Background
About 1 in 5 Americans have a diagnosable mental health condition, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
Although recorded rates of depression are lower in Black Americans and Hispanic Americans than in white Americans, depression in the first two groups is likely to be longer-lasting. Mixed-race people and American Indian and Alaskan Native populations are at the highest likelihood to have experienced mental illness. And, unsurprisingly, people who are incarcerated, who are disproportionately Black and other people of color, are more likely to experience mental health issues. And Asian Americans are less likely to use mental health services than other racial groups.
Folks of color often experience less-effective care and are only able to see providers who aren’t culturally competent.
What could account for the discrepancies in accessing care?
Some folks of color may find mental health therapy cost-prohibitive, or not have as much cultural access to mental health resources as other racial groups. Many folks of color have different cultural beliefs and values surrounding mental health care, which can make it harder to get help when they need it.
The mental health industry is majority-white. Many folks of color don’t access mental health resources because they don’t think that a white provider will be knowledgeable and understanding of the specific issues and mental health challenges of their particular culture and life experiences. Suffering alone may feel better than having to explain oneself.
The importance of the therapeutic alliance
The therapeutic alliance is a term that refers to the working relationship between a client and their mental health provider. It’s often based on trust, emotional safety, and the knowledge that the provider wants what’s best for the client and thinks well of the client. A solid therapeutic alliance is essential for an effective therapeutic relationship - without it, progress is challenging.
The quality of the therapeutic alliance can strongly impact how well a client can recover. When a client trusts their provider, they can more easily build self-awareness, engage in the therapy, and learn important coping skills through this relationship.
In the context of minority mental health, clients may feel safer with a clinician of their same race or ethnicity. This makes it easier to open up and share vulnerably with the clinician, which can lead to more effective therapy. Clinicians of the same or similar cultural or ethnic background may also understand the particular obstacles that clients of certain backgrounds experience, which is always useful in a therapeutic relationship.
Therify’s intention
At Therify, we’re working towards more equity and access to mental health resources with our provider matching service. One way that we can match your employees with a provider is by race or ethnicity, if that’s important to them. Therify partners with many therapists of color so that members of your team who identify as people of color have options.
