Written By Redbird Therapy
What Is Culturally Responsive Therapy?
Very simply put, culturally responsive therapy is the practice of acknowledging the impact that an individual’s cultural background, social identities, and lived experiences have on their lives, mental health, and well-being.
In the context of therapy, this framework can be helpful to support individuals from diverse cultural, racial, ethnic backgrounds and social identities. However, it doesn’t only relate to you as a client. Since therapy is a relational process, it is also important for the therapist to explore and be aware of how their own cultural background, social identities, values, biases, and upbringing interact with and influence their clients and the therapeutic relationship. We’re in this together!
Why Does This Matter?
At its core, a culturally responsive framework recognises that one-size does not work in therapy. Each individual has their own unique, intersecting social identities, which will shape how therapy works for you. This framework invites open conversations between you and your therapist about understanding who you are, what matters to you, and where these values came from. It invites exploration of how your unique background and lived experiences relate to your mental health.
Here’s one example: Think about how your cultural beliefs or stigma within your communities might influence when and how you seek professional help. Let’s think about how your culture impacts how you, or those around you, view mental health needs, how you express your distress, or expectations on how to cope with life demands.
Having a therapist that adopts this culturally responsive stance in therapy can help with feeling seen and understood and enhance trust.
It also results in the therapeutic process being more tailored to your unique needs, which translates to a personalised and more effective treatment plan.
What Should I Look For In A Culturally Responsive Therapist?
Aside from them being a licensed psychotherapist in their jurisdiction, a culturally responsive therapist typically operates from a stance of cultural humility. It’s a view that it isn’t humanly possible for them to have all the answers or know everything about your lived experience and culture. They bring a sense of curiosity and do not make assumptions about your lived experiences. Some questions you can ask your therapist include – In what ways do you integrate clients’ cultural backgrounds and social identities into therapy? How do you adapt your therapeutic approach when working with clients from different cultural or ethnic backgrounds?
Culturally responsive therapists are also typically attuned to the impacts of discrimination, especially for individuals with marginalised identities, and do not shy away from conversations about the impacts of discrimination on your mental health and well-being.
You’re welcome to ask your therapist for examples of how they navigate power dynamics or differences in social identity within the therapeutic relationship.
You are also welcome to ask your therapist about the specific training or knowledge they have in supporting clients from your cultural background or social identity. After all, trust and safety are such important factors that impact one’s ability to open up and be vulnerable. Some questions related to this might include – How do you continue to educate yourself about cultures or communities you’re less familiar with? What specific training or professional development have you received related to culturally responsive or multicultural therapy?
If you or your loved one are looking for culturally responsive support for your mental health, reach out to our incredible team of diverse clinicians at Redbird Therapy Centre.
We offer services in six different languages – including Gujrati, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Urdu, and Spanish – as we believe that language should not be a barrier to access care.
