Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:1084-1087
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
When the psychotherapist is black
JO Cavenar Jr and JG Spaulding
The authors present a case report of a white neurotic man treated in
long-term psychoanalytic therapy by a black woman psychiatrist. The defense
mechanism of reversal--the therapist was white in the patient's early
dreams--was evident not only in this patient but in several other white
patients treated by the black therapist. The authors suggest that, contrary
to the opinions of a few other authors, the reality issues of racial
differences can be dealt with successfully in this kind of interracial
psychotherapy.
