics · Gender Studies · Law · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology

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• Race, Class, & Gender

  Open Access•Margaret L Andersen, Patricia Hill Collins•Race, Class, and Gender•1997

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