Why is psychological treatment for Indigenous, Black and people of color different and needed?

We know that mental health in Indigenous, Black and people of color manifests differently than it does for White people.

Using the analogy that a White person experiencing oxygen deprivation turns blue, there are insufficient descriptions for a Black person’s skin color change with a similar experience. An Indigenous and or Black person experiencing oxygen deprivation or other severe medical crisis likely will become gray or ashen looking.

So, too, we are aware that while mental health was designed by Western Europeans and Americans for White people, in its formation and construction, Indigenous and or Black people were never seen as human and not considered, including in research into the ways these communities manifest/demonstrate/present mental health issues. 

We are aware that globally, Indigenous, Black and people of color suffered significant trauma, inter-generational and contemporaneous, that is, caused by violence and enslavement, and insidious and persistent racism, which undermines a person’s sense of self, belonging, and existence.

While we are seeing increasing numbers of Black people going to therapy, often, in the United States, it is those with insurance who can afford it. Outside of the US, in predominantly developing countries, that is, countries along the Equator and in the Global South, whose populations are almost all Black and people of color; in their daily struggle, to survive and to live, psychotherapy is a luxury.

For those Indigenous, Black people who are not going to mental health therapy, it is likely that they don't identify with it; it is not who they are, it is not what they're comfortable with. A person can be referred to a Black therapist, but if that Black therapist is not socialized or culturally sensitive and aware, then that Black therapist is going to be perpetuating the same White psychological constructs, which caused harm.

Even though there are small numbers of Indigenous and or Black community members going to therapy, many aren’t going to go to therapy because intrinsically they don’t identify with it. It is not in their DNA, it was not passed on through generations. And the only way that we can talk about healing is returning to that culture; returning to that identity, that sense of who we are.