Who Gets to Be Known? The Epistemic Veil and the Absence of Black British-born Men in Psychotherapy Training
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article examines the near-absence of Black British-born men of African heritage within UK counselling and psychotherapy training literature. Drawing on a narrative review, informed by a completed qualitative doctoral study involving eight Black British-born male therapists, it uses an Africana Critical Race Framework to examine how anti-Blackness, coloniality, and epistemic norms shape professional visibility and recognition. The article develops the concept of the epistemic veil to theorise the disjunction between institutional presence and epistemic recognition: Black men may be present within training, data, and research while the specificity of their experience remains obscured. It also examines the routine use of U.S.-based scholarship as proxy evidence, arguing for greater attention to the distinct historical and institutional conditions shaping Black British experience. The analysis highlights how classed whiteness, demographic aggregation, supervision, and professional regulation may shape epistemic visibility, and considers the implications for developing more contextually grounded and epistemically accountable psychotherapy education. This is an independent scholarly paper, version 1.0, published by the author in October 2026. It has not undergone peer review.
Author: McKenzie, Derek T
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7223380304