Black and white psychiatrists: therapy with blacks.

This paper is one of a series of reports on the findings of a survey on psychotherapy with nonpsychotic black patients and black and white psychiatrists. The responses of the two groups of psychiatrists are presented and analyzed, focusing on their clinical experiences with their black patients. The differences between the two groups of psychiatrists on the presenting problems, unconscious conflicts, and role of racism with their black patients are among the clinical areas examined and discussed.The psychiatrists treated similar types of black male and female patients; however, the survey results indicate that a large proportion of white psychiatrists have little or no experience treating blacks. Although there were more similarities than differences in responses of black and white psychiatrists to clinical questions, there were differences in the frequency and order in which problems were rated. For example, both groups of psychiatrists rated developing new coping mechanisms as the most frequent problem in stages of the treatment process for both sexes. However, white psychiatrists rated a majority of the problems in stages of the treatment process as occurring more frequently than did black psychiatrists. The findings substantiate difficulties with clinical treatment by a therapist who has a racial, ethnic, or cultural background different from that of his patient.