TPC Digest-Vol 9 Issue 3-FULL

6 TPC Digest R acial inclusivity and cultural competency are espoused by the American Counseling Association and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs as highly valued. Yet, faculty and students of color in counseling programs report racial discrimination and marginalization by White faculty and supervisors to be pervasive within the profession. Such experiences of marginalization by White people who purport to value inclusivity can be detrimental to the professional development of students of color who may be reticent to benefit from opportunities for professional growth offered by White professionals, such as mentoring. In the early 80s, Black psychologists coined the term cultural mistrust to describe the reluctance that many persons of color have toward believing White individuals are trustworthy in relation to people of their ethnic group. Psychologists have noted that this mistrust is a protective and necessary response to both historical and present-day experiences of marginalization. Furthermore, researchers have found that cultural mistrust is not equal among all ethnic minority groups in the United States, with Black and Native American individuals scoring higher than those of Asian and Latino/a descent. Yet, despite high levels of cultural mistrust within the black community, growth-fostering Black–White relationships, such as mentoring, exist within the profession as a result of some Black people finding White professionals that they trust. The authors of this study define cross-racial trust as the willingness of a person of color to share their racialized experiences with a White person. This study examined the experiences of 10 Black doctoral counseling students in CACREP programs who had White counseling faculty and clinical supervisors whom they trusted and considered to be mentors. The power differential between faculty and student and clinical supervisor and supervisee is substantial; therefore, cross-racial trust between Black students and White faculty and supervisors is noteworthy. In the analysis of these Black participants’ experiences, the authors found three broad themes related to their experiences of cross-racial trust. These doctoral students spoke about their reasons for being willing to trust their White mentor, negative experiences that caused them to be wary of cross-racial trust, and the unique benefits of having a White mentor. Mentoring has proven to have benefits as diverse as improved mental health, greater likelihood to meet career goals, increased student retention, self-efficacy, mental health, and work productivity. The results of this study can inform best practices in mentoring in cross-racial dyads. Eric M. Brown is an assistant professor at Wheaton College. Tim Grothaus is an associate professor at Old Dominion University. Correspondence can be addressed to Eric Brown, 501 College Avenue, BGC, Wheaton, IL 60187, eric.brown@wheaton.edu. Experiences of Cross-Racial Trust in Mentoring Relationships Between Black Doctoral Counseling Students and White Counselor Educators and Supervisors Eric M. Brown, Tim Grothaus 6 |