Reducing Our Biases as Practitioners: For Therapists, Coaches, Caregivers and Healers

As practitioners committed to providing quality care it is important to evaluate our own biases and how they may unintentionally invalidate our client’s experiences.

As practitioners committed to social justice, we can work within the worldview of our clients, while also addressing oppression that may be affecting their growth or the growth of others.

GOALS:

• To engage with and bring light to our implicit biases.
• To offer tools to reduce bias in ourselves as practitioners, therefore offering higher quality care to our clients.
• To offer tools for addressing biases that clients hold.

Photo credit: Tim Mossholder

PREP:

• Who are the people you can call for support or honest feedback as you evaluate your biases and how they might be affecting your clients? Who can you reflect and feel safe with to admit your mistakes or fears?
• What’s your plan if you get upset or overwhelmed? Will you pause, breathe, express your emotions?
• Remember that you are not a ‘bad’ person for having biases and acknowledge that you are showing up to the work of learning now and for the rest of your life.
• Remember that your clients are not ‘bad’ people for having biases and acknowledge that you have an opportunity to play a role in widening their understanding of the systems that they exist in.

Addressing Biases in Ourselves:

Commit to the following activities to consistently engage with your biases and do the continual work of unraveling the stories that we make about others that could be impacting our ability to provide quality care.

• List out the aspects of your cultural identity or what cultural ‘groups’ you belong to. You may want to use a culturagram.
• List out the assumptions you might be making about people outside of the groups that you belong to.
• Analyze where you learned those assumptions and whether you can know if those assumptions are true.
• Commit to engaging with at least one other practitioner in the purpose of exploring your biases. Provide feedback to each other on areas where you might be making assumptions.
• Include questions in your intake form that address your clients identity such as, ‘for you, what are the most important aspects of your background or identity? Are there any aspects of your background or identity that are causing concerns or difficulties for you?’

Be kind and gentle with yourself as you do the work, acknowledging that there may be some guilt or regret as we learn about parts of ourselves that seem out of alignment with our values and mission. Let these feelings inform how much you care about equity and recommit to the work.

Addressing Biases in our Clients:

From the practitioners perspective, when we notice biases or values in our clients that we do not agree with, we may become resentful and critical of the client, possibly damaging the relationship and ability to provide care.

From the client’s perspective, addressing the issue of biases with you may cause them to feel embarrassed, ashamed, angry or misunderstood.

Ask yourself:

• What are the client’s goals?
• What function are their biases playing in reaching these goals?
• What values maintain these beliefs?
• What are ways to meet these needs and values outside of relying on the biases?
• How willing is this client to shift their perspective?

Support the client in connecting to the negative emotions they have experienced when interacting with those they may have biases towards.

It is not always feasible for a client to completely resolve their issues. However we can ask questions and be curious about the origins of their beliefs and biases, what function they are playing in the client’s life and how their presenting agenda’s may be helped or hindered by holding onto these beliefs.

In order to contribute to the best possible outcome, be sure that you have built a strong care rapport with your client, and be aware of your own reactions and needs in response to your client’s values. We can find success in our ability to empathize with and validate the client’s current experience instead of shaming them and judging their values, to create small shifts in their self-awareness and perspective.

This article is adapted from Counseling Today, Lyra Health, Cultural Formulation Interview