The direct link between the student-teacher relationship and student success has been heavily researched in the postsecondary educational setting, especially the student-teacher relationship between African American students and African American instructors. The importance of this relationship is often highlighted when there is underrepresentation in a specific profession of study. The rate of African Americans enrolling in mental health counseling (MHC) programs is significantly higher than African Americans enrolling in marriage and family therapy (MFT) programs, despite the MFT profession's rapid popularity. The purpose of the research study was to answer the question, what are the lived experiences of African American MFT students with limited exposure to African American MFT instructors. The research also sought to address the current literature gap that explicitly addresses African American MFT students. A transcendental phenomenological qualitative approach was used. The researcher employed a semi-structured interview designed to establish a collaborative and interactive conversation with the participants. The researcher organized, analyzed, and synthesized the data by using Moustakas's steps of data analysis. The data analysis results obtained from participant interviews revealed the underrepresentation of African American instructors in MFT and African American students' tendency to experience feelings of alienation and race-based inadequacy. The study results also showed that external perceptions often heightened African American MFT students' insecurities and made them feel guarded, frustrated, and afraid to speak up in fear of their Euro-American peers and instructors' perceptions. Interactions between African American MFT students and Euro-American professors are inescapable due to the lack of African American MFT faculty teaching in accredited programs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]