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

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.