242 - Eugene Ellis - Investigating Race and the Gaze of Society in Therapy, The Race Conversation
“I have met many other people, different racialized identities, who the work that they've been doing in the world generally and on themselves has given me hope.” - Eugene Ellis
If you’re a white therapist, you could quickly tumble down a rabbit hole trying to reconcile all the work that’s ours to do regarding power dynamics within our field. There’s a detour that we, as white folks, are rarely required to explore: our relationship to whiteness. I’ll save you some time by recommending Anne’s conversation with Eugene Ellis, the UK-based psychotherapist, speaker, director of the Black, African, and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN), and author of the transformative book The Race Conversation (soon to be republished in the US).
“Eugene’s “therapist origin story” is a perfect example of white therapists' potential to be active agents of support,” explains Anne. This is only possible when we acknowledge our potential to be active agents of hurt. He remembers the moment that drove him to flip through the local ads section of Time Out London in search of a therapist (it was the 90s; that’s how things were done). “I didn’t feel very connected to people or the world.” He did connect with a white woman therapist from South Africa. “She would say, ‘Have you considered that you're a Black man living in London [and] that is in the mix of your experience?’ I mean, I hadn't really dug in deep,” he recalls. “And, of course, that was a big part of my experience.”
Personal breakthrough often leads to revised professional calling. Eugene now advocates for ending racism or, at least, requiring more racially aware training in the curriculum. “They want to go back to the family, to early attachments. That's great,” says Eugene, “but there's also an attachment or lack thereof to society itself and the way that the gaze of society as opposed to the gaze of the mother or the father.”
Ah…the gaze of society, a white-filtered lens that rarely shifts its focus inward. “One of the challenges to ending racism is the idea of whiteness or white identity being investigated,” Eugene explains. “There's a risk, isn't there, for people of color to challenge white people because if their relationship changes, you know who's gonna get the sharp end of the stick.”
Harm or help? The choice belongs to all of us.
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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
BAATN: The Black, African And Asian Therapy Network
GUEST CONTACT AND BIO
BAATN LinkedIn
Eugene Ellis, psychotherapist, writer, and public speaker, has dedicated 20 years as the director and founder of the Black, African, and Asian Therapy Network, specializing in therapeutic work with Black, African, Caribbean, and South Asian individuals. Author of 'The Race Conversation' (2021), he delves into the intersection of race and trauma, non-verbal communication, and navigating oppressive patterns. Co-editor of 'Therapy In Colour' (2023), Eugene contributes to articulating new theoretical perspectives for therapists, both white and of colour, supporting therapy through an intersectional lens.
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