HMN 2024: 6 Myths About Microaggressions That Harm Clients

Racial microaggressions have been described as brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to people of color because they belong to a minoritized racial group. Or, more simply, racial microaggression can be defined as small acts of racism.

Although the concept of microaggressions was first developed to address everyday racism against African Americans, it resonated with so many marginalized people that it evolved to include biased acts directed at individuals due to being sexual or gender minorities, members of religious out-groups, disabled people, and others. The research and our understanding of this topic is expanding, and as such we will focus today’s post on racial microaggressions.

Because racial microaggressions are so common and frequently distressing, many clients of color will want to talk about these experiences in therapy. As such, therapists must be prepared to have honest conversations about what might be an uncomfortable topic. When clinicians fall short in this area, they may make mistakes that leave clients feeling misunderstood, invalidated, or even traumatized. As such, good clinical training based on evidence is crucial.

How 6 Racist Myths About Microaggressions Cause Harm

Here I describe six important myths about racial microaggressions and how these notions can cause harm in therapy.

1. Microaggressions are not scientifically valid.

Myths can compromise clinical care.

Source: DALL-E Open AI / Customized by Author

It has been argued that since microaggressions can span a wide range of behaviors and situations, they cannot be properly defined. In essence, this means they do not represent a valid construct that can be scientifically studied. Therapists who believe this may be tempted to tell clients who want to talk about microaggressions that microaggressions are not real or it’s not a scientific term. However, this approach will leave clients feeling invalidated in their experience. Also, this is untrue, and there are thousands of peer-reviewed papers published on microaggressions that attest to its validity.

2. Microaggressions are not harmful.

It has been argued that since microaggressions constitute relatively small acts, they do not cause any real harm to mental health. This is also untrue, as microaggressions have been linked to a host of mental health concerns, including suicidality. Therapists who believe this myth will fail to properly connect client symptoms to their experiences of microaggressions, leading to ineffective treatment. Clients may also feel gaslit when their pain over the experience is not properly validated.

3. Microaggressions are not aggressive.

It has been argued that since microaggressions are thought to be unintentional, they do not reflect aggression on the part of the offender. Research has shown that people who are more prone to commit microaggressions are also more aggressive, which provides a clear bridge between these two constructs. So if a client shares that someone committed a microaggression, don’t be so quick to assume they didn’t mean any harm.

4. Microaggressions are not an indication of prejudice.

It has been argued that there is no proof that microaggressions are a reflection of racism, bias, or prejudice on the part of the offender; rather they should be considered just a cultural faux pas. Research has shown that the tendency to commit racial microaggressions is linked to a broad spectrum of racist attitudes. So if someone is committing repeated racial microaggressions, clients should be warned that the person is likely a racist, rather than writing it off as a simple cultural misstep.

5. People complaining of microaggressions are just neurotic.

It has been hypothesized that the link between psychological harm and complaints of microaggressions can explained by the personality trait referred to as neuroticism or trait negative emotionality. People who are neurotic tend to be more anxious, overly sensitive, and more likely to complain of victimization. Therapists who believe the myth are likely to be dismissive of their clients’ concerns about microaggressions. However, many studies have shown that even after controlling for traits like negative emotionality, the link between microaggressions and psychological harm remains strong.

6. Students shouldn’t be taught about microaggressions.

Some scholars advocated against even teaching students about microaggressions. The concern was that if people of color understood more about what actually constituted a microaggression, they would become angry leading to social unrest. So people of color should remain ignorant so they wouldn’t become hypersensitive to these “trivial potential slights”. However, this is untrue as research has shown that teaching students about microaggressions is helpful for both White and racialized students alike. However, the notion that microaggressions should not be taught has prevented some clinical training programs from providing this learning to their trainees, widening the mental health care disparity gap for people of color.

Where did these myths come from?

These theories about microaggressions were proposed seven years ago by a prominent psychology researcher (Lilienfeld, 2017). His paper was highly cited and influential for some time. These notions have since been debunked and disproven, but they caused a great deal of harm, nonetheless, as many took them at face value (Williams, 2020). One problem is that the theories were based on a cultural deficit-model, which in effect blames the racialized victim. This means the researcher is looking for problems in people of color without a genuine consideration of alternative explanations. As such, these ideas constitute a racist framework for a research agenda.

Nonetheless, it is easy to see why these ideas may have been so readily accepted. As microaggressions are so common, it would certainly be nice if they were not harmful, and we would all wish that those around us who commit microaggressions were free of aggression and bias.

When You Know Better, Do Better

Therapists who wish to do effective work with people of color should adopt an anti-racism approach to care. This includes understanding how racist ideas have permeated the field of psychology and the need to actively work to promote fairness. One valuable resource is an article I co-authored called “Being an anti-racist clinician,” an invited peer-reviewed paper published in the journal the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist. This has been one of their top articles for some time and is freely available for download. It discusses prominent leaders in the field who have advanced racism and how to promote safety in clinical care.