Clinical Round Table 2 - Cultivating Joy in Minoritized Communities: A Clinical Roundtable

Research and trainings on delivering CBT with minoritized patient populations often focus on acknowledging the structural and interpersonal oppression and stress faced by these communities. Although this context is critical to effective evidence-based practice with minoritized people, focusing too much on these challenges can further pathologize and “other” minoritized clients. Minoritized communities often have rich subcultures that celebrate unique aspects of identity and difference, as well as unique characteristics that have empowered minoritized individuals to achieve both personal and collective gains throughout history (e.g., Civil Rights movement, Stonewall riots). Even content that celebrates the resilience of minoritized communities tends to center their responses to oppression, rather than strength derived from positive aspects of identity (e.g., embodiment, community). Terms such as “queer joy” and “Black joy” have grown in popularity in recent years, indicating a broader public desire to see minoritized communities not only for their resilience in the face of challenges, but the experiences of joy, pride, and pleasure that make resilience possible. In this clinical round table, clinical experts from ABCT’s minoritized SIGs will discuss strategies for cultivating joy and identity-based pride using a CBT framework in clients from diverse communities. The discussion will include real-world clinical examples highlighting this approach with individuals holding identities represented by the SIGs (e.g., sexual and gender minorities, Asian Americans and/or Pacific Islanders, Black and Latinx individuals, people on the autism spectrum and/or with developmental disabilities). Panelists will emphasize the uniquely salient experiences of joy at the intersection of multiple minoritized identities. Attendees will learn how to adapt traditional CBT techniques to amplify group- and individual-based strengths, as well as how to balance clinical attention between minority-related stressors and identity-related joy.