Therapy for black women

[languageisleavingmeinsilence]

Hi Everyone,

I will soon start to offer private (psychological) therapy, and I am keen to offer an excellent service to black clients. I am black myself and have heard black people talk about wanting a black therapist for many reasons. I'm excited get going, homeschooling will not scupper my plans!

Can you tell me what you liked, if you have had therapy, or would want to have in order to consider therapy? What were the barriers or obstacles so that I can try to think these through with you and also elsewhere. What helped you to walk through the door, or get online and engage?

I want to be as accessible and useful and effective as possible. I'll offer couples, families and adult therapy.

BTW this is NOT me touting for business at all. I just want tips on how best to serve our community.

I'm not up and running yet, so if anyone wants to look around for a therapist as we speak, I would suggest always checking with the HCPC that they are registered.

Hopefully I'll hear from some of you

Good luck on your journey. I hope you have much success. While I wouldn’t base my decision about a therapist on their ethnicity, I would definitely prefer one who better understood my lived experience.

I went to therapy some years ago and tried two therapists (both white women) with one experience much better than the other.

The first therapist seemed to treat me like a child and I felt that she was talking down to me. I did not feel listened to, and it was almost as though she had decided on the course of action before really hearing what I had to say. Her office felt formal and I was not comfortable being there. It felt as though she had previously had unpleasant experiences with clients and expected that this could happen again.

As result, I went to see her once only, and then found the second therapist.

The second therapist had a much more inviting and informal office environment. She made me a cup of tea and was better at getting me to share. She seemed more open, more willing to listen to me, find out about my background and understand where I was coming from. As a result, I felt more confident about her recommendations. She was always professional but was open to having small talk to put me at ease. I felt as though she realised I was having a temporary setback, wanted to help me, and had the tools to do so.

I valued my relationship and sessions with the second therapist and would happily see her again if I felt I would benefit. I wouldn’t recommend the first therapist to anyone.

Hi, OP.

I saw a therapist, some months back. She changed my life. She helped me untangle the complicated ball of wool that comes from living with clueless adopted parents.

I often felt my parents tried to put me in a 'white' mould, and would dismiss me being racially and physically bullied, daily. I'm not saying my parents didn't love me, they absolutely did, but they did not have the tools to equip them to look after a black child.

And my therapist helped me untangle the complications that some of us black folk face, which I was still facing, because I hadn't dealt with my childhood issues, resulting in unhealthy coping mechanisms.

She really was phenomenal. That heavy load that I'd been bearing is no longer on my shoulders. The thing which was beneficial was we covered EVERY area that needed to be covered, quite by accident.

I had originally contacted her because of relationship issues. It went on from there. She was white.

Thank you for your responses. School's not going back for aeons has delayed my plans, but this is all useful.