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Couple/Marriage and Family Therapists Extent of Training Experiences for Racism-Related Stress and Racial Trauma
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Couple/Marriage and Family Therapists Extent of Training Experiences for Racism-Related Stress and Racial Trauma

Jessica L Chou, Bertranna A Muruthi, E Stephanie Krauthamer-Ewing, Laura Lynch, Erika Feeney, Deepa Sai Avula, Troi Rutherford, Vivian Tyler and Amanda Stafford McRell
Journal of marital and family therapy, v 52(1), e70090
01 Jan 2026
PMID: 41268698
url
https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.70090View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

couple and family therapy racial trauma racism-related stress workforce development
The goal of this study was to explore racism-related stress and racial trauma training experiences among couple/marriage and family therapists (C/MFTs). A mixed method convergent design was used to collect data from graduate level C/FMTs. A total of N = 71 participants completed online surveys, and n = 18 individuals completed interviews. Results indicated 45.1% (n = 32) of participants reported taking one course in their department that addressed racial stress and/or trauma. Individuals with 2-3, or 4+ courses focusing on racial trauma reported increased satisfaction with educational experiences compared to those with zero (F [3, 58] = 4.29, p = 0.009]. Data integration yielded two themes: (1) Minimal racism-related stress and racial trauma education experiences, and (2) Inevitability of working with families impacted by racial trauma and not feeling prepared. Training recommendations are provided for the inclusion of racism-related stress coursework among graduate level training programs.The goal of this study was to explore racism-related stress and racial trauma training experiences among couple/marriage and family therapists (C/MFTs). A mixed method convergent design was used to collect data from graduate level C/FMTs. A total of N = 71 participants completed online surveys, and n = 18 individuals completed interviews. Results indicated 45.1% (n = 32) of participants reported taking one course in their department that addressed racial stress and/or trauma. Individuals with 2-3, or 4+ courses focusing on racial trauma reported increased satisfaction with educational experiences compared to those with zero (F [3, 58] = 4.29, p = 0.009]. Data integration yielded two themes: (1) Minimal racism-related stress and racial trauma education experiences, and (2) Inevitability of working with families impacted by racial trauma and not feeling prepared. Training recommendations are provided for the inclusion of racism-related stress coursework among graduate level training programs.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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#10 Reduced Inequalities

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Family Studies
Psychology, Clinical
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