July is recognized as National Minority Mental Health Month, a crucial time to spotlight the unique challenges and resiliency within minority communities. It is especially important for us at KDH Counseling to reflect on minority mental wellness and our roles as therapists with minority clients as, much like the overall landscape of providers in the world of mental health, we are a group of primarily white clinicians assigned female at birth. This month serves as a reminder that while the principles of mental health care are universal, their application must be culturally informed, sensitive, and equitable.
The landscape of mental health is diverse, and our understanding and practices must reflect this reality. Minority communities often face significant barriers to accessing quality mental health care, including systemic inequalities, cultural stigmas, historical mistrust, and a lack of culturally competent providers. These factors can lead to delayed treatment, misdiagnosis, and an exacerbation of mental health conditions.
In order to explore these issues a bit deeper, we have the privilege of speaking with a few of the KDH Counseling professionals who bring their perspectives to this conversation:
In the interview that follows, we will explore specific questions related to the nuanced experiences of minority individuals seeking mental health support, the importance of cultural humility in practice, and strategies for fostering more inclusive and effective care. Join us as we aim to bridge gaps in understanding and collectively work towards a more equitable mental health landscape for all.
"I am proud to be part of a community that supports and celebrates Minority Mental Health. As a provider, it is my priority to encourage, support, and provide care for anyone experiencing a mental health need. My role is to provide culturally competent care by addressing the individual and specific needs of each client based on their cultural background. This means tailoring specific treatment modalities to more holistic, natural or religious based practices."
"I immediately think about how important it is for me, as a Black, queer, woman to show up intentionally and in my fullness as a Psychotherapist. I also think about how important visibility is; to be seen for all that I am and to fully recognize others who identify as a part of any minority group as well. I also do my best to remember that even within a collective of marginalized people, there is so much individuality. So, as a Clinician who identifies as being a part of more than one minority group, I never assume to know anyone’s story. It’s so important for me to bring the inherent awareness I possess while remaining curious about the individuals I am working with."
"What immediately comes to mind for me is that I am one of many white women working in the mental health field, and how important it is for me to confront the white supremacy that exists in my implicit biases, not just for the work I do as a counselor, but in all areas of my life. Because white supremacy culture is so ingrained into the history and values of the United States, it’s incredibly sneaky in the ways it shows up. It is my job to be the first one to name it, confront it, and change it when it does."
"The lack of diversity among mental health professionals deeply affects minority clients. When there aren’t enough of us in the field, it means fewer BIPOC voices contributing to research, shaping continuing education, increasing representation in diagnostic understanding, medication impacts, and developing culturally responsive treatment modalities. This gap limits both the relevance and effectiveness of care for clients from marginalized communities-and reinforces systems that weren’t built with them in mind."
"Yes, Isla!! In addition to what I have already shared, I also try and keep tabs on who is practicing in our community from anti-racist foundations and who the Black and Brown clinicians are in town (and their specialties). Being able to refer people to clinicians I trust who also look like them is the BEST. I love having folks like Isla and Mallory in the same practice as me. I know clients will immediately connect with them and that they are incredible clinicians."
"Okay, this is a big one! Diversity is a work-in-progress in virtually any field, and the therapy space is no different. It impacts clients in so many ways; feeling like you have to over-compensate, over-explain, or code-switch the minute you walk into a therapy office. It can add pressure that may push clients to act in inauthentic ways in order to connect. I always get asked by friends or family, “Hey, do you know any good black therapists”, or “Hey, do you know any therapists that REALLY understand LGBTQ+ issues?” I mean, the list goes on. And I’m wracking my brain, lol! I want people to get connected with a therapist they truly feel connected to – whatever that looks like for the client. Having a therapist you feel connected to in these inherent ways really changes the game. It’s the safety, the resonance, the full blown conversations that take place with a look or a mannerism that lets minority clients know... Yeah, you get me! So, as a Clinician, I honor those parts of myself and I let them show because I know it will resonate with folks who are looking for just that. And I encourage clients to remember that this is their journey, and they get to pick who they’d like to have as a partner in their healing process."
"I realize that healing can look different depending on a person’s background, so I let my client’s define what healing looks like for them. I also seek out continuing education, research articles, books, media, consultation, and community input. I want to ensure I am providing culturally competent counseling according to my client’s entire identity, not just their presenting issues."
