Healing Begins with Understanding: The Need for Diverse Voices in Mental Health Care
Published Aug. 28, 2024 | 4 Minute Read
By Natasha Lettner
Health Union Contributor and Health Leader
I’ve been sharing my story with the world as a mental health advocate. And I have come across many more stories that have both empowered me and hurt me. Particularly the stories of Black people who, in an attempt to heal from their trauma, often find themselves unable to find a therapist who truly understands them. That’s why we’re in such desperate need of diverse voices in mental health care.
My journey as a mental health advocate
My own life experiences led me to become a mental health advocate. I grew up in a home with parents who were addicted to drugs and alcohol. As a child, I was a victim of trauma and a witness to trauma. I was the unwitting recipient of verbal and emotional abuse.
After I became a mother, I experienced postpartum depression. But I had a transformative experience when I finally went to therapy. However, as a Black woman, I found an additional issue with the mental health system that I could not ignore. Finding a therapist who looked like me or understood my experience was a slim possibility.
Now, I share these experiences as a writer for Health Union’s Postpartum.Mental-Health-Community.com. I hope by sharing my story – as a Black woman, openly talking about my struggles with mental health – this helps others feel less alone in their own journey.
The struggle for understanding
I’ve listened to other young African Americans share with me painful stories of having to see from 12 to 15 providers before they felt they had found “the one.” These are not just the stories, though. They are a systemic reality that could easily keep many in the community from getting the help they need.
For a lot of Black people, getting therapy is a challenging prospect. Too often, the provider doesn’t understand the cultural nuances of our experience – the generational trauma we feel and the racialized violence we endure. We can feel misunderstood or dismissed. Over time, that can turn to frustration, mistrust, and the decision to quit treatment.
We need providers to be equipped
Yes, that means more therapists of color, but it’s also about ensuring that mental health care providers are equipped with the training and tools to support the unique needs and issues that patients from diverse backgrounds bring to the table. When a therapist is part of the same culture and can relate to similar experiences, the therapeutic process can feel more impactful and meaningful to the patient.
The most frightening element of these stories I’ve heard from other Black patients is how many therapists they’ve had to cycle through. This iterative process is exhausting and discouraging. It communicates that these experiences and trauma aren’t significant enough to warrant understanding. Ultimately, it discourages others in the community from seeking help.
Bridging the gap for Black patients
Bridging this gap will require a more inclusive mental health system:
- Increasing the number of diverse therapists: Encouraging more African Americans to enter the mental health profession can help ensure that patients can find therapists who look like them and have shared cultural backgrounds.
- Cultural competency training: All health care professionals must be trained to understand and treat diverse communities’ unique experiences and challenges. Training should include more than superficial cultural awareness and examine generational trauma and systemic racism.1
- Community outreach and education: Education is critical in spreading awareness about the significance of mental health and the availability of culturally competent care among the African American community. A necessary aspect of this is creating and maintaining an open dialogue about mental health and providing accessible and relevant resources.
My commitment to change
I continue to speak out about these problems and advocate for a more diverse mental health care system. I share stories. I lobby for better training and representation. I support efforts to open up the mental health system and make it more accessible and practical for African Americans.
Telling my story and the stories of others who have been silenced brings attention to the need for a variety of voices to be heard in health care. Hopefully, this encourages people to take action to create a more accepting and responsive system. Our mental health is the most essential part of us, and every one of us deserves the opportunity to heal in an environment that enables us to share our personal experiences in ways that feel safe and valued.
Learn more about how Health Union is amplifying diverse voices: https://health-union.com/human-side-of-data/#dei
1Cultural competence in health and human services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed August 27, 2024. https://npin.cdc.gov/pages/cultural-competence-health-and-human-services.
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