Overcoming Prejudice and Discrimination with Online Therapy.
Overview
Prejudice involves forming an opinion about someone without sufficient knowledge, often based on stereotypes. For example, someone might assume a young girl likes princesses or the color pink upon meeting her for the first time. Prejudice can be both conscious and unconscious, and an individual may not be aware that they are prejudging others.
Prejudice has led to numerous negative consequences throughout history, such as wars, enslavement, and suffering. Engaging with a therapist can help people tackle their own prejudices, comprehend the impact of prejudice on loved ones, and devise strategies to cope with the mental health effects of living in a prejudiced world.
Defining Prejudice and Gaining Insight
Prejudice is often mistaken for discrimination or other forms of oppression, such as racism and sexism. However, while discrimination and oppression typically involve powerful groups targeting less powerful ones, anyone can be prejudiced.
Prejudice can affect how we perceive others and may lead to disregarding information that contradicts our prejudgments – a phenomenon known as confirmation bias. For example, a parent who believes boys are tough might interpret their son's crying as anger rather than empathy or fear. When prejudice results in an incorrect or incomplete understanding of others, it can damage relationships.
In mental health and healthcare settings, prejudice can compromise patient care, even if the provider is unaware of their bias. For instance, studies consistently show doctors are less likely to take women's pain seriously, leading to misdiagnoses and potentially fatal outcomes.
A person can hold prejudices against multiple groups, and these biases might not always be internally consistent. Social norms and cultural contexts significantly influence the types of prejudice one may harbor. For example, in the United States, racist prejudices against people of color have been more widespread due to historical factors.
Exposure to diversity can be a potent remedy for prejudice. People interacting more with those different from themselves are less likely to maintain prejudicial attitudes. A study published in 2017 found that multicultural experiences could help reduce cross-cultural prejudice.
Understanding Discrimination
Discrimination refers to actions or behaviors stemming from prejudiced attitudes. Although prejudice and discrimination are related, they are not identical concepts. Prejudice can lead to discrimination, but other factors may contribute as well. Additionally, a person can hold prejudices without acting on them, particularly if they are aware of their biases and actively work to counteract them.
For instance, a prejudiced belief that older adults are slow, unwell, or resistant to learning new things can result in discrimination. A hiring manager at a company valuing innovation may avoid hiring older workers based on this belief, even when a candidate's resume suggests otherwise. When influencing numerous decisions, this mindset can lead to systemic discrimination, such as a company primarily employing younger individuals or mistreating older staff.
Historical Instances of Prejudice and Discrimination
Throughout history, various groups have faced discrimination and oppression due to prejudiced beliefs. Some examples include:
Racist prejudices: Racist beliefs were used to justify slavery, land theft, and the internment of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps during World War II.
Sexist prejudices: Sexist ideas deprived women of voting and property rights, perpetuated rape and domestic violence, and continue to undermine women's experiences of sexual assault and abuse.
Ageist prejudices: Ageism targets both young and old people, resulting in mistreatment, employment discrimination, and elder abuse.
Ableist prejudices: Prejudiced views about people with disabilities can lead to unfair policies, such as forced sterilization in American history.
Anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice: Discriminatory beliefs about LGBTQ+ individuals have long supported biased policies, including bathroom restrictions for transgender people and marriage inequality for non-heterosexual couples.
Prejudice does not always cause discrimination but is frequently a contributing factor. Discrimination can take many forms, and although legal segregation has ended, it remains an issue in various ways. For example, studies show that white people still prefer racially segregated neighborhoods, which can perpetuate and reinforce racist attitudes due to limited exposure to different communities.
Prejudice and Discrimination in Online Therapy
Therapists, like anyone else, can hold prejudiced attitudes. Unfortunately, many training programs do not sufficiently address the impact of racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice and discrimination in therapy. Such biases can undermine the therapeutic process and negatively affect clients. Here are some ways prejudice can influence therapy:
Altered perceptions: A therapist's prejudiced beliefs may impact their view of clients, such as not taking a woman's claims of sexual abuse seriously due to stereotypes about women exaggerating.
Minimized experiences: Prejudiced beliefs can hinder a therapist's ability to understand the impact of discrimination on clients, leading to underestimating the effects of societal issues on mental health.
Ignoring power dynamics: Therapists with biases or who are unaware of prejudice's effects might overlook power dynamics in therapy, such as not understanding a client's reluctance to discuss racism.
Gaslighting: Therapists who do not recognize their own prejudices or the effects of discrimination might unintentionally gaslight clients by questioning their experiences or perceptions.
Prejudice can also manifest in other ways during therapy:
Prejudice directed at a therapist can hinder their ability to help clients effectively.
Clients may seek therapy to cope with the impact of prejudice on their mental health, as discrimination can have long-term mental and physical health consequences.
In couples or family therapy, prejudice may be a factor. A therapist must recognize and address the role of prejudice to provide comprehensive support.
Clients might pursue therapy to confront their own prejudiced attitudes. Although not a mental health diagnosis, prejudice can significantly affect individuals and society.
Addressing prejudice starts with changing individual mindsets and lives, promoting a more understanding and compassionate society.