"Culturally competent is a value for me in that it's important to know about culture (as much as it is possible to "know" a culture) so that I'm not relying on someone to teach me everything. And I ensure that I am providing it by doing the work!! It’s not enough for me to just say that I am an ally and that I am anti-racist in my practice. What this has looked like lately is in deeply studying the roots of white supremacy culture, assessing and working on my implicit biases, and having conversations with people about all of this. Sometimes the conversations are my asking questions, sometimes I am doing mostly listening, sometimes the conversations are mostly my gently calling-in some of my fellow white peers... Becoming truly anti-racist is daily work. But it doesn't stop with competence. I would argue that competence is the least of what we should be - we should also be striving for cultural humility, meaning that while I can learn and learn and learn, I will never truly understand. So I'm here to learn more. That's one of the things about working with these folks at KDH Counseling that is so wonderful - learning is really a core value for all of us!"
"For me, culturally competent care means that you are willing to take on someone else’s perspective and understand the truth of their experiences; even if that means it confronts or shakes up some things within you as the Therapist. I stay as curious as I can about the person sitting in front of me because I know that, whether we look the same or not, each person has an individual human experience that I know nothing about. So, in order to honor that, I have to be willing to SEE that and work with it to best serve my clients."
"Trust is something that is earned. I never expect a client to just believe or trust what I say. For this reason, my appointments are full of questions and answers, there are lots of opportunities for education both by me and for me, as I learn as much from my clients as I hope to educate."
"Similarly to Isla, the first thing I do is to name what is in the room and not wait for my clients to bring it up. “I’m noticing that you and I are different in some ways - I wonder how our differences might impact the work we do?” or sometimes more plainly, “I wonder what you are thinking about working with a white, cis-gendered, tattooed counselor like me?” are some of the ways I have tried to start these conversations. And they have historically gone really well! Sometimes we laugh about how different we are, sometimes it's not a thing at all, and sometimes it has led to really deep conversations about race and skin color and health. I think it’s important to clients who are unlike me (in terms of skin color and beyond) that I am the one to name it, especially when being in a position of power as the counselor in the room."
"I know that earning a client’s trust won’t happen because of any letters I may have behind my name or because I also check off many of the same boxes they do in the minority checklist. Trust happens through acknowledgement, consistency, and curiosity. My take on this is to intentionally acknowledge the harm that has been done, show up consistently for the folks I work with, and remain curious about who they are, what their experiences have been, and how they believe it’s impacted them."
"Part of the care that I provide at KDH Counseling is focusing on individual social, cultural, and past events that influence the mental health of my clients. Using their first-hand account helps to direct and promote the care of each client."
"I approach this with pure curiosity. I want to know what previous experiences minority clients have had in therapy spaces; What did they like? What didn’t they like? I encourage clients to ask questions and advocate for themselves as they come up. I do my best to involve them in the therapy process because that experience truly belongs to them; I’m just the facilitator. My goal is not only to provide therapy services that work for them, but to also help them feel more empowered – for reasons just like this."
"I see firsthand that my Black and Brown clients come to therapy having already had to overcome barriers that their white peers have not–cultural stigma, mistrust of the healthcare system, and the emotional labor of navigating predominantly white spaces. Just walking through the door is a radical act of self-preservation and courage."
"One way I have seen it show up is in the experiences that my Black and Brown clients have had in the world of mental health. Many of them come to me with diagnoses from other interactions with the mental health system that…don’t make sense to me. And there’s research on this. Black and Brown folks are more likely to be misdiagnosed with things like oppositional defiant disorder, schizophrenia, and conduct disorder when, in reality, autism explains their struggles better. This is just one example of the many ways that Black and Brown people are misread and misunderstood by the system and the clinicians within it."
"Books by Black authors, like The Deepest Well by Nadine Burke-Harris and Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab; organizations like "Therapy For Black Girls" on their website and social media; The Association of Black Psychologists, the work of Dr. Monnica Williams, and The African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence are some I recommend."
"White Supremacy Culture - Still Here by Tema Okun is one of my favorite resources that I read over and over and continue to learn new things each time. I recommend this especially as a place to start learning about white supremacy culture and how it shows up today."