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A new study published in the Journal of Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy looked at burnout, racial trauma, and protective experiences of Black psychologists and counselors.

“We studied Black mental health professionals who worked with Black clients who were dealing with racial trauma,” study author Eric M. Brown told us. “We were hoping to discover how the work of healing racial trauma may affect the Black therapists themselves, given that they would be hearing stories of racism that may resonate with some of their own experiences.”

Brown is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Boston University, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

Jude Mary Cenat came up with the theory of complex racial trauma that states that as a result of growing up in a country where one routinely experiences racism, persons of color may be more vulnerable to experiencing some of the symptoms of complex trauma such as feelings of shame, having a hard time in relationships, and controlling one’s emotions. 

"We assumed that the ongoing racial stress of Black clients may activate some of the clinician’s own symptoms of racial trauma,” Brown told us. “The years 2020-2021 were challenging for all therapists, but just as Black Americans suffered disproportionately from the deaths and the killings of Black persons that went viral on social media, it is possible that Black clinicians suffered more in their work helping Black clients process the grief and trauma of the early years of COVID.”

The research team surveyed over 180 Black mental health professionals (i.e. counselors and psychologists) and measured their rates of burnout, racial trauma, and social emotional support.

“We found that the rates of burnout and racial trauma of the Black clinicians who participated in our study were very high, but that those with high levels of social emotional support tended to suffer less from burnout and racial trauma,” Brown told us. "Black female clinicians reported less burnout and racial trauma and also rated significantly higher on levels of social emotional support.”

Brown said the research team was not surprised with the results, given the cumulative stress that Black persons experienced in 2020-2021. 

“Given the emotional load that Black clinicians were carrying, hearing the life stories of Black patients, one can see how this may have been an especially challenging time for Black mental health professionals,” Brown told us. “Mental health clinics need to create structures and programs that better support Black clinicians, particularly during times of racial upheaval. Both administrative and clinical supervisors need to become increasingly aware of the additional trauma load that Black clinicians maybe carrying.”