The Urgent Need For Culturally Competent Therapists

People prefer to go to doctors who look like themselves. There are some logical explanations for this, such as a doctor with a similar cultural background perhaps being more aware of conditions that have a higher prevalence among those from their communities. Mostly, though, it's a choice based on culture rather than science. Many people want a doctor who understands their own lived experience.

This is particularly important when it comes to therapists, who are often helping people deal with issues stemming from how they are seen and treated by others, usually as a result of their identity. The problem, as an article on The Walrus explored, is that in many places there is a lack of diverse practitioners available.

Author Cathy Park Hong wrote about this problem in her bestselling book Minor Feelings as well:

“I wanted a Korean American therapist because I wouldn't have to explain myself as much. She'd look at me and just know where I was coming from. Out of the hundreds of New York therapists available on the Aetna database of mental health care providers, I found exactly one therapist with a Korean surname.”

In the book her story ends entertainingly badly, with the therapist refusing to treat her. In real life, though, this lack of diversity and cultural competency is a problem that requires a generational solution. The therapists of tomorrow have to be welcomed into schools and encouraged to choose the profession in the first place.