Find Healing With Affirming Mental Health Care For Those Who Are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color
Have you struggled to find a therapist that has done their own work to unpack their own identity and biases?
Are you a BIPOC who is feeling unseen, invalidated, stereotyped, or mistreated by systems around you?
Do you carry racially or culturally based trauma from discrimination, microagression or outright racism.
The mental welbeing of BIPOC individuals is deeply connected to the environments, communities, and systems that we live and work in. These concerns are often not acknowledged or addressed in traditional therapy settings and theories that have been developed largely in white academic venues. . Systemic racism, generational trauma, cultural stigma, and immigration stressors are essential aspects of effective and affirming therapy. At Prism, we work hard to constantly reflect, learn, and call each other in around issues of race and culture to provide an affirming and supportive space for our clients to heal.
How is culturally responsive therapy different?
Culturally affirming care honors your lived experiences and identities. With this in mind we build our work on the following tenets:
Acknowledging system trauma: At the core of this approach is a trauma informed attitude that sees the impact of racial and inter generational trauma.
Cultural Responsibility: care should respect the cultures, traditions, religions, and identities of our clients and challenge the assumptions of traditional therapy modalities created by predominantly white academic institutions.
Representation and Validation: Therapy should fundamentally validate and affirm your identity and never minimize the impact of racial or minority stress.
Addressing culture in the therapy room: Racial or cultural dynamics are always alive in the therapy room, and yet, they are often unspoken or ignored. We believe that race is an essential relational dynamic that should be able to safely explored within the context of therapy.
The impact of affirming therapy may include reduction of anxiety, depression and trauma symptoms, strengthening of cultural identity and self- worth, improving communication and relationships, and gaining better insight into how systemic oppression may be contributing to mental health concerns.3
Common questions and concerns:
Will my therapist really understand my culture?
We certainly can’t have lived experience in every cultural identity, but at Prism we practice from a culturally humble stance that comes with an attitude of awareness and curiosity about your individual lived experience, and how it may be similar or different from that of the therapist’s. We challenge ourselves and our clients to reflect on racial dynamics, assumptions, and stereotypes and create a therapy space that is authentic and open to vulnerable conversations.
Can therapy help if the world outside doesn’t change?
While we can’t erase the painful, oppressive forces that exist for BIPOC individuals, we can help you feel seen, heard, and respected in therapy. We can help process racial trauma and build skills to set boundaries, and strategies to navigate the world in way that helps you feel more empowered in your daily life.
Take the first step toward healing
You don’t have to carry the weight of racial trauma, cultural stigma, or systemic stress alone. Healing is possible, and you deserve support that honors your culture, your story, and your strength. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or to get started on your healing journey.