Race, culture, and psychotherapy: Transference to minority therapists

We present observations on the use of racial and cultural stereotypes in ps ychoanalytic psychotherapy with patients from the majority culture and with those from minority backgrounds. Earlier work has centered on black/white patient dyads and has not taken other possible combinations into account. " Race" and "culture" have sometimes been used synonymously. Our clinical exp erience indicates that there is some overlap in the themes of transferences to us as members of different racial minorities. We note, however, that fo r the African-American therapist, projections are mom often based on racial stereotypes, whereas for the Chinese-American therapist, projections are b ased more on cultural assumption. When careful attention is paid to the man ifestations of racial and cultural stereotyping, much can be learned about the patient's inner life, to the benefit of the analytic work.