Congratulations to our member Yasmine Clarke, the winner of our New Researcher Award 2021 for her paper Mixed White and Black Caribbean Millennials in Britain: An Exploration of Identity.
Yasmine’s research explores the experiences of people who identify as mixed White and Black Caribbean from an integrative psychotherapeutic viewpoint. It also makes suggestions for practitioners working with this client group in clinical practice.
“The initial idea was actually inspired by Afua Hirsch book Brit(ish),” Yasmine said. “Before reading this, I had never really come across work that explored mixed heritage identity in Britain. It really resonated with me.
“Doing my own research, I found the majority of academic research regarding mixed heritage identity was rooted in sociological viewpoint, both in the UK and America.
“I was unable to locate any research from a psychotherapeutic viewpoint which exclusively explores the identity of mixed white and Black Caribbean individuals in Britain.”
Yasmine added: “I believed that the topics raised in the research were so important and deserved to be heard, just like the voices of the individuals who were absolutely amazing in sharing their lived experiences with me.
“I thought there might be some people who could identify with the topics and feel seen.”
Yasmine is an integrative psychotherapist currently working as a mental health practitioner at the University of York. She provides practical guidance and therapeutic support to students experiencing psychological and mental health difficulties. Her values and clinical practice centre around an intersectional approach.
She said she was stunned to find out she’d won the award.
“Initially I felt shocked and confused,” she said. “I just remember reading the confirmation email and shouting ‘what? Me?’ over and over again.”
Yasmine added: “It made all the hard work worthwhile.
“When I tell people I struggle with academia, they often don't believe me but it's not an area which comes naturally to me at all.
“So to find out all the time and energy I put into producing the work was worth it, really does feel pretty good.”
And Yasmine encouraged members thinking of entering next year’s award to go for it.
“If you're genuinely passionate about your research area and believe you have a story that deserves to be heard on a larger platform, then yes definitely, I would encourage people to enter,” she said.
Yasmine was announced as the winner of the award at our 27th Annual Research Conference, which takes place on Saturday.
