The CWRU Psychology Clinic welcomes individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds, and is affirming of individuals’ sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. We are a clinic that promotes support, acceptance, and celebration of people’s identities, and we reject hate, violence, and discrimination towards minoritized groups. We stand as allies with our Black community always, and especially during this time.

The CWRU Psychology Clinic would like to state that we stand with the following statement provided by the American Psychological Association:

“We are living in a racism pandemic, which is taking a heavy psychological toll on our African American citizens. The health consequences are dire. Racism is associated with a host of psychological consequences, including depression, anxiety and other serious, sometimes debilitating conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders. Moreover, the stress caused by racism can contribute to the development of cardiovascular and other physical diseases.” – American Psychological Association

Alongside our university, our clinic would also like to reiterate the cited words of Frederic Douglass at a commencement address at CWRU in 1854, via President Barbara Synder:

“The relation subsisting between the white and black people of this country is the vital question of the age…in the solution of this question, the scholars of America will have to take an important part.”

In an effort to further assist our community, and specifically our Black community, our graduate student trainees and supervisory psychologists will be offering support for people in distress due to the racism pandemic, alongside our efforts to support those is distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic.