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Black Mental Health Clinicians' Experiences and Lessons from the Intersecting Crises of Black Mental Health, COVID-19, and Racial Trauma: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study

Meadows, Chanté
http://orcid.org/0009-0007-1747-560X
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1692748094459285

Abstract Details

2023, Ph.D., Antioch University, Leadership and Change.
This study explored the experiences of African American mental health clinicians’ during the intersecting crises of the Black mental health crisis, the highly publicized racial tension tied to extrajudicial violence and over-policing of Black Americans, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic started a global crisis that affected millions of people’s physical and mental health and overall well-being. Shared trauma explores the duality of mental health clinicians’ personal and professional experiences. Grounded in critical race theory and models of trauma, this study explores Black mental health clinicians’ lived experiences and lessons. This is an interpretive phenomenological study with narrative interviews of 10 mental health clinicians who provided services to at least 50% Black clientele before the advent of COVID-19. The study explored how Black mental health clinicians providing mental health care fared, personally and professionally, during COVID-19 and with racial upheaval: How did they adapt their lives and practices? What did they learn personally and professionally during these crises? Data were collected in individual qualitative interviews and analyzed using Saldaña’s first-cycle and second-cycle thematic coding model. Themes that emerged were (a) anxiety and fear regarding the unknown of COVID-19; (b) anger towards the continued racism and over-policing and killing of the Black community; (c) the importance physical activity and therapy as a clinician as means of self-care (d) connection to others to help with emotional support and the isolation of COVID-19; (e) transitioning to telehealth from in-office clinical services; (f) increase in demand of services, and (g) increase in demand for the expertise of Black clinicians, specifically. Understanding the lived experiences of Black mental health clinicians during these crises informs future practices of clinicians by teaching how to optimize health and well-being for self-care and not to burn out. The findings also encourage the development of more clinicians of color to serve the Black community and clients with trauma-informed and racially-informed care. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu/) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).
J. Beth Mabry, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Fayth Parks, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Ameena Kemavor, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
115 p.
African Americans; Black Studies; Clinical Psychology; Counseling Education; Counseling Psychology; Health Care; Mental Health; Psychotherapy; Social Work
mental health clinicians; pandemic; Black mental health; Black mental health clinicians; PTSD; vicarious trauma; shared trauma; collective trauma; racial trauma; race-based trauma; COVID-19; leadership; critical race theory; interviews; phenomenology; interpretive phenomenology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Meadows, C. (2023). Black Mental Health Clinicians' Experiences and Lessons from the Intersecting Crises of Black Mental Health, COVID-19, and Racial Trauma: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study [Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1692748094459285

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Meadows, Chanté. Black Mental Health Clinicians' Experiences and Lessons from the Intersecting Crises of Black Mental Health, COVID-19, and Racial Trauma: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study. 2023. Antioch University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1692748094459285.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Meadows, Chanté. "Black Mental Health Clinicians' Experiences and Lessons from the Intersecting Crises of Black Mental Health, COVID-19, and Racial Trauma: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study." Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1692748094459285

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

antioch1692748094459285
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© 2023, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Antioch University and OhioLINK.