Minority Mental Health Month: The Importance of Multicultural Counseling and Connection
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but July offers another opportunity to focus on the ways mental health intersects with identity, culture, and systemic barriers. Discrimination, lack of research, and minority stress contribute to increasing mental health challenges for people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and more.
Multicultural counseling goes beyond recognizing that people come from different backgrounds. It asks therapists to understand how culture, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, immigration status, socioeconomic status, and lived experiences shape the way someone sees themselves and the world around them. Those experiences also shape how people experience stress, relationships, trauma, healing, and even the therapy room itself.
Race and Ethnicity
In 2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that nearly 70% of U.S. social workers and 88% of mental health therapists were white. If you’re a person of color (POC), these statistics probably make sense to you, as frustrating as they are. Trying to find a therapist who shares your racial or ethnic background can feel like an added stressor to an already-intimidating process. Being unable to find support that doesn’t come with the responsibility of teaching someone your culture should not be the norm.
People often question why it matters, or they say that POC’s lower use of mental health care services is due to cultural beliefs or stigma. This can certainly play a role, but it doesn’t include the full picture.
More people of color are entering the mental health field than ever before, but the numbers are still far off from representing the true diversity of the country. The US Census Bureau data shows that people of color make up a significant amount of our country’s population, and numbers are projected to grow even more. Increasing diversity within the mental health profession will require changes in education, recruitment, and access to training so that future therapists better reflect the communities they serve.
Gender and Sexuality
LGBTQ+ people make up about 15% to 16% of the counseling field, but specific training still falls flat in preparing therapists to work in a competent and affirming manner. LGBTQ+ individuals experience significantly higher rates of anxiety, depression, trauma, and suicidality than their cisgender and heterosexual peers. This isn’t because of their identities, but because of discrimination, minority stress, and barriers to affirming care.
Affirming mental health care goes beyond surface-level allyship. It's about creating a space where clients are not only heard, but understood, respected, and supported without judgment.
As a queer and transgender therapist, I find great joy and comfort in providing affirming care. It was something that I didn’t have as I was exploring my identity, and I wish I had. Sitting across from someone that shares your life experiences allows for not just understanding, but connection.
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Every client deserves to enter therapy without wondering whether they'll have to explain their identity before they can begin healing. While sharing identities with a therapist isn't a requirement for meaningful therapy, cultural humility, curiosity, and affirming care are. Everyone deserves to feel safe enough to show up as their full self.
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Questions to ask a potential therapist (or other medical professional) can include:
What is your experience working with clients that share my identity?
Do you have training on working with these specific groups?
I’m struggling with a certain aspect of my identity, do you have any knowledge in this area?
I am processing minority stress. What is your approach to addressing this?
If your therapist doesn’t feel like a good fit after the first few sessions, then the best thing you can do for yourself is find someone new. Let your therapist know that it doesn’t seem to be the right fit! We all know that the relationship between therapist and client is an important part of the process, and we will be more than glad to help you find someone new or point you in the right direction.
There are also many directories available online to search for providers with specific identities.
Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health
Psychology Today is one of (if not the) largest mental health care directory. It allows you to filter providers in several different ways, including gender and sexuality, virtual vs in person, specialties, insurances, ethnicity, languages, religion, price, and more.