12 A Handbook on Counseling African American Women For example, engaging in monthly outreach at local churches, beauty salons, Black women’s organizations, communities that house primarily Black women, and social media pages relevant to Black women’s experi- ences will establish nontherapeutic relationships with Black women that may later lead to therapy. Recently, the first author was a guest speaker at her local church’s women’s conference, where over 100 Black adolescent girls and women were in attendance. As a therapist, this is more than a potential referral strategy. This outreach was guided by awareness of the intersecting identities that Black women in the community hold (i.e., Black, woman, Christian, married), and it was an intentional strategy to connect and reduce barriers to help-seeking by establishing rapport out- side of the therapy setting. In addition to the locations where outreach should occur, the topics of outreach should be informed by the above-mentioned research on what affects Black women from an intersectional lens. Topics related to Black beauty standards, spiritual/religious identity, relationships and sex, money and mental health, stress and strength, and navigating or resist- ing gendered racism at work and school may attract Black women. From an intersectionality-informed lens, a radical healing approach recognizes resistance as a possible therapeutic outlet. Further, being a Black woman mental health provider willing to talk openly about the various issues Black women experience puts a face to therapy that looks familiar and potentially more inviting. Intake Following outreach, Black women may initiate therapy with a vari- ety of presenting concerns. Given some Black women’s endorsement of the Superwoman schema or Strong Black Woman stereotype, this ini- tial session may require a delicate balance of affirming the strength it took to pursue therapy and introducing the possibility that to be strong at all times may not be healthy either. This will occur during the typi- cal clinical interview portion, but the interview questions should also incorporate an intersectional lens. Specifically, ensuring that the above dimensions of identity (race, gender, class, sexual identity, age, body size, ability, etc.) are included on initial paperwork and in the interview protocol is the first step. Clinicians invite Black women to bring their intersecting identities into the therapy room with comments such as, “I encourage you to bring all of your identities into this space” and “I am interested in learning about how all parts of your identity impact your reality and world.” Second, invite clients to describe how those identi- ties work together, rather than as individual aspects of their identity. Potential questions may be: “Sometimes it may feel like it isn’t just your race or just your body size that impacts you. How does being a Black woman of larger size affect your life?” or “Tell me what it is like for you
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