ABSTRACT
Volatile racist moments that emerge in the clinical situation have the intention to provoke a regressive pull in words toward the concreteness of bodily action, which presents difficulties for the therapist in remaining receptive enough to be emotionally affected but not infected, and in continuing to think. When it is possible to maintain a robust presence, small moments of thoughtfulness can emerge incrementally that may turn the tide to help the patient find enough strength to resist the turn to a racist solution for their difficulties and can even create an opening for their own curiosity to unfold. This chapter describes some of the clinical challenges of listening to the racial dimension in our work in ways that can facilitate movement from the racially provocative to an evocative world of symbolic meaning that has the potential for shaping the destiny of the moment.
