Culturally Grounded Psychological Help-Seeking Model for Black Canadians

Black American psychological help-seeking intention: An integrated literature review with recommendations for clinical practice.

“…Thompson et al (2004) found that Black Americans in the U.S. reported doubting mental health professionals’ ability to adequately understand their circumstances or address their concerns. This observation is further validated by Joseph’s (2010) study with Black Canadians, which found that participants would be more willing to seek psychological services if the mental health professional treating them was also Black. It stands to reason that Black clients’ preference for Black psychotherapists may also be motivated by the perceived or actual negative experiences Black clients have had with White psychotherapists.…”

“…This mistrust manifests itself in the therapeutic relationship as Black Americans disclosing less in therapy and prematurely terminating therapy (Terrell & Terrell, 1984;Thompson et al, 1994). As a corroboration, Joseph (2010) found that Black Canadians with elevated levels of cultural mistrust were significantly more likely to prefer seeking treatment from a Black mental health professional.…”

“…In a national U.S. study, researchers found that Black Americans’ attitudes toward using mental health services were worse after receiving mental health services compared to before receiving the services (Diala et al, 2000). Similarly, in Canada, Joseph (2010) found that past experience seeking professional psychological help predicted unfavorable attitudes toward psychological help-seeking among Black Canadians (Joseph, 2010). Black Canadians in Nova Scotia attributed their negative perceptions of the mainstream mental health system to their experiences with systemic racism (Njiwaji, 2012).…”

“…Black individuals have little trust in White society (Terrell & Terrell, 1981), and as most mental health professionals are White, by extension mental health services (e.g., Joseph, 2010; Thompson et al, 2004; Whaley, 2001). Cultural mistrust has been identified as a major factor in deterring Black Americans from accessing mental health services (Conner et al, 2010; Njiwaji, 2012; Thompson, Worthington, & Atkinson, 1994; Waldron, 2002).…”

Preparing student therapists to work with Black mental health: Attending to the social and institutional organization of “culture” in Canadian counsellor education.

“…More recently, Alang (2019) found that experiences of racism outside of the health care system also cause distrust among Black people. To further highlight the potential for distrust amongst practitioners and BIPOC people, Joseph and Kuo (2009) found that Black Canadians with elevated levels of cultural mistrust were significantly more likely to prefer treatment from a Black mental health professional. For a profession that appears to be dominated in Canada by White psychologists and counsellors, the underrepresentation of Black professionals in mental health services has been identified as another obstacle related to mistrust that impedes Black individuals' access to psychological treatments (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, 2022).…”