Regent’s University London was thrilled to welcome psychotherapist Dwight Turner to kick off our Distinguished Speaker Series events for spring term 2026.
Speaking to a sold-out audience of staff, students and alumni, Dwight explored his latest publication, A Phenomenology of Racism, sharing thought-provoking insights into key themes and where he believes the psychotherapy sector should be heading to address them.
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The power of storytelling
Dwight used a selection of powerful contemporary news clips to underline the book’s key themes – highlighting recent far-right marches in the UK as a particular example – and help set the scene for the world we live in today. It was a stark reminder about the subtle and not-so subtle shifts we have seen in attitudes towards race and racism, as well as how social constructs around race and racism are formed.
Contrasting these snippets, Dwight emphasised the power of sharing stories from marginalised voices through art, music and culture, using an example from British artist Bashy to demonstrate this. It’s a way of putting across deeply personal experiences whilst still connecting with as many people as possible, something that is essential if we want to challenge conscious and unconscious constructs and stereotypes around race, racism and minority voices.
Exploring social and cultural constructs
Exploring key themes within the book, Dwight noted that racism and race as a construct within society don’t happen on their own. Instead, they are typically coupled with other cultural constructs or systems that many of us have been socialised to think and believe.
Contemplating this, he touched on how different minority groups are impacted by these constructs, as well as discrimination and marginalisation, and explored how racism can become 'conscious’ and ‘unconscious’ or even ‘institutionalised’ - being apparent in certain social systems and organisations but also in individual outlooks and perspectives. This can be in anything from education to class to climate change and science, and it can often be subtle or hard to pinpoint.
‘Code switching and social expectations’
Dwight used ‘code switching’ as a specific example of how we sometimes change how we appear or how we act in different groups to make sure we fit in or conform to expectations. He noted that many members of the Windrush generation were even advised to speak the queen’s English on coming to the UK.
He also cited how we can unconsciously expect to see a certain ‘type’ of racial representation in arts and culture as a result of these social constructs – resulting in people of colour seemingly being underrepresented in historical accounts or narratives.
Race and psychotherapy
Dwight used the example of the conscious and the unconscious in psychotherapy to explore potential dynamics between therapist and client in the context of race and racism. He explored how race and racism can be internalised by those with these lived experiences and how some can in turn internalise their experience of being marginalised so that it begins to impact their unconscious, noting: ‘we often end up splitting ourselves into two parts - moving away from the part that has been marginalised unconsciously.’
Reflecting on his work as a psychotherapist, Dwight emphasised the importance of working with the unconscious when a client has experienced marginalisation and grappling with the concept of the ‘invincibility of suffering’, which can see some turning pain and suffering in on themselves, believing that they should simply endure, rather than express pain or vulnerability, or that they need to push twice as hard to prove their perceived ‘worth’.
Before turning to questions from the audience, Dwight touched again on the power of the arts as a means of allowing those who feel marginalised to express pain and vulnerability in different ways.
Dwight generously gave his time to some thoughtful questions, including how he used a wide variety of case studies in the book to contextualise and show how complex people can be. He also considered the book’s potential impact on psychotherapy practitioners like himself, highlighting his hopes that it would spark increased curiosity about race and racism and the different constructs around them, that it might inspire more bravery in approaching issues like race and enable us to challenge our own internalisations.
Closing on his thoughts on how this work should be explored in the context of training as a practitioner, Dwight noted that it should be held securely within an educational context and that it’s crucial to be aware of what trainees notice about themselves or their feelings, and that these themes in a safe and contained way.