How to Validate Your Black Woman Client’s Experience
Psychology Today | 10.02.2026 06:45
The 2021 article, “African Americans and The Reluctance To Seek Treatment,” written by Dr. Patricia Bethea Whitfield, notes that many Black people do not seek mental health therapy due to a historically rooted concern and present-day reinforced fact that they will experience discrimination and biases while in treatment. These biases can be demonstrated by improper diagnosis (the wrong diagnosis), shallow treatment plans, lack of care in the planning for their sessions, the lack of preparation through research of the intersections between their Black cultural identity and their mental health diagnosis, and by invalidating their experiences.
