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Biracial Women in Therapy: Between the Rock of Gender and the Hard Place of Race

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Gillam and Thompson present a collection of research papers on the subject of women of two racial (or ethnic) identities and the issues they face that led some to seek theraputic advice. Perhaps one of the most cogent points is raised in a paper by Henriksen and Trusty. They discuss the ever-increasing tendency of some people (and not just restricted to women) to be counted as multiracial. The 2000 US Census is cited, where there was a demand for this; higher than in previous decades. Surely a trend that will continue. Which means that monoracial classifications, both in a formal sense , like a census, or in how people view themselves, are likely to be seen as overly simplistic.

But what it also means is that more biracial women are going to seek therapy to try and accomodate these shifting viewpoints into their personas. All the book's papers point in this direction.

An added nuance is when a biracial woman is also a lesbian or bisexual. Though of course, she would scarcely describe herself as a nuance! Three papers delve into this further complication.