Is My Therapist Antiracist?: How To Find A Therapist That Fits You
As therapy and mental health services become more accessible and less stigmatized (we still have a long way to go!), more people are searching for therapists who will help them navigate the challenges and changes of their lives. But the process of finding a therapist can be daunting, intimidating, and frustrating as databases are incomplete, profiles speak in professional jargon, and intakes can be impossible to schedule. It can feel powerless, asking for someone in an ivory tower to help.
We need to flip this script. You finding a therapist is about You. Instead of, ‘will this person have availability and accept me as a new client,’ let’s change it to ‘does this therapist fit MY needs, will this therapist have a perspective that understands and validates me?’
The field of psychology and mental health is one rife with power discrepancies. From the Doctor/Patient dichotomy, to the Illness/Wellness dichotomy. The field has been built on identifying differences, eliminating or managing those differences to make the person fit the established norm. This is colonization of the mind and body and is traumatic and harmful. Many therapists have moved away from the severe beginnings of the field, but that legacy still lingers when we continue to label people as mentally ill or mentally well. Practices are still used that dehumanize, harm, and invalidate clients. When mental health workers use words like “High/Moderate/Low- functioning,” “handicapped” versus able or refer to a client by their diagnosis, they are framing and defining that person in categories that emphasize deficiencies to an idealized and colonized standard.
I bring this up because so much of a therapist’s perspective and practice happens behind closed doors. Self-disclosure, or telling clients about yourself, is commonly seen as taboo, or something to be done with extreme caution. So a therapist might not tell you their views, beliefs, or even therapeutic perspective, but this establishes them with more power, and you as the client, with less, making you dependent on them to help you.
I believe this is not the way forward. You as a person, as a potential client, do not need to be dependent on anyone. Your providers, should you choose to work with them, should be partners in your health goals, working alongside, not above, benevolently looking down on you. You should be empowered by your work with your health providers and feel like you can continue your work outside of their office. Your experience should be validated and your personal expression seen and uplifted. You should be able to work through your lived experience acknowledging the context in which you exist - socially, culturally, globally.
So how do you find these kinds of providers, or challenge your current provider to meet you here? You can ask some of these questions and expect to find an honest and non-defensive answer.
How do you see the therapist/client relationship? Are you a partner or a provider?
Are you a feminist? LGBTQIA+ affirming? A fat empowerment advocate? In what ways does that enter the therapy session?
How are you decolonizing your practice?
What work are you doing to become antiracist?
What are your goals working with me?
How has your education shaped how you treat me?
In what ways are you privileged?
In what ways can you relate to me?
If asking these questions makes you feel uncomfortable, or scared, bring an advocate to the consult. If these questions do not resonate with how you engage in therapy, that’s ok! Ask the questions that do resonate with you so that you are working with someone who fits you.
You deserve to know the answers to these and any of your questions. You deserve to work with someone who sees you in the context in which you live, and validates and empowers you. You deserve to work with someone who works with you. You don’t have to settle for anything less.
Rebecca