Prevention and Intervention Strategies with Racial Microaggressions

This course explores racial microaggressions among African Americans. Racial microaggressions, their impacts on clients, and strategies for prevention and intervention will be examined. The course focuses on conceptualizing the construct and identifying examples of microaggressions that may occur in the lives of clients and practitioners. Although microaggressions can be directed toward gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other marginalized identities, this course focuses on the experience of racial microaggressions among African Americans. You will learn strategies and techniques to recognize when microaggressions occur and various approaches for intervening on an interpersonal and macro level. Attention will be given to the cultural context in how racial microaggressions are experienced and dilemmas about how to respond. The effect of power differentials on the interpretation of racial microaggressions will be examined. Using an African-centered perspective, the course will be knowledge-, skills-, and values-based. You will practice alternative methods of intervening when in the presence of racial microaggressions.