What Racial Identity Development Really Looks Like in Practice
A closer look at Sue & Sue’s identity model and the questions every therapist—and human—should be asking.
Introduction
Whether you’re a therapist or someone earnestly seeking to understand your place in the world, our racial and cultural identities are never static. They’re shaped over time—by systems, relationships, ruptures, and recoveries.
The Racial/Cultural Identity Development Model, introduced by Derald Wing Sue and David Sue in 1999, offers a powerful framework for mapping this evolution. Though originally designed to guide mental health professionals in working with clients of color, its relevance extends far beyond the therapy room.
Understanding this model isn’t just an academic exercise—it’s a personal and political act. For therapists, it’s foundational to providing culturally responsive care. For individuals navigating bicultural realities, immigrant legacies, or simply trying to make sense of who they are in a racialized society, it offers language to name what may have been felt but never spoken.
Each stage—Conformity, Dissonance, Resistance & Immersion, Introspection, and Integrative Awareness—holds a mirror to different parts of our identity journey: the pressure to assimilate, the pain of awakening, the power of reclaiming, and the possibility of integration.
In therapy, we often ask clients to explore these deeper layers of identity, yet we rarely pause to name the actual developmental path we’re walking. This model gives us a roadmap—and invites us to reflect with intention, rather than react out of survival.
A Brief Review: Racial Identity Development Themes
Conformity: This stage involves assimilation and acculturation, where individuals adopt the beliefs and behaviors of the dominant culture, often at the expense of their own racial or ethnic identity. Assimilation and acculturation stress is discussed later in the book.
Important Therapist’s Note: Conformity may also come with internalized narratives of inadequacy.
Dissonance: During this stage, individuals encounter information or experiences that challenge their beliefs about their racial or ethnic identity. This can lead to discomfort or confusion as they reconcile conflicting perspectives.
Resistance and Immersion: In this stage, individuals understand the social and psychological forces behind prejudice and discrimination. They may actively resist assimilation and immerse themselves in their racial or ethnic identity, seeking to affirm and celebrate their heritage.
Introspection: This stage involves accepting the discomfort of challenging rigidly held group views, such as the belief that all individuals of a particular racial group are inherently good or bad. It requires introspection and self-examination to confront and move beyond these simplistic views.
Integrative Awareness: Finally, individuals in this stage develop a more nuanced and integrated awareness of their racial or ethnic identity. They resolve conflicts between new and old identities, leading to a greater sense of inner security and a more complex understanding of themselves and their racial or ethnic group.
Reflection Questions for Clients
Conformity:
Have you ever felt pressured to adopt beliefs or behaviors that align with the dominant culture, even if they conflicted with your own racial or ethnic identity?
How have societal expectations or cultural norms influenced your understanding of your racial or ethnic identity?
In what ways have you seen the impact of assimilation or acculturation on your sense of self and identity? This question presumes psychoeducation was provided on assimilation or acculturation or that the client is already aware of these concepts.
Dissonance:
Can you recall a specific experience where you encountered information or situations that challenged your beliefs about your racial or ethnic identity?
How did you feel during this experience? Did it create any internal conflicts or confusion?
What strategies did you use to reconcile these conflicting perspectives, and what did you learn from this process?
Resistance and Immersion:
Have you ever actively resisted assimilation into the dominant culture to affirm and celebrate your racial or ethnic heritage?
How do you navigate your racial or ethnic identity in environments where there is pressure to conform to the dominant culture?
What role does your racial or ethnic identity play in shaping your values, beliefs, and sense of community?
Introspection:
Can you identify any rigidly held beliefs about your racial or ethnic group that you have challenged or examined more closely?
How do you approach situations where your beliefs about your racial or ethnic identity are challenged?
What insights have you gained from introspection and self-examination about your racial or ethnic identity?
Integrative Awareness:
How has your understanding of your racial or ethnic identity evolved over time?
In what ways have you integrated different aspects of your identity to form a more complex and nuanced understanding of yourself?
How does your racial or ethnic identity contribute to your overall sense of self and well-being?
Conclusion
It’s easy, in theory, to call oneself a culturally competent clinician. It sounds good in bios and on websites. But far fewer of us talk about what that actually looks and sounds like in the therapy room—or in our own internal work. Culturally responsive practice isn’t a checkbox; it’s an ongoing process of reckoning, re-educating, and reorienting ourselves toward humility and humanity. It means being able to notice the moment a client is grappling with Dissonance, or gently holding space for Resistance without fear or defensiveness. It means being willing to reflect on our own Conformity or biases, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Sue and Sue’s Racial/Cultural Identity Development Model is far from the only framework available to understand identity development—racial or otherwise—but it is one of the most widely taught and referenced, especially in multicultural counseling courses and clinical training programs. Its popularity stems from its accessibility and relevance to both clinical work and personal exploration. Still, no model is exhaustive. Each person’s lived experience exists beyond neat categories and stages. But frameworks like this can help give shape to the often messy, nonlinear, and deeply personal process of becoming.
Ultimately, Sue and Sue’s model offers more than a clinical tool—it offers a way of returning to ourselves. And in a world that often demands fragmentation, that return is both radical and necessary.